Sports on Screen: Arsenal fan TV

In the past few years, many facets of football media in particular has headed online. While the audience for Match of the Day is still huge, viewers no longer feel the need to tune in at 10.30pm on Saturday night to watch it. Instead, weekly highlights are viewed on demand, along with daily videos direct from the clubs themselves.

YouTube has become a treasure trove of football-related content, free and on demand.

One of the most popular of these channels isn’t one that comes from the club in an official capacity but was created by fans. Predictably, perhaps, it’s called Arsenal Fan TV, and is by far the most popular independent fan channel in the world.

AFTV, as it is abbreviated to, holds court with short interviews post-game with some of The Gunners’ biggest fans, such as the long-suffering host Robbie, ultra-positive headphone-wearing Ty, foul-mouthed rageaholic DT, Arsenal’s fan fam from the streets Troopz and moody old-timer Claude, though both the latter two of that selection no longer appear on the channel.