The Wealdstone Raider

Gordon Hill (born 31 January 1966), better known as The Wealdstone Raider, is an English Internet celebrity. A supporter of Wealdstone F.C., he gained attention due to a viral video of him heckling opposing supporters of Whitehawk F.C. at a football match in March 2013, which ultimately ended in a 1–1 draw, with phrases such as "You want some?", "You've got no fans", and "I'll give it ya [sic]". However, the video did not reach its peak in popularity until late 2014.
An online article by BBC News included The Wealdstone Raider in the 'top memes and viral videos' of December 2014. The nickname "Wealdstone Raider" came from the title of the original video uploaded by YouTube user dazman21. Coincidentally, Hill claims his brother also had the nickname of "Raider" for the past 10 years.

Personal life

Hill, a builder by trade, now has over 100,000 followers on Twitter, where he has built a reputation for insulting celebrities comically using his catchphrases, including Arsenal F.C. supporter Piers Morgan. He is passionate about sport.

Hill as a figure has been used as the face of various T-shirts and banners at public events such as football matches, one of which was spotted at a match between PEC Zwolle and ADO Den Haag in The Netherlands.

Charity work

For the majority of Hill's childhood and adolescence, he was treated by Great Ormond Street Hospital for toxoplasmosis. Of recent, Hill has since showed his gratitude to the hospital by donating the royalties from his song, "Got No Fans", to them, among other charities.

Hill apparently has already raised £10,000 for charity, including by charging fans £2 for a photo with him, and through the promotion of his charity single. Hill has an agent who takes bookings for him to appear at nightclubs and events.

Original video

The original 33-second YouTube video entitled The Wealdstone Raider was uploaded to the video-sharing website on 10 March 2013, and was filmed the previous day on 9 March 2013. It features Hill at The Enclosed Ground of Whitehawk F.C., Brighton. At the start of the video Hill is shown wearing a football shirt and an oversized leather jacket; holding a Pall Mall cigarette in his right hand and a pint of beer in the other, he was being discreetly filmed at a football match by opposing supporter Darren Ward. During the early moments of the video Hill appears to be aware he is being filmed and is seen taking a number of glances towards the camera before saying a number of phrases for which he has now become renowned, including "You're playing shit" and "You've got no fans". Other videos on the original uploader's YouTube channel ( dazman21 's channel on YouTube) depict further disputes between Hill, Ward and "Jeff", as well as other bystanders of the match.

Hill claims to have been under the influence of alcohol whilst heckling opposing supporters at the match, he says he lost his temper due to suffering 20 minutes of abuse from the opposing supporters filming him at the time, who he claims were mocking his speech impediment, and "funny" looks. However, the original uploader of the viral video, Darren Ward, claims this is untrue and that he was simply filming Hill whilst under the influence of alcohol because he thought it was amusing. In an interview about the video Ward said:

"What happened was, we saw this bloke getting a bit rowdy at the football. So I turned to my mate Jeff and said ‘We’ll have a couple of beers at half time and then try and video him’. I had no idea it’d go this big – everyone’s gone mad for it."

As the original video gained more attention, Hill did not engage with it, the publicity coming while his sister (now deceased) was seriously ill in America.

Music career

Various parodies, remakes and songs have since been created from the original video, this in turn influenced Hill’s decision on releasing a charity single based on the viral video, saying:

"Everybody else is making money out of me, so I thought; why don’t I make a few pound for charity."

In 2014, the Daily Mirror started a campaign to get The Raider to Christmas number one, to which he obliged by recording a charity single called "Got No Fans", the royalties of which all go to the charities Great Ormond Street Hospital, Wealdstone Youth FC and the Northamptonshire-based charity Autism Concern. On 21 December, the Raider charted at number 5 in the Christmas charts, led by X Factor winner Ben Haenow. However, he topped the week's UK Indie Chart. Hill dropped down to 46 in the following week's chart, the final week of the year.

Discography

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Filmography

The media attention of which Hill has gained from the viral video and his charity single has led to an array of television appearances and interviews. In addition, stock footage of the Raider has been used by various filmmakers for several YouTube Poop mash-up videos, as well as for the dubbing of a number of popular television programmes and films, including Lord Sugar's The Apprentice and the Academy Award-winning blockbuster, Oliver!.