‘Kids ruined it’ – Beta Squad and AMP players fume after pitch invasion prevents penalty shoot-out

YouTubers participating in a charity football match have expressed their fume that the game had to be halted early due to a pitch invasion.

Two collectives, the Beta Squad and AMP (Any Means Possible), played the friendly at Selhurst Park on Sunday as money was raised for The Water Project with more than five million viewers having tuned in to watch.

Well-known streamers Chunkz, Niko Omilana and Sharky featured for Beta while US streamer Kai Cenat and Angry Ginge, from the UK, were among the AMP squad. The contest also featured a ‘mystery’ player, who wore a mask for the duration of the game.

He was described as a Premier League star, with social media users guessing Alex Iwobi of Fulham or Crystal Palace’s Michael Olise. Daniel Sturridge also featured, and scored, in the 6-6 encounter.

However, the exhibition had to be abandoned towards the end of play when a pitch invader sparked mass on-field encroachment from spectators. The players were taken down the tunnel as a result and a subsequent penalty shoot-out was scrapped.

A number of YouTubers relayed their feelings about the invasion afterwards, many of whom were upset that the match had to be stopped early.

Chunkz: “Why did you guys do that? Why did the people at the stadium run on the pitch. Thank you so much to everyone that’s watching, thank you to everyone at the stadium that came and didn’t run on the pitch.”

Niko Omilana: “Guys we really want to do a penalty shootout to find out who are the YouTube champions but we’re not sure how to do that right now because there’s a bunch of people on the pitch.

“We still want to do penalties, I think right now they’re clearing out the stadium and we’re going to still try and have a penalty shootout. We’re here for the Water Project and if you haven’t already please do donate, they do amazing work out in Africa building wells, giving people water.”

Harry Pinero: “Not really happy. I felt like this was brewing to be a classic. We were level, approaching penalties and obviously excited fans who are kids, ruined what was going to be a penalty shootout that we were going to win as well. I’m guessing AMP paid off those little kids, it’s what they do.

“I saw Fanum reaching into his pocket to pay. Cheaters the lot of them. Jokes aside, I’m really upset. I think a lot of the boys are really upset, because we wanted to give the kids a massive, amazing show and we did that but the excitement of the day was ruined.
“Anyone that’s run onto the pitch we forgive you, provided you don’t do this again. Please. This is for charity so don’t be selfish, wait until the game’s done and don’t run on the pitch again.”

Sharky: “I’m obviously disappointed. It was tied, 6-6, we really wanted to end the game. We’ve got a whole trophy, we’ve got medals, and everything and now no one gets to take it home.

“No one gets to take it home because we drew. These kind of games you need a winner and we didn’t get one. We needed a winner and the fans ruined the opportunity. So very disappointing.

“Thank you for watching, thank you for tuning in, if you came thank you for coming down to the game, if you ran on the pitch I’m not going to say thank you to you guys because you basically ruined the event. Thank you for the support as always but we could have done with a proper ending.”