Hashtag United score a winning goal for non-league football
A new era for non-league football is on the horizon as the days of traditional routes into the sport are relegated to the sidelines.
In London, lurking in the shadows of Tottenham Hotspur’s new 62,000-seater stadium, lies a team playing in the tenth tier of English football, to an audience of 400,000.
Hashtag United were founded in 2016 by YouTuber, Spencer FC, 30, and his brother, Seb Carmichael-Brown, 33.
Initially the team played exhibition matches which were published on YouTube, where only six UK football teams beat them for views, but now they have ventured in to non-league football, playing in the East Counties League Division One South.
Seb said: “Obviously Spencer has been making YouTube videos about football for a very long time. We did something called the Wembley Cup with YouTube personalities playing football.
“It’s very hard to arrange that every week so we looked to create a team of our own mates. It performed really well views-wise, so we thought we’d do a bit more of it.
“We came up with this idea to play in this world of football inspired by the gaming world. If you play games like FIFA 19 it’s very similar to seasons mode and that’s how it all started.”
After completing their exhibition matches, Hashtag United decided to join an FA league in Essex and are currently top of the league in their first season.
“The biggest change was that we hired a real manager. Jay Devereux has been a massive difference for us, he has come in and got the best out of the players and brought in some new additions so that’s been the biggest change.”
As well as securing lucrative partnership deals with Adidas and Football Manager, providing exposure and income that this level of football has never seen before, Hashtag United are also bringing a younger set of fans into non-league football.
Self-proclaimed ‘super-fan’, Alfie Howden, 19, who has set up his own YouTube channel following Hashtag from a fan’s perspective, said: “I was one of the sceptics as much as everyone else was.
“I have always been a fan of the club since they started their YouTube journey but when it came across that they were joining non-league I knew there were going to be critics.
“I’ve loved football for a very long time so to be able to not only watch a match but also to then celebrate with the players and have a pint with them is an opportunity I take.
“At the end of the day, I’d much rather it stays at this level where everyone is involved, and everyone is enjoying it than go up to the stars and forget where it came from, but I am not writing anything off.”
This untraditional method of breaking into non-league is paving the way for a new era for that level of football. However, as with most unique concepts, it has the potential to ruffle a few feathers.
When it was announced Hashtag were joining non-league on Twitter, Spencer received replies such as “you are ruining non-league with these franchises” and “this is truly revolting.” But the view of the chairman of May and Baker, a team in Hashtag’s league, Andy Everett, 53, is quite the opposite.
He said: “I think it’s a good thing, a really good thing. It brings much needed attention towards non-league, they bring good crowds and much needed income.
“The young fans are excellent. We played them the other week — our coach, former West Ham player Alan Dickens — and the fans wanted pictures with the goalkeeper of Hashtag, not him.
“I was very curious when I found out they were joining non-league. I knew with Jay Devereux as manager that they would have a good team.
“I have nothing but positive things to say about them.”
This unique concept could be the future for lower league football, and more grassroots clubs could soon follow suit. To see how Hashtag United are doing in their maiden season, click here.
