Hashtag United FC
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| Full name | Hashtag United Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Tags | ||
| Founded | March 2016 | ||
| Ground | Len Salmon Stadium, Pitsea | ||
| Capacity | 2,661 (300 seated)[1] | ||
| Chairman | Spencer Carmichael-Brown[2] | ||
| Manager | Jay Devereux | ||
| League | Eastern Counties League Division One South | ||
| Website | Club website | ||
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Hashtag United Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Pitsea, Essex, England. They are currently members of the Eastern Counties League Division One South and play at the Len Salmon Stadium.
Founded in 2016 by YouTube personality Spencer Owen, the club originally played exhibition matches against professional football clubs' staff teams, Sunday league teams and non-league teams. The games were filmed and highlights were uploaded to their YouTube channel, where they quickly gained a significant online following. In 2017 Owen began talks with the FA over the possibility of Hashtag joining the non-league pyramid. The club subsequently entered the league system at the beginning of the 2018–19 season, joining the Eastern Counties League.
History[edit]
Hashtag United Football Club was formed in March 2016 by Spencer Owen, a football YouTuber who went by the name Spencer FC. Owen had begun making YouTube videos in 2013 as a student at the University of Reading, and the team initially consisted of friends from school and university.[3]
From their foundation, the team primarily played five, seven and eleven-a-side exhibition matches, which were filmed and uploaded to their YouTube channel. By September 2016, the team's Instagram account had over 100,000 followers, their Twitter account 41,000, and a 'penalty challenge' video uploaded to YouTube had accumulated over one million views. Hashtag United played various teams including a Comedians XI whom they beat 19–1, Google, the GB Deaf Team, Barawa and a Manchester City staff team, with opponents fielding former professional footballers such as Paul Dickov, Graeme Le Saux and Ray Parlour, and celebrities including Omid Djalili. At one point in 2016, the club was rumoured to be interested in signing professional footballer Adebayo Akinfenwa.[3] In 2017 the club won the EE Wembley Cup, a competition that Owen had created in 2015.[4] The team included Scott Pollock, who went on to sign professional terms with Northampton Town.[5]
Ahead of the 2018–19 season, the club joined the English football league system, initially being placed in Division One of the Spartan South Midlands League, before being moved to the Eastern Counties League after appealing that it was more suited to their Essex roots.[6] After joining the pyramid, Spencer Owen stepped down as manager and was replaced by former East Thurrock United assistant manager Jay Devereux. Their first competitive match was a 3–2 away loss to Little Oakley on 4 August 2018.[7] The club's first league season saw them reach the semi-finals of Division One Knock-Out Cup.[8] They went on to win the Division One South title, earning promotion to the Essex Senior League.[9] The 2019–20 season was abandoned due to the coronavirus pandemic with the club second in the league, a point behind the leaders and with three matches in hand.
Season-by-season record[edit]
| Season | League | Level | Position | FA Cup | FA Vase | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018–19 | Eastern Counties League Division One South | 10 | 1st of 19 | – | – | Promoted |
| 2019–20 | Essex Senior Football League | 9 | N/A | – | Second qualifying round | Season abandoned |
Other teams[edit]
The club currently operates a reserve and development mens side as well as a number of development men and womans youth teams.[10][11] The youth section of the club was merged with Forest Glade for the start of the 2020–21 season.[12][13] In April 2020 the club announced that they would have a women's team, Hashtag United Women, from the start of the 2020–21 season as a result of a merger with AFC Basildon.[14][15][16] The women's team plays in the FA Women's National League, the fourth tier.[17] The club also has an eSports team.[18]
The club operates a Sunday league team, which was established in 2017 under the name West Oviedo and joined Division Two of the Brentwood Sunday League.[19] They were runners-up in their first season and were promoted to Division One. They went on to win Division One in 2018–19.[20] The club also had a team named Hashtag Academy that played in the seven-a-side Next Level Football League.[21]
Colours and badge[edit]
Hashtag United's colours are yellow and blue.[2] The club's first kit was a yellow shirt, with blue sleeves, shorts and yellow socks. In January 2017, the club signed a kit deal with Umbro until the end of 2018. This saw the club's colours changed to blue, with yellow streaks down the side of the shorts. This kit deal was the first of its kind for an amateur team.[22] The club's first shirt sponsor was EE.[23] From 2017–18, the shirt sponsor was online game Top Eleven.[24] The online gambling company 188 Bet were briefly the sleeve sponsor of the club. Ahead of the 2018–19 season, the club signed a new kit deal with Adidas, which saw the club's home shirt returned to the traditional yellow and blue they had originally worn.[25]
The club's badge is yellow and blue, with the club's name emblazoned on the horizontal lines of a hashtag symbol.
| Season | Manufacturer | Shirt Sponsor |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Umbro | EE Limited |
| 2017–2018 | Top Eleven Football Manager | |
| 2018– | Adidas | Football Manager |
Stadium[edit]
After joining the Eastern Counties League, the club began playing at the Coles Park Stadium, groundsharing with Haringey Borough.[26] In April 2019, following promotion to the Essex Senior League, Hashtag United announced that the club would move to Tilbury's Chadfields for the 2019–20 season.[27] In March 2020 the club stated that they would move to the Len Salmon Stadium, home of Bowers & Pitsea, for the 2020–21 season.[28] The women's team plays at Canvey Island's Park Lane ground.
Current squad[edit]
- As of 29 September 2020[29]
Men's Team
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Women's Team
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Staff[edit]
| Position | Name[30][31] |
|---|---|
| Co-owners | Spencer Carmichael-Brown, Alex Osipczak |
| Chairman | Spencer Carmichael-Brown |
| Commercial Director | Seb Carmichael-Brown |
| Operations Director | Neil Smythe |
| Men's first team manager | Jay Devereux |
| Men's assistant manager | Joe Keith |
| Men's coach | Tom Williams |
| Men's goalkeeping coach | Tony Tucker |
| Men's reserve team manager | Kiernan Hughes-Mason |
| Men's assistant reserve team manager | Paul Prosser |
| Men's development team manager | Dennis Simpson |
| Women's first team manager | Jason Stephens |
| Women's assistant manager | Craig Davidson |
| Women's coach | Wayne Rothon |
| Women's goalkeeping coach | Harry Beaver |
| Women's U23s manager | Marc Wilson |
| Physiotherapists | Steve Carmichael-Brown, Will Slaughter, Matthew Feyissa and Alan Richards |
| Kitman | Mikey Rumin |
| Director of Youth Football | Derrick Pearson |
Honours[edit]
- Eastern Counties League
- Division One South champions 2018–19
- EE Wembley Cup
- Winners 2017
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ Club Information Bowers & Pitsea F.C.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Hashtag United Eastern Counties League
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Bysouth, Alex (6 September 2016). "Hashtag United & the YouTube generation: Football's future?". BBC News. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
- ↑ EE scales up Wembley Cup experience to reach new audiences Campaign, 27 February 2019
- ↑ Scott Pollock: Ex-Hashtag United player swaps season ticket for spot in Northampton side BBC Sport, 21 January 2019
- ↑ Hashtag United: YouTube team can 'bring new fans' to non-league game BBC Sport, 1 June 2018
- ↑ Hashtag United have conquered YouTube and non-league is next: behind the scenes of a phenomenon FourFourTwo, 16 November 2018
- ↑ First Division Knock Out Cup 2018/19 FA Full Time
- ↑ Hashtag United: YouTube side win title in debut non-league season BBC Sport, 18 April 2019
- ↑ "The Future of Hashtag United Football Club". YouTube. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
- ↑ "It's match day weekend...and it's huuuge". Hashtag United on Twitter. Retrieved 2020-08-15.
- ↑ "HASHTAG UNITED ANNOUNCE MERGER WITH FOREST GLADE FC TO BRING YOUTH FOOTBALL TO THE CLUB | Hashtag United". FootballFanCast.com. 2020-05-05. Retrieved 2020-08-15.
- ↑ "Welcome to the official website of Forest Glade FC | Billericay, Essex". www.forestgladefc.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-08-15.
- ↑ HASHTAG'S NEW TEAM!, retrieved 2020-04-20
- ↑ Whaling, James (2020-04-20). "Hashtag United join forces with AFC Basildon Women to launch ladies' side". mirror. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
- ↑ admin (2020-04-20). "Coronavirus battle: Hashtag United launch women's side with Basildon". The Non League Football Paper - Daily football news. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
- ↑ "AFC Basildon Girls U18". fulltime-league.thefa.com. Retrieved 2020-04-28.
- ↑ Hashtag United, a unique symbiosis of virtual and real-life football FIFA, 28 December 2018
- ↑ Hashtag join Sunday league Hashtag United on YouTube
- ↑ 2x champions? Hashtag United Sunday League S2E10 Hashtag United on YouTube
- ↑ Meet the teams! - Next Level Football League Next Level Football League on YouTube
- ↑ YouTube football team Hashtag United sign kit deal with Umbro until 2018 Daily Mirror, 24 January 2017
- ↑ INTRODUCING HASHTAG UNITED! Hashtag United on YouTube
- ↑ NEW KITS & NEW SIGNING! - HASHTAG UNITED Hashtag United on YouTube
- ↑ Hashtag United: Inside story on the rise and rise of YouTube's No.1 football team Daily Mirror, 17 October 2008
- ↑ We'll be moving home next season... Hashtag United, 25 April 2019
- ↑ WHERE'S OUR NEW HOME? - ASK DEVS ANYTHING #3 Hashtag United, 25 April 2019
- ↑ Hashtag United launch first Hashtag Academy sports and education programme Hashtag United, 12 March 2020
- ↑ https://www.footballfancast.com/hashtag-united/squad
- ↑ Hashtag United vs Clapton Hashtag United
- ↑ Hashtag UTD FC WOMEN vs ENFIELD TOWN LFC Hashtag United
External links[edit]
Coordinates: 51°34′26.558″N 0°31′5.160″E / 51.57404389°N 0.51810000°E
