YouTuber with passion for Derbyshire shortlisted for prestigious national award

Harry Kilner, aged 18, has built his reputation by capturing the reaction of fans to key moments in football games, attracting a total of 4.4 million views to his YouTube channel.

The 18-year-old will now go head to head with other successful social media figures from across the UK in the final of the young content creator of the year category of the Football Content Awards 2025. The winner will be announced at a glitzy ceremony at Leeds United’s Elland Road stadium on November 20.

In featuring the likes of Chesterfield and Derby County, Harry’s videos often convey his passion for Derbyshire. His dad Will was brought up in Furness Vale in the High Peak, played first team football for Buxton, cricket for Birch Vale and worked for the Matlock Mercury.

Judges have praised Harry's videos for bringing viewers “closer to the authentic supporter experience”, with an example being the way in which he captured the huge travelling Chesterfield support celebrating a play-off win at Halifax Town in 2022.

Harry, a Leeds Beckett student who now lives in Holmfirth, West Yorkshire, said: “I’m proud to have reached the final of such an important award. Vlogging big games through the eyes of a fan has given me a lot of enjoyment - and it’s great to be given this amazing recognition.

“The viewers who watch my videos and subscribe to my channel have been fantastic to me over the years, giving me loads of encouragement and positive comments, so this is a reward for them as much as for me. I hope people can support me once more by sending a vote my way to help me potentially win this great award.”

Harry was shortlisted after an esteemed panel of over 40 judges carefully reviewed 1,500 entries from 29,000 nominations. Winners will be decided by a combination of 50% judge votes and 50% fan votes - so Harry is urging people to vote for him at https://footballcontentawards.com/voting

Last season, Harry was widely praised for his footage of fans celebrating vital goals in big games, with some of his videos attracting as many as 80,000 YouTube views.

Subscribers from as far afield as Canada and Australia have commented on how his videos help them re-engage with football from thousands of miles away as his videos give them the feeling of being back in the stadium. A major highlight of last season was the way in which Harry captured a wonder-goal by Josh Windass for Sheffield Wednesday against Derby County. As Windass shot from behind the half-way line, Harry calmly continued to focus on the ball as it sailed into the net, before having the presence of mind to turn the camera on jubilant supporters in the stand.

Other notable moments included the wild scenes of celebration that greeted York City’s injury time equaliser and winner at Halifax, a video on Stocksbridge Park Steels beating Belper in the play-off semi-final, along with insightful clips of Oldham’s local derby win at Rochdale.

Harry’s first YouTube video was four years ago and he has since built a following of more than 7,000 subscribers.