Wayne Rooney Joins Stick to United Show with Mark Goldbridge
Wayne Rooney is stepping into a new role this season – as the face of a Manchester United-dedicated show alongside one of the internet’s most divisive fan voices.
The former United and England captain will co-host a new programme, Stick to United with Wayne Rooney, with influencer Mark Goldbridge, whose YouTube rants and reactions have turned him into a powerhouse of online fan culture.
The move deepens Rooney’s ties with The Overlap, the media company founded by Gary Neville in 2021. Rooney is already a regular on The Overlap’s flagship panel show, Stick to Football. Now he’ll front a United-only spin-off, putting one of the club’s greatest players next to one of its loudest modern-day supporters.
Neville, Goldbridge and Disney+
The new show forms part of a major distribution deal with Disney+. As part of that agreement, Disney+ will carry 50 episodes of Stick to United and 40 episodes of Stick to Football over the course of the season, significantly boosting The Overlap’s presence beyond traditional platforms.
Neville, who co-chairs The Overlap, described the partnership as one that "expands our reach without compromising our identity". It’s another step in the rapid growth of the brand, which has already moved beyond football into cricket and rugby content.
Earlier this year Neville underlined his commitment to fan-led media by buying Goldbridge’s two YouTube channels – The United Stand and That’s Football – for an undisclosed seven-figure sum. Those channels, now folded into The Overlap network, bring a huge built-in audience with them.
Goldbridge, whose real name is Brent di Cesare, commands more than 3.8 million followers across the two channels. His clips, fuelled by outlandish reactions and unapologetically strong opinions, regularly go viral and have helped shape the online matchday conversation around United.
From critic of fan channels to owner
Neville’s decision to embrace a fan-channel star marks a notable evolution in his relationship with that world.
Back in 2017, he publicly slammed ArsenalFanTV – now known as AFTV – calling it "embarrassing" after contributors on the channel tore into Arsene Wenger following a 3-1 defeat by Chelsea. His comments triggered a heated exchange on Twitter with the channel’s representatives, before Neville later appeared in an interview on ArsenalFanTV to explain his stance.
Seven years on, he now owns one of the biggest club-specific fan platforms in the game and has placed one of United’s most iconic figures at the centre of it.
Rooney’s growing media portfolio
Rooney’s workload in front of the cameras is only getting heavier. The Wayne Rooney Show will return to BBC platforms this season, keeping him in the mainstream spotlight, while he also continues his established punditry role on Match of the Day.
From Old Trafford legend to multi-platform frontman, Rooney is steadily becoming as familiar on the studio sofa and streaming screen as he once was in the penalty area. The question now is how his straight-talking style will blend with Goldbridge’s firebrand fan persona when the red half of Manchester inevitably erupts into its next crisis.
