The Sidemen Charity Match is a recurring charity football match organised by British YouTube group the Sidemen. Founded in 2016, the event features two teams of influencers contesting a friendly match whilst raising money for various British charities.
The event has been held on six occasions since 2016: one at St Mary's Stadium, three at the Valley, one at London Stadium, and one at Wembley Stadium. All matches have been livestreamed via YouTube, promoting various charitable causes. In each edition, the seven members of the Sidemen—KSI, W2S, Miniminter, Zerkaa, Vikkstar123, TBJZL and Behzinga—and various affiliated YouTubers compete as Sidemen Football Club,[note 1] whilst various other influencers compete as the YouTube Allstars. A seventh match between the two teams will be held on 18 April 2026, returning to Wembley, with some of the Sidemen playing on the Allstars for the first time.
The fourth charity match, held in 2022, is recognised by Guinness World Records for the highest live viewership on a YouTube charity sports match, peaking at over 2.5 million viewers. As of 2025, the events have raised over £8.5 million for various British charities.
Prior to the first Sidemen Charity Match, five members of the group—all except KSI and Vikkstar123—participated in the inaugural EE Wembley Cup on 8 August 2015 as part of Sidemen United, a team that was established for the match; they lost 5–2 against Spencer FC.[4] The Wembley Cup was held annually for three more years without Sidemen United, although Sidemen members W2S, TBJZL and KSI participated in the 2017 edition as part of Tekkers Town, who lost 6–1 to Hashtag United.[5]
St Mary's Stadium (2016)
The inaugural Sidemen Charity Match was held at St Mary's Stadium in Southampton, on 3 June 2016, raising over £110,000 for the Saints Foundation.[6][7] Over 600,000 people watched the livestream on YouTube—a record for YouTube Gaming at the time—and 15,000 people attended the match;[7] the stadium only permitted the Sidemen to fill the stadium to half-capacity.[citation needed] In addition to the seven Sidemen members, notable players included grime musicians Jme and P Money, as well as fellow YouTubers Joe Sugg and ChrisMD.[citation needed] Sidemen FC won the match 7–2, including a hat-trick from Miniminter.[8]
The Valley (2017–2022)
The Sidemen Charity Match was held at the Valley three times between 2017 and 2022.
The 2023 edition was held at London Stadium and raised over £2.4 million.
A fifth match was held on 9 September 2023 at the 62,000-capacity London Stadium,[1] the home stadium of Behzinga's supported team West Ham United.[19] Sidemen FC defended the title with a 8–5 victory over the YouTube Allstars.[20] Rapper Aitch performed for the inaugural halftime show.[21] Debutants included Airrack, xQc, JiDion, Kai Cenat, AboFlah and Jacksepticeye.[22]Max Fosh went viral for his yellow card incident, where he showed referee Clattenburg an Uno "Reverse" playing card.[23] KSI performed Cristiano Ronaldo's trademark "siuuu" celebration when he saved a penalty from IShowSpeed, a prominent Ronaldo fan.[24] The match raised over £2.4 million for CALM, Teenage Cancer Trust, Rays of Sunshine and M7 Education—the same charities as in 2022.[20]
Wembley Stadium (2025–2026)
The 2025 edition raised over £4.5 million after selling out Wembley Stadium.
In the 14 December 2025 episode of the Sidemen's flagship video series Sidemen Sunday, it was announced that the Charity Match would return for a seventh match in 2026.[33] On the 11 January 2026 episode of Sidemen Sunday, it was revealed that the match would return to Wembley on 18 April.[34][‡ 1] In a first for the match, some of the Sidemen will be playing on the YouTube Allstars.[‡ 1]
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