HASHTAG HEROINES
Raising the profile
BACK in April, it was announced that social media giants Hashtag United FC would be merging with my club AFC Basildon Women to create a new team: Hashtag United FC Women.
This comes with a lot of behind the scenes changes, though the players and coaching staff remain the same (barring general departures).
Not only is this transition a big leap from our perspective as a club, but for women’s football in general – the support from the Hashtag fans has been exceptional and this gives the women’s game a very strong platform to continue building from.
As of next season, Hashtag United FC Women will be competing in the FAWNL Division One South East, or the fourth tier in women’s football.
The journey to get to where we are now as a club hasn’t been easy, though. Financial constraints have been a big problem over the last few years, with us coming fairly close to the reality of having to fold completely.
This was as C&K Basildon before a name change at the start of the 2019/20 season saw us formerly change to AFC Basildon.
Having been developing through the youth teams since 2017 and spending last season as captain of the U18s, I have seen that everybody has put in, both on the pitch and behind the scenes, to get the club to where it is today. Ultimately, for us to be rewarded with this merger by Spencer Owen and the rest of the team at
Hashtag United FC is an opportunity that exceeds our expectations but mirrors our diligence.
One area in which we have already seen rapid improvements is within our social media presence.
Before the announcement, our accounts on Instagram and Twitter had around 400 and 3,000 followers respectively.
The support has grown tremendously - the club now boasts 11,400 Instagram followers and more than 7,000 Twitter followers.
This has been propelled by the massive social media presence that Hashtag United FC hold. For YouTuber Spencer Owen.
The men’s team, who play in the Essex Senior League, post both highlights of their games and behind the scenes footage on their YouTube channel, which is subscribed to by almost 500,000 people!
As well as this, Spencer’s personal YouTube channel (Spencer FC) currently has close to two million subscribers. These numbers were unus, which emphasises just how meaningful the transition both has been and will be. Through the YouTube channel, fans have been able club individually, and we are excited for the women’s side to be able to introduce themselves, too.
On a personal note, I am very excited about the merger with Hashtag United - I grew up watching YouTube and I have been subscribed to Spencer for a long time, so the news is massive to me! Since joining the club in 2017, we have begun to build a good squad across all age groups - this presents a great opportunity for us to grow further, both on and off the pitch. that Hashtag have to the younger generation and I am so glad that they are giving us a platform to represent women’s football, especially to people who may have had little exposure to it previously. Emily Clogg is on Twitter: @afc3mily. To follow the club’s progress, the Hashtag United YouTube channel or visit fan blog hashtagwomensfootball. com.