Hashtag United are a football club like no other, set up in 2016 by Spencer Owen, it was a serious of football games with Spencer and his friends that were uploaded to YouTube.
The support grew more, and the club developed into a semi-professional football club that are a member of the football club currently participating in the Essex Senior League in the 9th tier of English football.
Hashtag’s story is like no other and it is an example of how a football club can grow in the modern era.
They have a massive online presence and regularly prove that their viewing figures are better than most professional clubs.
It has attracted fans to non-league like nothing has ever done before, the style of videos that are uploaded are not typical match highlights – but more like a ‘vlog’ seen on YouTube that adds a personal layer that the fans can really get behind.
Their name ‘Hashtag United’ is something that is different about their club, it has no attached place to the name, the only club to do this in the football league is Port Vale.
A hashtag is something that is used online to share and discuss, so naming their football team, that started online is something somewhat poetic and describes exactly what the club represents.
Hashtag United were one of the first clubs to have an esports player represent them, when Spencer asked his fans to participate in a competition to find their esports player for FIFA.
Esports is something that is growing, and it is a great way for football clubs to expand their brand and engage in something other than traditional football – young fans that only know the online world can really get behind this.
Hashtag United have their own website, which fans can contribute to, they have quizzes and club profiles, which help promote their image online.
No club at their level has support and an online presence that they have, and it is great PR for the brand to promote the way they do.
Partnerships between sporting giants Adidas and popular football game Football Manager have been great PR promotions for Hashtag and it has shown what power of online promotion can do for a football club.
Some people do not like how Hashtag United are doing football and say it is untraditional, however it is a far cry better than the new European Super League that has been announced.
It help gives a voice to non-league football and Sunday League football and it is a club with a real heart.
In an interview with me back in 2018, Neil Smythe, the Operations Director at Hashtag United said:
“I think the rise of unofficial football content on social platforms has a lot to do with the connection between the audience and the publisher. “Younger audiences feel an authentic connection with YouTube personalities, one they don’t normally have with top tier teams and sportsmen/women. “So, whilst most of us still enjoy watching professional football, there’s plenty of room for a complementary offering of unofficial football, whether that be Sunday League, exhibition games such as Wembley Cup or what we are doing now at Hashtag United. “We know that the quality of both production and skill level on the pitch can never match the Premier League, but what we can offer is a more authentic, relevant voice and accessible personalities. “Fans can interact with our players either online or in person at games, something which doesn’t really happen at a higher level. “There’s also the element of unofficial publishers being able to take more risks editorially than pro teams are; at Hashtag we try to be brand friendly, but some teams online are pushing the more extreme, raw tone to appeal to younger fans. “Most of the teams who have had sustained success have built their audience off the back of one or more well-known YouTube personalities, and fans buy into these before they buy into a team."
Football is a great way for people to connect, whether that be at a match, at the pub or various ways online.
With no billionaire owner the club has been built from the ground up, since this interview they have grown even further.
Establishing women and youth teams at Hashtag United and player Scott Pollock signed for Northampton Town in League Two.
The club are always looking for ways to develop and grow and appear to always be ahead of the curve.
Creating a club online has worked for Hashtag United as they have entered the football pyramid - but it has also worked for clubs like Palmers FC and SE Dons to grow online at a lower level.
Hashtag United 'Superfan' Alfie, who regularly features on the YouTube channel and social media had this to say:
“We have in terms of actual attendance at games fairly similar numbers to the clubs in our league, we are at the higher end of it but not much, there is that.
“We are still ground sharing; we do not own a multi-million pound stadium anywhere we are still travelling to the middle of nowhere sometimes.
“We have still got that close-knit connection between fans and players, there is a lot similar. The differences come about when you talk about the social media aspect.
“Because clubs generally speaking, at our level don’t film their games, that’s a big part of, certainly not with professional grade camera equipment, professional grade commentary equipment, which is what are used.
“The livestream and camera equipment are done with the same ones as a lot of the national grade broadcasters. So, we are using proper high-end tech to produce a professional product, which is obviously different to a lot clubs and come with its own individual expenses which have to be managed.
“Which is another department in itself the finance department people would say that the club has a lot more money coming in from sponsorship and YouTube views yes that’s true but, this has to be spread out to the various people being employed, the various loaning of equipment, all this kind of stuff.
“It’s different in a sense that there’s a lot more people involved, we have got an esports team, it is more like an organisation than the clubs at our level.
“Typically speaking, it is a balancing act the club never wants to get too big for its boots if you like and wants to maintain the community family friendly aspect that the club currently puts out and at no point lose that because of a oversight that no club ever wants to outgrow that.
“So, a lot of things they do are big and are different but they are not going to change they are still a non-league side at the end of the day in the aspect that we are talking about anyway.
“With regards to online success we are top ten in a number of different leader boards in all the clubs in the world, in terms of YouTube views.
“Online success is massive, but it won’t always pay the bills, it won’t always carry us through those big games you need fan support.
“We hope more boots on the ground are going to come support the club physically as well as virtual but that is the transition period the club is in at the moment."
The club has a significant following and backing, their last two seasons have been called off due to the COVID-19 pandemic but the fight is not over.
Spencer at the rest fo the team are working hard to make Hashtag United something special in football and create a thing bigger than themselves.
Some people may not like what they were doing, but they certainly are not going anywhere and The Beautiful Game will be following.
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