From YouTube to real life: why Hashtag United want to go down
After earning three promotions to reach the semi‑professional Isthmian Premier League, the team co‑founded by YouTuber Spencer Owen and his brother Seb Carmichael‑Brown are asking to be demoted for the 2026‑27 season. In a statement on X , external , the club said competing at that level - the seventh tier of English football, and Step 3 of the non-league pyramid - had become "unsustainable" financially, that governance was "lacking", and that "the game is broken". A day after the statement was released, Hashtag were beaten 7-0 by Dartford, a result that dropped them into the relegation places.
"In looking at the numbers we've seen in the most recent accounts, clearly some tough decisions have had to be made by the owners," football finance expert Kieran Maguire said. "It is sort of a unique entity and I guess that the people that set it up have felt that they don't have the the financial resources to subsidise the club. " Owen helped build Hashtag into a club with more than two million social media followers - similar to Bournemouth, the Premier League club with the fewest followers.
They employ a 14‑strong full‑time media team, producing a constant stream of content that creates an additional revenue source most clubs at their level do not have. Yet the club attract an average of only 216 supporters per match to their temporary home in Aveley, Essex. According to the club, that had become a "toxic" situation - one they now feel they must resolve.
"At the moment, at least, we do not benefit from the core business model that clubs 100 years old in our division have, whether gate receipts or food‑and‑beverage income," Owen said. He said relegation would mean reducing the playing budget by 30–40%, with "six figures" being reinvested into a new permanent home at Redbridge FC's Techsoc. Com Stadium, next to Barkingside station and easily reachable from both London and Essex.
"You couldn't get a more Hashtag location," Owen added. "It's a big swing for us - a permanent home, building a fanbase. "We've had four homes.