In Defence of AFTV
Where there is success, there is envy. Whenever we see someone doing well, we begin to develop feelings of disdain towards them and try to find as many reasons as possible to justify that feeling. That is precisely what can be said about Arsenal Fan TV (AFTV).
AFTV started in 2012 and has since catapulted itself on social media. Started by former Reggae artist and surveyor, Robbie Lyle, the fan channel has gone from barely gaining 100 views on YouTube to having over a million subscribers in a space of just seven years, making it one of the largest fan channels in the world.
According to ‘Prolific London’, as of December 2019 AFTV earns $357,039 a month, the most out of all the fan channels in the UK and has the second highest number of subscribers at 1.14 million.
This surge in popularity has resulted in them being able to undertake several trips abroad, expand their following and interacting with Gooners in various parts of the world. It has also resulted in AFTV having interviews with ex-football players such as Kevin Campbell, David Seaman, Gary Neville, Didier Drogba, and Ian Wright and making guest appearances on Sky Sports.
However, AFTV is like marmite. Either you love it or hate it. It has polarised football fans throughout the country, especially Arsenal fans. Some people argue that devoted fans who pay their hard-earned money to watch The Gunners week in, week out deserve to have a platform that gives them the opportunity to freely air their thoughts and opinions on the club.
On the other hand, you have others who argue that AFTV makes a mockery out of Arsenal; and that the channel tarnishes the reputation of the club by focusing on the negatives as well as their shortcomings; so much so that it has played a role to play in Arsenal’s demise.
The number of people who have opposed AFTV has skyrocketed in recent times. This indifference has led to graffiti saying “AFTV Out!” on a wall next to The Emirates early last month and a group of fans singing “AFTV, get out of our club!” to Robbie following Arsenal’s 0–0 draw against Everton at Goodison Park almost three weeks ago.
These are the facts, now I am going to give my thoughts on the matter.
Has AFTV grown due to Arsenal’s numerous failures over the years? Absolutely. Negativity sells and controversy creates cash. I personally feel that if Arsenal were the same team now that they were under Arsène Wenger from 1996 to 2006, AFTV would probably still exist; albeit on a much smaller level.
However, to argue that these fans somehow enjoy the club under performing every year is an unjust accusation to make.
Many of the people on AFTV who make regular appearances on the show such as Claude, Ty, Moh, DT, Troopz etc. have invested a substantial amount of money, time and effort over the years in seeing Arsenal play in spite of the location, occasion and the personal difficulties that they have faced in their own lives.
Claude has spoken about his battles with mental health problems and DT has spoken with Robbie in the past about the death of his brother along with his physical health issues on their podcast, ‘All Guns Blazing’.
With that being said, do you honestly believe for a second that they take pleasure in going up north to Anfield and The Etihad only to witness Liverpool and Man City effortlessly extirpate Arsenal the way that they have in recent years?
Do you actually think that they have enjoyed going abroad during the middle of the week over the years just to watch Arsenal concede fours, fives and sixes in the Champions League against teams such as Barcelona and Bayern Munich?
And do you really feel that they were happy to travel almost 3,000 miles to Baku just to see Arsenal get thrashed 4–1 to Chelsea in the Europa League final last year?
If you believe that the answer to any/all of those questions is a yes, then you are a naïve fool. No football fan in the world will constantly go to such drastic lengths only to see their team continuously leave empty handed despite knowing full well that that is exactly what will happen.
Furthermore, you have to look at some of the people who are spearheading this anti-AFTV movement.
It is individuals like Ray Parlour, Simon Jordan, Jim White and various others on Talk Sport, a controversial radio station. However, there words really ought to be taken with a pinch of salt.
A radio station that is renowned for negativity is castigating AFTV for being too negative. If that is not the perfect example of pot calling the kettle black, then I really don’t know what is.
Also, a lot of the anti-AFTV sentiment is from journalists in the mainstream media.
Rory Smith at the ‘New York Times’ wrote an article last month titled ‘For Fans, by Fans, Against the Club’ and argued that what is best for Arsenal is in opposition to what is best for AFTV, despite no senior figure from the club giving their opinion on the notorious fan channel. But his reasoning is based on the words of Hector Bellerín at an event from Oxford Union in February 2018. The Spaniard said:
“It’s so wrong for someone who claims to be a fan and their success is fed off a failure. How can that be a fan?”
What is interesting though is how Smith failed to mention the fact that several ex-Arsenal players and the captain, Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang, have spoken so positively about AFTV in the past. It is evident that Smith is cherry-picking his information.
Smith also rather conveniently failed to mention how Troopz’s video after Arsenal’s 3–1 win over West Ham at The London Stadium was one of the top four trending videos on YouTube in the UK.
DT’s video after Arsenal’s comfortable 2–0 win over Man United on New Year’s Day has gained almost 700,000 views and was trending #2 on YouTube.
I wonder why Smith won’t mention stuff like that? Maybe, like many people in the media, he has an agenda?
Other journalists such as Jason Burt from ‘The Telegraph’ and John Cross from ‘The Daily Mirror’ have lambasted AFTV, describing it as “embarrassing” and accusing them of creating a toxic environment amongst the Arsenal fanbase. But these accusations are misguided. AFTV has not created a toxic environment, it has merely exposed it.
There clearly is a sense of snobbery coming from some of these journalists, isn’t there? Many of them are affluent, well-known, qualified and experienced in their fields. For years their views were seen as gospel and as a result, many people spent a lot of money buying the papers to see what these men had to say, but AFTV came along and spoiled their party.
Robbie has allowed ordinary devout fans to freely air their thoughts after watching live games. Though they may lack the articulacy skills and academic qualifications, their views are highly sought after. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people from around the world want to hear what these fans have to say. Why? Because they are authentic, passionate, loyal, and devoted fans who would go to the depths of hell just to see their team play live.
The way in which journalists such as John Cross and others in the mainstream media have spoken down about AFTV in the past comes across as rather supercilious.
At times, they have ridiculed the way in which some of them speak and have even gone as far as to question their IQ levels, which is both appalling and discriminatory. What relevance do these things have to their knowledge of Arsenal? Such ad hominems are clear examples of how the media are petrified by the success of AFTV.
Furthermore, the gatherings of Arsenal fans to disrupt AFTV is something that I find perplexing. Many of them have accused the channel of being responsible for the demise of the club, which is an extremely absurd accusation to make.
AFTV is not the reason why Arsenal have massively underachieved, once again, this season.
AFTV is not the reason that Arsenal were on their worst run since 1977.
Nor is AFTV responsible for Arsenal not winning the league title in 15 years, selling all of their best players over the years, failing to replace them, and the club only winning three trophies in the last decade.
These things happened due to the mismanagement of the club. It has absolutely nothing to do with AFTV. The channel is the very least of Arsenal’s infinite number of problems.
Rather than whining about how embarrassing AFTV is, those fans should be more resourceful and do something about it, like creating a more successful, less contentious fan channel that will rival AFTV.
They also need to realise that free speech is something that applies to everyone, including those that they vehemently disagree with. Using violence as a means of trying to shut AFTV down will only have adverse effects as it will give them more attention, which in turn will result in the channel growing even more.
Ultimately, legitimate criticism of AFTV is needed. The way they spoke about Wenger in his last years at the club was nothing short of vile, vitriolic, grotesque, and disrespectful.
No matter what, after everything that he did for the club he did not deserve that abuse, at all. Robbie should have made some amendments to the channel at the time, perhaps by prohibiting the use of profanity since young kids and teens watch a lot of their content and thus, it does not set a good example.
Regardless, AFTV will not be going anywhere and is only going to continue to get bigger irrespective of what the naysayers say or think. We are living in a time now where the fans have power in their voices so it’s about time people like Cross, White, Jordan and various others get used to it and accept that this is now the new norm.
Edits made by Lisa Berrie
