WHSmith hosted the ticketed event, which saw Chris Dixon (21) signing copies of his first book, Thrills, Skills and Molehills, for more than an hour at the King Street shop.
It was the third signing that Mr Dixon had done in three days, following sell-out events in Manchester and London, and he said that it was great to be able to meet his local fans.
‘I’m so grateful to the hundreds of fans that I’ve met over the last three days,’ he said.
‘It was overwhelming to meet so many of them in person and I hope they enjoy the book. I had a lot of fun writing it and I’ve already had some great feedback from people who have been reading it – some have even started posting videos about the football challenges in the book, which is great.
‘There is something very humbling about meeting subscribers in person. I’ve also had to learn some interesting spellings of names!’
Mr Dixon has nearly four million subscribers to his YouTube channel, which he runs under the handle ChrisMD, and in the last 12 months he has filmed videos with some of football’s biggest stars, including Real Madrid striker Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester United forward Alexis Sanchez and Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne. He started the channel from his bedroom in 2011, posting videos related to football, and has gone on to become one of the most popular YouTubers in the UK.
WHSmith assistant manager Matt Melling said that it had been a pleasure to host the book signing, which was held between 1 and 2 pm.
‘The queue stretched around the store and there were lots of excited children and happy faces,’ he said.
‘We were very pleased to be able to accommodate Chris in his local signing and it all went very smoothly. He was very relaxed and really engaged with his fans.’
Finn McGrath (7) was one of the starstruck fans who queued up to meet their hero. He said: ‘It was epic meeting my favourite football YouTuber – he scores the best “top bin” goals! The book is really cool and I can’t wait to do the challenges. One day I’d love to take on Chris in a “tekkers” challenge.’
