hashtag united dream league soccer 'Hours from folding' – how AFC Basildon became Hashtag United Women FC. I t feels like “a reward for how hard we’ve worked”, says AFC Basildon’s captain, Alex Bailess, on the team being taken under the wing of the YouTube sensations Hashtag United. “There was a time when the club was literally hours from folding, with no committee, no funding and loads of players had left. Every year we wonder whether we are going to make it through the next season and what the funding is going to be like. It’s just been quite uncertain.” For the uninitiated, in 2016 Hashtag United was converted from a ramshackle seven-a-side team to a team that would compete on YouTube for all to see. The founder Spencer Owen would arrange for the matches, played against staff teams of professional clubs and Sunday league and non- league teams, to be filmed and uploaded to the website. Win a certain number of games and there would be promotion in a fictional league. Now, they have almost half a million subscribers on YouTube and Instagram, close to 200,000 followers on Twitter as well as a men’s team playing more formally in the tier-nine Essex Senior League. The news of their takeover of AFC Basildon, which became Hashtag United Women FC, was met with an outpouring of support on social media. The former England internationals Karen Carney and Sue Smith, Manchester United’s Siobhan Chamberlain, Chelsea’s captain César Azpilicueta and Roma were just a few to express their delight for AFC Basildon, who are in the Women’s National League South East Division 1, the fourth tier of women’s football, and play on Canvey Island. When Hashtag United decided to tackle the men’s pyramid, they were comfortable starting at the bottom. Stepping into the women’s game is a very different landscape though. “Women’s football and men’s football are in very different places, and this team was in a very different situation,” says Owen. “When I met the guys it was made quite clear to me that without the support of someone like us the club was probably going to fold. The level they’re at, the great players they have got and the work they’ve done, it just seemed mad.” Why the decision to step into women’s football at all? “I watched the last few Women’s World Cups,” says Owen. “I’m always up for watching any kind of football and I’ve never thought of it in an insular way.” What surprised him was the response to the Lionesses more widely. “Maybe it was partly that it was a nice footballing time for the nation in general, the men had done well the year before them so there was a lot of hope that is usually not necessarily there. “And people are maybe just a little bit less ignorant about the fact that football isn’t just a load of men running around, it’s about the game and the game can be played in many different ways and by many different people.” He tweeted out a call for teams nearby the Essex based Hashtag to get in touch. “I knew that the dream scenario for us would be, rather than just sponsoring and giving a club some money, bringing something within our club that we could really offer long-term support to and hopefully allow people to profit from the profile and the fan base we have,” he says. AFC Basildon “stood out” as they are the highest ranked women’s team in Essex and are in the – now suspended – County Cup final. “You think on the surface, they are going to be the one that’s most protected, the most set up, the least in need of help but that wasn’t the case,” Owen says. “There were four guys running a club that was massively overperforming, and they had done a fantastic job. AFC Basildon are the highest ranked women’s team in Essex but came close to folding before their takeover by Hashtag United. Photograph: AFC Basildon. “They’ve kept the club going for a year on their own, putting their own money in, all just normal guys with normal jobs, doing it for the love of it. They were struggling financially, [but] not on the pitch. They were doing fantastic on the pitch.” The aim is to offer stability, exposure and “give our audience different kinds of football heroes”. In AFC Basildon they’ve got plenty. Bailess is one of three players working in the NHS. She is a respiratory physiotherapist working in intensive care. “Everything is very different at the moment and we’re all having to be flexible and adapt to new roles and be pushed out of our comfort zone,” she says. Hashtag United live score, schedule and results - Football. Hashtag United live score (and video online live stream*), team roster with season schedule and results. We’re still waiting for Hashtag United opponent in next match. It will be shown here as soon as the official schedule becomes available. When the match starts, you will be able to follow Livescore , standings, minute by minute updated live results and match statistics. We may have video highlights with goals and news for some Hashtag United matches, but only if they play their match in one of the most popular football leagues. Hashtag United previous match was against Braintree Town in FA Cup, Qualification, match ended with result 1 - 1 (Braintree Town won the match). 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Please note that the intellectual property rights to stream such events are usually owned at a country level and therefore, depending on your location, there may be certain events that you may be unable to view due to such restrictions. You can click on any player from the roster on the right and see his personal information such as nationality, date of birth, height, preferred foot, position, player value, transfer history etc. There are also statistics for each player in all competitions with all total played and started matches, minutes played, number of goals scored, number of cards and much more. Hashtag United top scorers list is updated live during every match. SofaScore Football livescore is available as iPhone and iPad app, Android app on Google Play and Windows phone app. You can find us in all stores on different languages searching for "SofaScore". Install SofaScore app and follow all Hashtag United matches live on your mobile! Hashtag United have conquered YouTube and non-league is next: behind the scenes of a phenomenon. James Harrington and his three sons, George, Jake and Charlie, have made a 90-minute journey from Wimbledon to Tottenham to watch a non- league football match, although dad’s not sure why they’ve bothered. “My mind just can’t process it – they’re more excited about this than an Arsenal game,” he tells FourFourTwo . Spurs’ new stadium is only down the road, but they’re a million miles away from the Premier League. It’s 5.15pm on a Tuesday, and they’ve rocked up at a ground with one stand, turnstile and burger van. There isn’t another fan in sight, but hundreds of thousands of followers will watch highlights of the game on YouTube in the coming days. At 7.45pm, Hashtag United will play their maiden home match at Haringey Borough’s 2,500-capacity Coles Park Stadium – and only the second game in their history – against Hackney Wick in the Eastern Counties League Division One South. If you’ve never heard of them, that’s because until a few months ago they were just an exhibition side playing games against the likes of Google and Copa90, and competing in their own fictitious league formats on YouTube. The club is the brainchild of 29-year-old YouTube star Spencer Owen. A decade ago, he began making his own video content in his bedroom while studying at the University of Reading, before launching his own football channel, Spencer FC, in 2013. Within three years he had more than one million subscribers and in 2016 created Hashtag United, an 11-a-side team made up of his mates. He aimed to film and edit their games into highlights packages, so that ordinary people could enjoy watching other ordinary people play football. However, rather than play in a normal division, Owen decided they should compete in imaginary leagues based on computer game FIFA . Each season would be 10 games long, with Hashtag facing clubs with a similar theme, such as other Sunday League outfits or staff teams from professional clubs. His pals thought he was mad but it spawned a huge online following, particularly among a younger audience, who were drawn to this hybrid form of the game and the access it provided to the dressing room. Fast forward a couple of years and Hashtag have participated in 60 unofficial games in seven different countries, sold 34,000 tickets for a charity game at Wembley – which pitted them against Tekkers Town, another team of YouTube stars and ex-pros including Steven Gerrard and William Gallas – and amassed over 400,000 subscribers on their YouTube channel. Their social media accounts boast more followers than most Football League sides. And their huge online audience has attracted the attention of brands like Adidas and Football Manager, who will produce and sponsor their kits for the next three seasons, and Coca-Cola, who funded the team’s US tour last year. Hashtag’s shirts will even feature on the new FIFA 19 video game. Having conquered YouTube, Owen’s latest dream is for Hashtag to make a fairytale rise through non-league. “This gives us the chance to dream big,” he tells FFT . “We don’t want to be an anecdote and for people to say, ‘Do you remember that social media team a few years ago? I wonder what happened to them?’ We intend to be around for a long time and create a sustainable non-league club. On YouTube, we were kind of throwing our own birthday party, because it was our own creation. Now we’re a small fish in a very big pond and we’ll be the oddball of English football.” In May, he announced to his two million YouTube followers that the club would kick off their journey in the Eastern Senior League, having originally been admitted to the Spartan South Midlands Division One, hundreds of miles from the Essex base where the majority of the team reside. But the club have faced resistance from rival outfits, who claimed their arrival forced other sides out of the division. “We were put into the wrong league, which meant another team would have been relegated, but that’s not what we wanted,” says Owen. “Now we’re in the right league and we’re one of 11 teams entering a new league structure.” Criticism has come from traditionalists too, who’ve compared their progression with Billericay and Salford – clubs with sizeable budgets determined to climb the pyramid as quickly as possible. “We want to be successful but our ambition isn’t to reach the Premier League in 10 years,” says Owen. “Many clubs at this level don’t have sustainable business models and rely on benefactors. Some do that well, but others throw money at it and fall apart. We don’t want that. If we’re around in five years and making a profit, I think that will be a success.” Every penny into the club. Although Hashtag have benefited from the backing of major brands and some of the deals run into six-figure sums, Owen’s quick to dispel the myth that they’re awash with cash. “Every penny we’ve made has gone back into the club,” he says. “Our manager is remunerated but we’ve got no playing budget. The players don’t get paid, as it costs us thousands of pounds to film and edit content – other clubs don’t have these overheads. “Without the backing of our commercial partners we wouldn’t be able to do that. We have to ensure we’re making excellent content for our online audience, who we rely on to exist. We’re trying a different model and way of running a club, by putting content first.” Their current approach is a reverse of a traditional football business model, with their online audience sustaining the club through colossal YouTube views and bringing in advertising revenue. And while ticket sales would normally be another essential income stream, Owen is realistic about the challenge ahead. “Initially, we don’t expect ticket sales to be a big earner for us,” he reveals. “We hope to be one of the best-supported teams at this level, but we’ve never played regular games before – they’ve always been every few weeks, and our online audience is global. We’re not tied to a region, so we don’t know how many supporters will turn up. Our first match had the third highest attendance of any match at our level in the country, which is a great start.” Tonight’s showdown is the talk of playgrounds across the country, and there was no chance James Harrington’s boys were going to miss out. The trio will be ball boys after winning an online competition, and are visibly excited as the first of the players and staff arrive in the car park. Spencer’s mum, Cindy, is on turnstile duties, while dad Steve is the club’s physio. Both come over to meet the boys, who already know them by name and greet them with a family-like familiarity. They have two other sons: Seb, who is now Hashtag’s commercial director, and Saunders, who works as a Formula E presenter and is here as a fan. For Cindy, it’s a proud night. “I always told Spencer that nothing good would come of YouTube and playing video games, but he’s proved me wrong,” she says. “I’m just glad they’ve turned out to be decent lads.” As the rest of Hashtag’s squad trickle through the players’ entrance, George, Jake and Charlie are momentarily starstruck by the guys they normally see on their laptop screens. But these aren’t big names with flashy cars and millions of pounds in the bank. Only two of the team are full- time YouTubers, while the rest are normal blokes with normal jobs. Captain Jack Harrison works in insurance and striker Ryan Adams is a carpenter. There are also teachers and lawyers among a myriad professions. “We’re not a team of Love Islanders, we’re just a bunch of mates who love playing football,” says Owen. Normal they may be, but their matchday routine is unlike any other in non-league or professional football. From the moment they arrive, Hashtag’s six-man content team spring into action, capturing every moment for their online audience. Operations director Neil Smythe, who spent eight years at Soccer AM before helping to launch Copa90, Manchester United fans’ channel Full Time Devils and other innovative platforms, oversees their output. “We have to do things differently as this is 10th-tier football,” he says. “The punters don’t watch us for the skill of the players. Spencer and his squad are accessible and likeable voices. They watch us for personalities and the relationships between them. We’re offering viewers a relatable experience. You can respect Sergio Aguero and Lionel Messi, but you’ll never know them or even get their autograph.” Unlike traditional match highlights, Hashtag’s coverage is a spliced offering of pre- and post-match vlogs, footage of players on the way to the game in their cars, as well as clips from inside the dressing room and match action. The format is another reason for the team’s huge popularity with younger viewers. “My kids never watch a full 90 minutes of football any more,” admits Harrington. “If Arsenal are on TV, they’ll watch about 20 minutes and then get distracted by their iPad or smartphone. Kids now just want to see the goals, assists and skills rather than a full match, and they’ll follow individuals more than they do teams.” The format helps Smythe and his team tell the stories of the leading characters in the Hashtag cast, and FFT spots one of them near the pitch filming a selfie video before the game. Two years ago, Jemel Akeem decided to become a full-time YouTuber after the success of lads channel JemelOneFive, and joined Hashtag after finishing third in a series of trials aimed at unearthing new talent. “I live in Bristol and spent three hours on a bus getting here,” says the 26-year-old. “I have a five-year-old daughter so can’t play every week, but I want to play as much as I can.” The reason for his dedication – aside from a love of the game – is the online exposure from being a Hashtag player. “After the trials, I got 15- 20,000 new followers on Instagram and YouTube,” he says. Those numbers have since led to collaborations with New Balance, EA Sports and nutrition brand Healthspan Elite on various projects. But while online fame and life in front of the camera is now second nature for Akeem, club captain Harrison is still getting his head around Hashtag’s popularity. “I’m just a 33-year-old bloke who works in insurance,” he chuckles. “After our games we get fans coming up asking us to sign autographs and have pictures with them, it’s crazy.” Reputation on the line. It’s also a new world for Jay Devereux, who was named the club’s first ever gaffer in the summer after spending last term as assistant manager of National League South outfit East Thurrock United. “I’m putting my reputation on the line because I’m always on camera and always have a microphone attached to me,” he admits. “But the guys are professional. I’ve almost forgotten they’re there, and I’ll still speak to the players as I would if I wasn’t being filmed.” Last season, team talks were often shot more than once to ensure Hashtag’s content team captured the perfect angle, but now the club are a fully fledged team, nothing is scripted. “The content came first – everything waited for the cameras,” says Smythe. “But I assured Jay when we appointed him that he and the team were the priority now. If the camera crew aren’t ready to film his pre-match team talk, that’s our fault.” Devereux planned to take time out of the game to spend time with his family after leaving his last post in April. But he was convinced to return after speaking to Owen, who he’s known since the pair started filming non-league matches eight years ago. “I liked his ideas in terms of making the club sustainable,” he explains. “If he’d said he wanted to reach the Premier League in 10 years, I wouldn’t have gone for it.” Hashtag’s switch from Sunday League to a semi-professional outfit is a delicate process. Owen has assumed commentary duties rather than playing, after admitting the step up was too much for his limited talents, while several players with non-league experience have been drafted in to bolster the squad. But he says it was important the bulk of the original side made the move from YouTube. “We must continue the narrative; we can’t change a team overnight but equally we don’t want to get pumped every week,” he says. Their recruitment process also has certain caveats. “The personality side of things has to work. I’m not saying you have to have a big social media following to play for us, but the players must be comfortable with the way we work because our online audience sustains us.” That’s part of the reason why Owen felt Devereux was the man for the job. “He knows non-league inside out but he’s also comfortable on camera. That isn’t a prerequisite for being a good boss but it’s an important part of what we do. He gets it and that’s vital.” FFT wonders if Hashtag United will be a target for sides determined not to be turned over by a team named after a social media symbol. “I think we’re definitely a scalp in this division,” says gaffer Devereux. “Some people think we’re a moneybags club, which is wrong, and some teams will laugh at us because of our model, but there’s decent players in the squad and we’re a serious club.” But are they actually any good? “I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the quality of the squad,” enthuses Devereux. “And there are no egos, even though some of them have big social media followings. What they lack is game know-how, and they’ll need it against more organised teams who’ve been playing semi-pro football for years.” Progress in 2018/19. Their first game – away to Little Oakley three days earlier – ended in a 3-2 loss, but tonight’s match offers the chance for redemption. In the stands, 156 fans have assembled, and some soon spot the face of the club, Owen, and sneak a crafty picture or ask him for a selfie. He’s used to it by now. “This isn’t a boast, but two years ago I was at this Adidas event with Gareth Bale and a group of kids ran straight past him and hugged me – I was embarrassed,” he reveals. While many here are schoolchildren, there are also jersey-wearing Hashtag supporters in their early-20s. Some of them even display the hashtag hand symbol, created by Owen on YouTube, to show their support. The standard of football is a world away from the Premier League offerings served up to the same fans every weekend. Passes pick out the ball boys as often as team-mates and both goalkeepers regularly fumble tame shots. But the crowd don’t care and Hashtag break the deadlock after 14 minutes through Harry Honesty, a pacy striker who spent last season at East Thurrock. The lead lasts for eight minutes and the visitors come on strong in the second half, hitting the woodwork and squandering several good opportunities. But Hashtag United hold on and pick up the first point of their embryonic existence. After the game, the club’s content staff hastily erect an advertising backdrop featuring Adidas and Football Manager logos, and interview goalscorer Honesty. The race is then on to edit their mass of footage and upload it to YouTube in a couple of days. It’s a challenge that’s as difficult as the one they face on the pitch. “We used to have a couple of weeks to turn videos around; now it’s a matter of days as we‘ve got one or two games per week,” says Smythe. Their first episode of the season has had 300,000 hits and counting, but they don’t take their fans for granted. Players spend time chatting to them like pals down the pub and thank them for their support, while Owen holds court with two teenage supporters in the stand. It’s a refreshingly human approach in contrast to the club-customer experience of top-flight football and it’s that, more than anything else, that explains Hashtag’s appeal to the online masses and their tribal matchday following. “Our fans are part of our storyline,” says Smythe. “Traditional clubs try to engage an existing fanbase with content, but without our content and audience, we’d die.” They might not be the last to teleport from YouTube to non-league, either. “There are other YouTube teams with big online followings and backing from major brands,” reveals Owen. “If we’re successful I’d be surprised if other clubs don’t try to do the same thing.” If they were to secure successive promotions, Hashtag United could be a Premier League club in just nine years. So should the big boys be worried? “Who knows how far we can go?” says Owen. “I would never have said we’d sell 34,000 tickets at Wembley or tour America. Bear in mind, most of the team is made up of me and my brother’s mates. Sharing this crazy experience with them is incredible, we’re all having an amazing time and hopefully it continues.” They’re living the dream, and their fans are living it with them. This feature originally appeared in the October 2018 issue of FourFourTwo. Subscribe! The rise of Hashtag United? YouTube football seems like a pretty controversial subject these days, if only because so many people don’t really understand it. The idea that a club can start on this platform and slowly work their way up to the big time is just a little bit odd, probably because it’s unconventional – and because some people just can’t open their mind up to something new. That’s quite the sweeping statement but for the most part, it’s true. All you have to do is take one look at the reaction to Hashtag United in order to really grasp how divisive this sub-section of the football community can be. Back in 2016, ‘The Tags’ first emerged as a new YouTube club started off by Spencer Owen. At the time there was a simple premise behind the idea: the team would work their way up through the divisional system, similar to the structure on FIFA, playing against a variety of intriguing opponents along the way. As the years went on it became clear that something bigger was coming and in 2018, it was confirmed that Hashtag United would be entering the non-league pyramid. After cruising to promotion in their first season they looked on track to do the same thing in their second, only for COVID-19 to stand in their way. If anything, though, that has allowed their legend to grow even further thanks to their entry into the FA Cup. The expectations were low heading into their first ever tie in the competition but they managed to get off to a great start by beating Park View 2-1 in the Extra Preliminary Round. Then, they beat Felixstowe & Walton on penalties to set up a date on the BBC against Soham Town Rangers. In front of the lights and cameras, which they’re pretty used to, they once again won on penalties to keep their FA Cup dream alive and well. They aren’t being bankrolled by billionaires and they can’t be compared to the MK Dons of the world – because they’ve got a real grassroots movement that legitimately has the potential to take them to some pretty lofty heights. Sure, there are some bigger games between bigger teams that can be found over at the betting page , but the heart and future of non-league football really does rest in the likes of Hashtag. They aren’t likely to make it all the way through to the first round proper courtesy of the fact that they’ve got three more games left to go before getting to that point, but they don’t need to get that far to prove that they’re legit. They’ve already done that purely through their ability to become a sustainable football club. Instead of throwing stones in their direction we should all be championing them for what they’ve been able to accomplish up to this point. Sure, their name might be a little bit odd and sure, older generations are going to have their issues with it, but this project is showing no signs whatsoever of slowing down. Matchday 9 - Neil Smythe, Hashtag United. We talk to Neil Smythe, Media/Operations Director at the football disruptors Hashtag United. He gives remarkable insight of how Hashtag United came about and then rose to having one of the largest social media followings in European football. We talk why the club has appeal in America, the stardom of their players, both the benefits and the scrutiny that brings. We talk sharing a kit manufacturer with Southampton and Everton, taking non-league football seriously and how their less famous opponents treat them and the publicity they bring. A fascinating tale of social media, grassroots football and one man’s dream coming true. 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Matchday 13 Matchday 12 - John Green, author, Liverpool fan, AFC Wimbledon owner Matchday 11- David Mayer, author, podcaster, coach Matchday 10 - Jacqui Oatley MBE, groundbreaking broadcaster Matchday 9 - Neil Smythe, Hashtag United Matchday 8 - Julian Stone, writer, producer and soccer tech Matchday 7 - Sophie Nicolaou, broadcaster, podcaster and Arsenal fan Matchday 6 - Oliver Wyss, President of Soccer at Orange County Soccer Club Matchday 5 - Warren Barton, Fox Sports and former Wimbledon and Newcastle player See all → Categories. Soccer (5) Football (5) Sports (5) Orange County (3) Beautiful Game (2) Mls (1) America the Beautiful Game is a podcast about soccer in the US and its relationship with Europe. Each week Dan Rutstein, a former sports journalist and diplomat and now head of International at Orange County Soccer Club, sits down with a new guest to discuss the sport and its growth in this country. 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