Hashtag United founder Spencer Owen reveals why YouTube-turned-semi-pro-club are going against tradition in ASKING to be relegated – and how ‘tone-deaf’ officials are getting it wrong: ‘This is what responsible ownership looks like’

It’s not quite blink and you’ll miss it territory, but Hashtag United have come a long way from Faisal ‘Manjdog’ Manji, YouTube matches against made up teams and, in a way, ‘don’t forget to hashtag it.’

For Hashtag United are now a serious football club. And that’s why, 10 years almost to the day since they were founded, they have asked to be relegated from the seventh tier of English football. 

Hashtag were once a group of friends playing on YouTube against the likes of a Comedians XI and the Manchester City staff team. Ahead of the 2018–19 season, though, they entered the English football pyramid and started their climb up the leagues.

Three promotions in eight seasons followed, but it appears that the third has, for now at least, been a step too far.

‘It has been a new experience for us in having a poor year on the pitch,’ founder and owner Spencer Owen – better known as YouTuber Spencer FC to some – tells Daily Mail Sport. ‘I completely get the traditional argument here – there is no issue, we’re not above having a bad year of football.

‘I think people don’t understand the novelty of our business model. We are doing it as we go – there is no one to copy. We have to learn these things constantly and react to them.’

Hashtag have nearly 700,000 subscribers on YouTube and 473,000 followers – plus 13million likes – on TikTok. But they average fewer than 300 fans at their home matches. They pay their bills, their players and their staff a different way. But Owen wants that to change.

The plan is to build the club from the ground up – 10 years after it started and with the head start of the social media following. ‘We want to prove to people we are from a place, go out and become part of a community, spend potentially record breaking money in non league on match day and marketing, which we have never had any spend on before, on getting people to games so we have to take a step back,’ Owen says.

And so Hashtag want to be relegated. It would see them drop from the Isthmian League Premier Division, with the aim of the relegation opening up more funds to improve on things behind the scenes – starting with a move to Redbridge’s Techsoc.com Stadium.

‘We are a club that has big plans for next season in a much bigger change than we have ever gone through as a club before,’ Owen insists. ‘Even bigger than when we went into non league.

‘It is really important that we are in the right environment. We are going to a new ground and we are going to be spending a lot of money on trying to do the one thing that traditionalists criticise us for, which is not having enough people at our games. We are actively trying to fix that – you can’t have your cake and eat it. You don’t want to spend all your money on players when you want to do something no one has had to do before.

‘I would liken this to when Arsenal got their ground. They had to cap spending, they had poor periods on the pitch as a result. They got their new ground and haven’t won a league since. Everyone understands it, it was a huge step forward for the business.

‘This is a really exciting time for Hashtag – we are going into a ground with a great location and are hopeful of what it can do for us in the future and we want resources spent in the right areas.’

The decision has, naturally, drawn criticism. Why would a club want to be relegated? Surely that goes against sporting integrity and tradition?

‘We are an entertainment property, a TV series as much as we are anything else,’ Owen adds. ‘The decision was made internally, we communicated it with the manager and within 48 hours we were telling the players so they had time to move before the registration window in non league.

‘The reality is they didn’t love the decision, but the alternative is doing what every other club would do, which is cutting the budget and releasing players and maybe not leaving them with time to get moves, and we aren’t comfortable doing that. In my opinion, it is better than the alternative.

‘Southend down the road have just announced a load of redundancies. Will people talk about that in the same way? We’ve done this supposed anti-football thing. No, what we’ve actually done is protect jobs, we are not going to be letting anyone go, we will be hiring people, and we won’t stop being able to pay or employ footballers, we have never missed a payment in our history and run ourselves incredibly well. This is what responsible ownership of a football club looks like.

‘People think I want to be relegated – who do you think got us to step three? Who do you think funded the whole thing? Me. If anyone should be upset it’s me, but I leave my ego at the door and do what’s right for the club. Unfortunately, people don’t like seeing that in football, and they think what we are doing is wrong because it’s abnormal. Well show me the normal success stories – there aren’t many of them.’

It’s clear Owen is passionate about the topic. Who wouldn’t be? A dream and a bit of fun 10 years ago became a business and his life – but others’ lives too. It’s a serious topic. 

At the minute, it remains to be seen whether the relegation request will be granted. Hashtag are in the relegation zone of the Isthmian League anyway – below Welling United on goal difference – but the aim is to stay up on the pitch.

Isthmian League Nick Robinson spoke about the request last week. He said: ‘It’s good that there’s a process, but at the same time, clubs can’t manipulate a situation – drop down to have a happy season and then come back. There are issues we all have to look at to decide what’s best for the integrity of the competition and the sport. But I’ve got 21 other clubs at Step 3three and they are all run differently.

‘They have found it unsustainable – I’m not sure 21 other clubs would agree.’ He also referred to Dulwich Hamlet, who get around 3,000 fans at their games.

Owen doesn’t like that.   

‘Some of the quotes I have seen… people care about sustainability until they are faced with a decision to protect a club,’ he says. ‘I thought some of Nick Robinson’s quotes were very tone-deaf to be honest. Talking about Dulwich Hamlet like a success story.

‘They do fantastic work with 3,000 at a game in non league and I would love to be able to emulate that, all power to them. But you are telling me 3,000 people mid table in the seventh division is a success story? That is proof there is something there incredibly wrong.

‘Dulwich Hamlet should be nowhere near the seventh tier. They are making tens of thousands every match day and can’t have a promotion battle. You are telling me we have to keep our team up with 200 people at the game when a team with 3,000 isn’t in the play-offs. This point is completely the opposite of what he’s trying to make.

‘The stuff he was saying about the 21 other teams who are sustainable… no they aren’t, mate. Go and get the quotes from them – it’s not true. Teams in our league are borrowing millions, losing £200,000 every year. If people are backing their club, it’s not for me to say it’s wrong, I’m just challenging the statements of the chairman saying they are sustainable – I don’t think he knows the meaning of the word.’

So what does success look like? If Hashtag do go down, open up their budget and reinvest, where do they go from there?

‘Success is about getting numbers through the door while continuing to grow our own audience,’ Owen concludes. ‘When you combine those modes, we become a really powerful club.

‘Make no mistake, this is step back, sure, but not a permanent one. We want to come back and be higher than we are now. We are capable of that, we just have to do things in the right order. To people who care about the club, the fans who I had a one on ones with, it’s been very positive. They understand we ae on a different trajectory to different clubs and we are not trying to be like normal clubs.

‘Of course you have your armchair critics on X who love to dig in, but they will whatever we do, it’s what we are going for in a way. As long as we’re not doing anything that stops me sleeping and looking after people.

‘I’m being criticised for, what, protecting jobs? All the things other clubs famously don’t do. You get Sheffield Wednesday, Leicester… because they are still spending as much money as possible to try and win games, they are doing it right? Not for me. I don’t think they are. It’s very dangerous to come from the angle that the rest of football is working and we’re the ones that are wrong. We’re trying to fix it.

‘I’ve had a lot of messages from people in football – owners, players – about how much they agree with the statement we released. There are a lot of people that understand what is needed.’

It’s Aveley away for Hashtag on Easter Monday. After that, there are three games remaining for them in this league – at least that’s what they hope.

For most – almost all – promotion is the aim. Staying in the league is a solid enough second best for some. But for Hashtag? Relegation is what they crave.