Brent Di Cesare, popularly known as Mark Goldbridge on the internet is one of the most prominent YouTube and social media personalities in the football world, particularly through his channel “The United Stand”, where he passionately discusses Manchester United.
As with most social media stars, Goldbridge’s rise to fame has come with its fair share of controversies and discussions. Among these is the question of his true football allegiance, which has been a point of contention in the past.
Recently, a video put up by Mail Sport has reignited this debate, delving into not only Goldbridge’s earnings but also referring to him as an ex-Nottingham Forest fan.
The video alleges that his relationship with Manchester United is less as a fan and rather driven by the pursuit of online views than genuine support for the club.
The claims that Mark Goldbridge is a Nottingham Forest fan stems from the fact that he was born and brought up in Nottingham.
To further understand the complexities of Mark’s football identity it’s important to look at his family background. His parents split when he was about six, and neither of his parents were Forest fans. His mum is a United fan and his dad supports Chelsea.
Mark has been open in admitting that as a child he used to attend Forest games with his father and has memories of the same, but he identifies as a Manchester United supporter and watching them has shaped his football identity.
Many fans have pointed out that being from Nottingham does not automatically imply allegiance to Forest, especially when Goldbridge has consistently produced content focused on Manchester United.
If his unwavering support and passion for the Reds on his channels wasn’t enough to establish his support for Man United, Goldbridge had a rather calm and cold response to further claims of being a Forest fan by Mail Sport. A childhood photo of him wearing the 93-94 United home shirt.
In the same video Mail Sport talk about Goldbrige’s revenue from the companies he owns and also believe that he capitalized on United’s misfortune from last season by garnering more views and in-turn earning more from his channels.
An article published by the Daily Mail, sources from the Companies House, reveal that Brent (Goldbridge) is the sole director of 5 companies with the oldest being United Stand Limited.
Other companies include OMS Investments Limited and Bridlewood House Limited that seem to have something to do with the entertainment industry.
These companies are said to have holdings of over 4 million pounds in the bank between them, as of the end of 2023. These earnings are reported to be up by 1.2 million from the previous year.
These numbers beat the supposed net-worth of Goldbridge, which is estimated to be 3.9 million pounds. His income streams aren’t just linked to the United Stand, but also branch out into channels like That’s Football and Goldbridge TV.
Goldbridge responded to this article seemingly frustrated with all this false news spreading. With his rather amusing way of talking Mark took to Twitter laughing off these reports and stated that a poor job had been done on the research for the Mail Sport’s article.