Non-League football is a rapidly rising game in London, with Hashtag United being one of the clubs at the heart of it. The Tags were formed as an amateur social media side amongst mates in 2016 by Spencer Owen, or as fans would know him, Spencer FC. After impressing on the amateur stage, they made the leap to non-League in 2018 under experienced manager, Jay Devereux.
With over 2 million subscribers amongst the Spencer FC and Hashtag United YouTube channels, they went straight in as one of semi-professionals most popular teams. The club have seen 3 promotions in 5 years, and now sit just 3 tiers below professional football. However, the most remarkable of feats for the club, was their FA Cup run of the 2020/2021 season. Starting in the extra preliminary round, they made their way to the 2nd round qualifying, only 2 games away from the 1st round proper. In this run, they beat three teams from leagues above, those being Felixstowe & Walton United, Soham Town Rangers and Braintree Town. The latter being a National League South side at the time, and are now a National League team, one division below the EFL.
However, what was most notable in this FA Cup run, was the fact that Hashtag received BBC coverage in their first round qualifying game against Soham Town Rangers. This was a game they went on to win on penalties, after Jesse Waller-Lassen scored an 85th minute equaliser in normal time and went on to score the winning penalty. For teams of that low a level, at the time the Tags were in the 9th tier of English football, it is unheard of for teams to be put on mainstream television. This just goes to show the impact Hashtag United have had on non-League football and it would have been a huge pay day for the club.
Hashtag look to be London’s next success story going from non-League to the heights of the football league. Bromley made it to the EFL for the first time in their history ahead of the 2024/25 season, where they currently sit comfortably in 11th in the table. Can the Tags be the next to follow in their footsteps and put themselves on the map?
