Social media-first football club Hashtag United were relegated last week on the pitch – after requesting demotion from the Isthmian Premier League a month ago.
Karim Virani, recently appointed interim chief executive of West Ham United following the departure of Karren Brady after 16 years, left his board position at Hashtag to join the Hammers.
Hashtag were founded by YouTuber and Hammers fan Spencer Owen and his brother Seb Carmichael鈥態rown in 2016 and built a social media following of around two million, comparable to Premier League club Bournemouth.
They employ 14 people on their media team. For context, the CEO of a League One club I spoke with recently said they have only two full-time media staff.
However after joining the non-league pyramid and earning three promotions to reach the semi鈥憄rofessional Isthmian Premier League – the seventh tier of English football – the average attendance at their temporary Essex home stands at little more than 200.
That caused the club to do the unthinkable a month ago and request demotion to the Isthmian League North Division, citing “unsustainable” finances, “lacking” governance and stating: “The game is broken.”
In the following match, they lost 7-0 to Dartford.
“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鈥慳nd鈥慴everage income,” Owen said at the time.
Virani would leave for West Ham, who are in extreme danger themselves of relegation – from the Premier League – following two wins for London rivals Tottenham.
And despite a couple of wins since that Dartford match dropped them into the relegation zone, Hashtag have now been relegated on the pitch after a 2-1 loss to Dulwich Hamlet on the final day of the season.
Virani led the Hammers鈥� digital, marketing and commercial operation between 2015 and 2020 before launching his own sports marketing agency then spending two years as Rangers’ chief commercial officer.
Rangers FC steward walked past JP Morgan after Ibrox matches. They offered him a job
He has also worked as commercial director for Socios.com, a blockchain-based app focusing on boosting fan engagement, and served as a non-executive director at London Esports.
Virani said: 鈥淚 am proud and honoured to be returning to West Ham United, a Club I have a deep affinity and admiration for.
鈥淭his is a massive football club, with incredibly loyal and passionate supporters, a hugely talented and dedicated group of players, coaches and staff, a proud and unique heritage, and an ambition to be as successful as possible, both on and off the pitch.
鈥淚 am determined to do everything I can to help the club achieve our objectives, with the absolute priority and focus of everyone here right now on supporting Nuno Esp铆rito Santo and his players as they look to finish the season positively.
鈥淚n recent weeks and months, Nuno, his coaches, the players, staff and our supporters have shown great commitment and collective spirit to help improve our position in the Premier League. We have a mission to achieve between now and the end of the season and nothing will distract us from that.
鈥淲est Ham United is a club built on working-class values of hard work, honesty, commitment and togetherness 鈥� and those values must continue to be the bedrock of everything we do in the coming weeks and beyond.鈥�