A man who earned internet fame as a viral meme claims he's received death threats and even been attacked.
'Wealdstone Raider' Gordon Hill became an internet sensation overnight in 2013 after a clip surfaced of him squaring up to an opposition fan at his local football club.
Mr Hill was watching his beloved Wealdstone FC when the clip was caught of him confronting the rival, asking, 'you want some?'.
Gordon was chanting, "you've got no fans, you've got no ground" when an onlooker began taunting him, resulting in the tame confrontation.
But the fan has said his unsolicited internet fame has cost him his safety and has prompted a wave of threats and abuse after someone posted his phone number online.
Months after the video was shared, Gordon says he was running for a bus when he was punched in the head by a stranger.
He claims the attack left him in a coma.
"It was constant hate," Gordon previously told Vice. "Trolls and death threats."
"There are some horrible people out there," he told the outlet
.
"I’ve been assaulted. I got knocked out and put in a coma. I had a bleed on the brain. It’s not all champagne and red carpets.
Gordon last year featured in a World Cup song spearheaded by the National League club's president.
The track titled 'We're All Here Together' wasn't Gordon's first attempt to crash the charts after he also released his single 'Got No Fans' in 2014.
Gordon, from Harrow, has also made various further public appearances and spoken as a guest on several podcasts since internet stardom.
In 2016, he told the Mirror he was "set up and assaulted" by rival fans while watching the same club after he was punched twice by the same man.
"He swung a firm punch, missed because I avoided it, and from the second punch he caught me on the shoulder," he said.
"Two stewards saw him and evicted him. After that, I don't know what happened because I stayed with the stewards."
He claimed tempers continued to flare after the match, culminating in him being hit again to the back of the head.
In 2021, the Raider was arrested and released by British Transport Police after being suspected of being drunk and disorderly during England's Euro quarter final match against Ukraine.
Gordon told Vice that public reactions to the 2013 video have meant he's had to change his number and that his stardom has even affected his love life.
"It got to a stage where I didn’t want to go out," he admitted. I don’t mind being asked for pictures, but when you’re out with friends you can’t have a conversation.
"This isn’t a moan, but people don’t know that you have a private life. I was seeing a girl when it first started, and she just couldn’t handle it. It was too much for her."
