Popular football YouTuber Luke Nuttall believes StriveAid is about far more than just a charity football match.
Ahead of this year's event, Nuttall spoke exclusively to Striver.Football about why he wanted to be involved again, the football legends he's excited to share the pitch with, the importance of supporting mental health, and why he believes Striver can create a more positive football community online.
Why Luke Nuttall Wanted to Be Part of StriveAid
StriveAid, a charity football match organised by Striver, brings together former professionals, content creators and supporters to raise money for mental health awareness.
For Nuttall, the opportunity to play alongside some of football's biggest names made the invitation impossible to turn down: "I want to play in these charity games," he said.
"First of all, for charity. Second of all, this especially, the big, big names there, you know. And there is a lot of fans there,"
"[At StriveAid 2024] there was thousands of fans. I was just really excited to meet everyone."
The Football Legends He's Excited to Meet Again
With Striver hoping to have organised their next Charity Football match on October 3rd at Kingsmeadow, Nuttal was nostalgic over his last outing for StriveAid in 2024: "There was [Jens] Lehmann, [Jeremie] Aliadere, [Stiliyan] Petrov.
"Lehmann made it to Sky News, right? He did the triple save, and he got onto Sky Sports. And I was his centre back, so I should be taking the blame for the fact he had to save that!"
StriveAid 2024 was the inaugural event and despite missing out on last year's occassion, Nuttall is looking forward to getting involved again: "Everyone is just so nice!"
Why Mental Health Matters Beyond Football
While the event is focused on football, StriveAid's wider purpose is raising awareness of mental health.
And this is why Nuttall believes people can benefit from simple but meaningful actions: "I've never really experienced the mental health side myself, but I know people who have.
"And I'm a big believer in just go out and do something. That's another reason why Striver is good. The fans that come out are getting out and doing something that's pretty fun."
He also believes that keeping active can play an important role in maintaining a positive wellbeing: "I think staying outside, staying active is always - for me and from people I've spoken to before - it works quite well."
Why Nuttall Believes in Striver's Vision
As one of football's most recognisable online creators, Nuttall is no stranger to the harsh realities of social media.
Like his fellow creators, he regularly encounters criticism, but says he has learnt to not let it affect him: "YouTube itself, I definitely look at the comments. Most of them, to be fair, I just take it as a joke... there are obviously hate comments, but I just look at it and shrug it off."
That experience is one of the reasons why he believes Striver has the potential to offer something different from traditional social media platforms: "That's why I think Striver is so good, that you can literally not have the hate comments and everything is just positive.
"The fact that it is literally promoted as a positive sight, I think it will make people want to be positive anyway."
In a football landscape where online discourse can often become hostile within moments of the final whistle, Nuttall sees StriveAid and Striver as an opportunity to encourage a different kind of football community - one built on positivity, participation and supporting a cause that extends well beyond the Beautiful Game itself.
