MANCHESTER UNITED fans are just discovering YouTuber Mark Goldbridge’s real name – and a back story equally as intriguing.
Famous as a presenter on The United Stand and talkSPORT, Goldbridge watched Nottingham Forest as a kid and was a police officer who became a detective.
Instagram @markgoldbridgeMark Goldbridge doesn’t hold back on Fan channel ‘The United Stand’[/caption]
Social Media – Refer to SourceHe’s outspoken now but went out of his way to avoid trouble on the beat[/caption]
TALKSPORTMark also has his own show on national radio[/caption]
But many Red Devils’ supporters have only now realised his true moniker is Brent Di Cesare.
The married dad of three, 44, who lives in Solihull, is of Italian descent.
But that Azzurri association is the only thing supporters might be able to guess from his real name.
Fans were amazed to discover his alternative details as they reflected on the Red Devils’ earLy exit from the Champions League.
One posted: “Wait y’all know who Brent Di Cesare is?”
And others revealed they had dashed off to Wikipedia to check it out.
But that’s just one fascinating fact about the outspoken online personality.
Goldbridge has gone from investigating crimes to laying down the law on United performances.
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Nowadays he’s amassed around 3million followers across his four YouTube channels, regularly going viral with his rants
But his football journey began watching Forest – as he was born in Nottingham and his dad would take him to the City Ground.
But his parents split when he was six and his mum’s dad got him into following United.
After working in insurance in Ireland, he returned to England in his mid-20s – joining the police because he couldn’t find any other employment.
Goldbridge told JackMaate’s Happy Hour podcast in December 2020: “When I came back from Dublin, I had no qualifications.
“I had a C in Maths and English and that was it. And although I had quite a good job in Ireland, I couldn’t get a job anywhere.
“My wife said ‘why don’t you go in the police?’.
“I wanted to do the fire service but I’m not very good with heat, I’m really irritable in the heat so I went in the police.
Instagram @markgoldbridgeMark Goldbridge was a detective with a far more exotic name[/caption]
“Uniform about a year-and-a-half then a detective for 10 years.”
And his reason for switching from the beat might surprise fans who know him best for his hard-hitting outbursts.
He said he would “just walk about and try and stay out of trouble” as “I haven’t got the physique for it, have I?” – leading to his transfer to detective.
Goldbridge also revealed his trauma at seeing dead bodies on the job – with the “horrible smell” of the first occasion remaining with him.
His online career kicked off when he set up Soccer Box TV after England exited the 2014 World Cup at the group stages for the first time since 1958.
Now he’s hitting out on United also departing a major competition without reaching the KO stages – as Wednesday’s 1-0 defeat against Bayern Munich condemned them to bottom place in their Champions League group.