YouTube stars training with Crawley Town ahead of FA Cup clash


Crawley Town and Sidemen FC logos with green background

Crawley Town will make an unprecedented move this week as they welcome YouTubers to first-team training ahead of their FA Cup first-round clash with League One outfit Accrington Stanley.

Rumours had surfaced that Crawley Town were sending scouts to watch the Sidemen charity match on the 24th of September, but many assumed this was simply a publicity stunt.

This, however, was not the case with the League Two club announcing on Thursday afternoon that three new faces would join up with first-team training ahead of potential involvement in the FA Cup.

Which YouTubers are training with Crawley Town?

The Crawley Town backroom staff will now assess Tobi Brown, also known as "TBJZL", as well as his brothers Manny Brown and Jed Brown with the trio joining the first team for training on November 1st.

There is now a realistic chance that the Sidemen personality could feature in Crawley's first-round FA Cup fixture with Accrington Stanley.

Why is TBJZL playing for Crawley Town?

While it would be generous to suggest that Tobi and his brothers are training with Crawley Town for purely footballing reasons, the reality lies in the outreach of the Sidemen.

TBJZL and his brother Manny have a combined social media following of over 18 million and will bring much-needed publicity and attention to Crawley Town.

The club has previous with this kind of publicity stunt too, with reality TV star Mark Wright having signed for the club off the back of a career in non-league in 2020.

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