CAFC vs Hashtag United – Match Preview
Carshalton Athletic face off against Hashtag United following their dramatic victory against Melksham Town FC in the Third Qualifying Round of the FA Cup.
Robins Review
Even though the Robins have taken on the league’s best in the last two games, Lewes and Dover Athletic, consecutive brilliant performances were only enough to earn Carshalton draws when perhaps all three points would have better reflected Peter Adeniyi’s side displays. We broke for cup action at the weekend, welcoming Melksham Town for a highly anticipated FA Cup third-round qualifying tie. The Reds secured their place in the hat for the next round after a dramatic late Dominic Vose winner from the spot, who demonstrated ice-cold veins.
Hashtag United
After a difficult start to the 2024-25 campaign where Hashtag United registered just one league victory in August, which came against Canvey Island, September has seen an improvement from the Tags. Jay Devereux’s side thumped Hastings United 4-0 and edged Cheshunt 4-3. They hope to extend their unbeaten streak in the Isthmian Premier to three matches when they welcome the Robins. The Essex-based club were knocked out of the FA Cup second qualifying round after falling to defeat to Hornchurch. Subsequently, unlike Carshalton, Hashtag will have had a week and a half to prepare for their visit from the South Londoners with no fixture the weekend commencing the 28th.
The most unconventional club in the English Football Pyramid, largely owing to their modernity having garnered a global fanbase before the inception of the actual team, Hashtag United may have been shrouded in controversy since their 2016 establishment, but their unparalleled success in such a small amount of time has to be commended.
With over 40 different teams, including men’s and women’s first teams to youth, disability, and walking sides, Hashtag now has a staggering 400 players and it is all down to their hard work on and off the pitch. On YouTube, the club has 645,000 subscribers and a combined 737,000 Instagram and Twitter followers. Meanwhile, owner Spencer Owen himself boasts 1.94 million.
The Tags were founded by the YouTube sensation Spencer Carmichael-Brown, better known as the above, a very familiar name among Gen Z. Despite his YouTube channel, Spencer FC, starting in May 2013, Carmichael-Brown had begun making videos in 2007 when he was at Reading University. With content primarily focused on E Sports and five, seven, and eleven-a-side exhibition matches, which were filmed and uploaded to YouTube, Hashtag had amassed over 100,000 followers on Instagram, 41,000 on Twitter, and a penalty challenge video had over two million views. During that, Spencer also collaborated with the likes of Marcus Rashford, Riyad Mahrez, Gareth Bale, and Juan Mata. The club faced off against a Comedians XI, Google, the GB Deaf Team, Barawa, and a Manchester City staff team in 2016. Following that, Carmichael-Brown set up the Wembley Cup, a competition that ran for three years where Spencer would field a side to take on a team of YouTubers, the Tags took part in the final year in 2017.
Officially, the Essex-based side began their non-league journey in September 2016; however, when former Chelsea captain and Spanish international Cesar Azpilicueta invested and became a co-owner, it enabled United to join the English football league system.
The East Counties League awaited, and former East Thurrock United assistant manager Jay Devereux dropped down four divisions to join the project as the men’s first team manager in 2018. Devereux steered Hashtag to the Division One South title to earn promotion to the Essex Senior League. The abandonment of the 2019-20 season after the COVID 19 Pandemic briefly halted proceedings, but the club secured promotion to the North Division of the Isthmian League the following campaign based on the points per game accumulated over the two abandoned seasons. The tags won a whopping 96 points from 38 games. An eighth-place finish was achieved in 2021-22 before the ascension through the pyramid continued and they triumphed in the eighth tier to move to the Premier Division. The Tags went on a phenomenal run of 21 wins in a row, narrowly missing out on a landmark 100 points after a goalless draw with Basildon.
Given last year was their maiden season in the premier, third as an Isthmian side, and sixth as a football club, reaching a county cup semi-final, where they were knocked out by League Two’s Colchester United, a league cup final, narrowly losing 2-1 to Chatham, and securing a comfortable mid-table finish, the Tags were delighted. What’s more, their form in the first half of the campaign, particularly in December, saw Hashtag emerge as real play off contenders for a sustained period, sixth position heading into the new year.
Likely line-ups
Carshalton Athletic
Formation: 4-3-3
Foley; Sankho, Atewologun, Hamstead, Read; Saraiva, Vose, Bradford; Ifeanyi, Stagg, Goather-Braithwaite
Hashtag United
Formation: 4-2-3-1
Giddens; Smith, Haysom, Gordon, Anderson; Cornhill, Wooldridge; Hassan, Foxley, Aromolaran; Higgins
Team News
Carshalton Athletic
Kwaku Frimpong is out on the grass for Carshalton and expects it to be another two or three weeks before he can feature in the first team squad. Andy Somo is not expected to be named on the bench with Charlie Kennett in his stead.
Hashtag United
Luke May-Parrot and PK Humble remain out with long-term injuries.
Pre-Match Analysis
Devereux’s quintessential 4-2-3-1 which the Tags have enjoyed so much success with over the years was surprisingly parked for the Horsham game, moving to a standard 4-4-2 to counter the Hornets 4-3-3. However, the 48-year-olds pragmatism did not last long as the experienced coach returned to his favoured formation for the following match against Billericay. Despite the defeat to their neighbours, the Tags looked much more dangerous going forward with Sak Hassan and Pedro Carvalho on the wings as opposed to the likes of Darren Foxley. That being said, Foxley does possess a wand of a left foot and is far more effective as a number 10. Interestingly, wide defender Matty Wooldridge has been trialled in midfield recently; however, there have been calls for Wooldridge to return to right-back and Misha Djemaili to be included as one of the midfield three alongside captain Max Cornhill and the advanced Foxley. Current first-choice full-back on the right Jermaine Anderson has question marks surrounding his ability to defend, but going forwards carries a lot of attacking threat. This is a team that scores a lot of goals, finishing the third top scorers in the league last season, although they also concede a heavy amount too.
Key Player
In the fifth instalment of Hashtag United’s 24/25 series on YouTube, Spencer Owen makes it clear just how big a miss Toby Aromolaran was in their 2-1 defeat to Billericay, labelling the forward as their best player of the season so far.
The former Love Island star has netted four times, which included a brace in the FA Cup against Stotfold. Since joining from Tilbury in 2020, the 25-year-old has recorded an astonishing 59 goal contributions in 100 appearances – working out at one goal contribution every two games.
The Gaffer
Jay Devereux boasts an incredible 25 years of non-league football experience, coaching at every level of the non-league pyramid. When his playing career as a midfielder was unfortunately cut short owing to a severe injury he transitioned into coaching with Barking, the Dagenham and Redbridge and also Redbridge reserve sides then followed soon after. However, it was at East Thurrock United as assistant manager where Devereux made his name, spending seven years at the club, helping them to promotion to the National League South (step Two) and two FA Cup 1st round appearances.
Speaking to the Mirror about coaching something as big as Hashtag United, Jay Devereux said: “I’m not of the generation that grew up watching YouTube, I don’t think I’ve ever gone on there other than to learn how to fix something that I’ve broken,” Devereux tells Mirror Football. “It’s surreal really, the level we’re at now, some of the attention we get is quite ridiculous. Going on holiday and being recognised in another country just for doing something you’ve been doing for years is quite ridiculous.”
Match Details
Date: Saturday, Tuesday 1 October 2024
Venue: Parkside, Aveley
Kickoff: 07:45 PM
Admission: Admission: £12, £7, £3 (online prices) on the gate is a pound or two dearer.
Tickets: Online Tickets here
