West Ham United fan and well-known YouTube content creator Behzinga is the latest guest to join the Club’s official podcast, Iron Cast!
Ethan Payne was 13 years old when he made the decision to walk out of one life and into another. A young boy with big aspirations, he had accepted that the reality of becoming a professional footballer was now an uphill battle.
He’s glad he did. After creating YouTube content from FIFA video games for a handful of viewers, he had no idea that making videos at home in his bedroom would lead to him being recognised on the streets and give him the opportunities he could have only dared to dream about growing up.
At 28, Payne, who you might know as Behzinga, would be the first to admit he has lived the dream of every supporter of his boyhood team West Ham United.
Payne, who grew up in Romford among a family of West Ham United fans, recalled his early memories of attending matches at the Boleyn Ground and his love for former Hammers hero Yossi Benayoun.
Speaking to Iron Cast co-hosts Chris Scull and Anton Ferdinand, he said: “Where I grew up, it was just second nature. Everyone I knew was a West Ham fan and I was brought up in a family who watched them every weekend. I’ve still got my Dr Martens baby kit that my mum has kept in pristine condition, and I’ve got pictures of me wearing it as a boy.
“I think [my first game] was against West Brom. My dad used to work for a company called London City Bond, a wine warehouse, that used to give wine to Bobby Zamora, and he gave him some tickets in return for the Sir Trevor Brooking Stand.
“I used to come to the signing days they did at the Boleyn Ground. I would have my book, get everyone to sign it, and then get my pictures taken with the whole squad."
Behzinga started on YouTube as a 13-year-old, making videos from his bedroom, and spoke about his meteoric rise that has seen him reach the pinnacle of the content creator industry.
“I started my channel when I was 13 years old, I’m now 28, almost 29, so it’s been a very long time," he continued.
“It all started through wanting to share gaming clips, as there were very few people who were doing that. I was very early to it which was a blessing as it’s so saturated now.
“I’ve had my trials and tribulations of getting burnt out and the weight of expectation from people. Once you get to a certain size, everybody wants you to post these videos. You go through peaks and troughs, but I think one of the main things is you get an audience that like you for you and trying to remember that’s what they’re interested in. If you’re enjoying it, they will too.
“It all happened very quickly [becoming a well-known YouTuber] but the bit you don’t see is me posting videos that got 20-30 views for two or three years. I used to do thank you videos for every 50 subscribers. I think the key thing [to being successful] is being yourself, don’t try and copy things. You can take inspiration from people’s concepts, but you’ve always got to put your own spin on it.”
As the years have progressed, Behzinga’s name and reputation has grown beyond belief. He is now one of the UK’s well-known content creators and has five million subscribers on his personal YouTube channel, in addition to the 20m followers on the Sidemen’s group main channel.
In June 2023, he was brought to tears as he watched his beloved West Ham United lift the UEFA Europa Conference League trophy in Prague, before captaining super-group of UK creators the Sidemen in a charity match at London Stadium three months later in front of 60,000 people – only going and scoring the opener.
“Trying to get a ticket for that [UEFA Europa Conference League final] was like gold dust. These are the key moments that when I’m 60-70 years old, I can say I was at the last game at the Boleyn Ground and was at the Conference League final.
“When I arrived at the stadium, looking out at the pitch, I was thinking ‘this is our night’. There was no way we had packed the stadium like that to then not go on and win it. I cried like a baby at full-time, but you can’t put a price on a moment like that. I’ve been attached to West Ham my whole life and it’s my longest relationship, and always will be.
“I think growing up every fan thinks ‘I’d love to play on that pitch’ and that’s just in an empty stadium, never mind 60,000 people watching me score. It was mental. In the buildup, I was giving it the big one that I was going to score on my home pitch, and the fact I scored the opener as well, you couldn’t write it, it was like a movie script.
“I was telling myself, ‘Hit it hard and low and it goes in’, and that’s what happened. I always wanted that moment. I’ve retired the boots as they’ve still got paint on them from where I hit the knee slide. It was emotional when everyone was hugging me as they knew how much it meant to me.
“Simon [Minter] has captained Sidemen for every charity match and Billy Wingrove was managing us that day. He said it was a big moment for one of our players and then handed me the captain’s armband. Even then, I was a bit emotional walking out.”
Behzinga also offered his thoughts on the Hammers’ recent recruitments – after playing a role in helping unveil Club record signing Lucas Paquetá from French side Olympique Lyonnais last summer.
"I’m always blessed to do stuff with West Ham. That day was quite funny as Lucas [Paquetá] didn't speak a word of English, so I’m just sitting there nodding while interviewing him. I was saying to myself, ‘He’s going to be so good’, and if he is, then I was the one who brought him into the stadium!
“I can’t believe we got a free run at James Ward-Prowse for £30m," said Payne. “He’s absolute mustard. An absolute steal.
“[Mohammed] Kudus is a player. [Edson] Álvarez is like me, likes to get stuck in, and I’m really excited to see how [Kalvin] Phillips gets on as soon as he starts getting more minutes. I think we will then see how good he is.”
You can check out the whole episode in the video player above, or you can download and subscribe to Iron Cast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and RSS here now!
