HASHTAG UNITED have avoided punishment from the FA after formally requesting to be relegated.
The Essex-based club filed an official request to be relegated from the Isthmian League Premier Division in March, citing financial reasons.
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Hashtag United will not be punished for requesting relegation Credit: Alamy
Club founder and chairman Spencer Owen (right) defended the decision to request relegation Credit: Getty
Hashtag asked to move down to the Isthmian League North Division regardless of where they finished in the table.
But they landed in the relegation zone anyway following a 2-1 loss to Dulwich Hamlet on the final day of the season last week.
The FA can choose to impose a one-year promotion ban for teams that request and accept a voluntary relegation, partly because it is cheaper to play in the lower division.
However, because Hashtag were “relegated as normal” they will be able to earn promotion next season.
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A statement from the club on social media read: “Today we have received official confirmation from the FA that we will be relegated as normal and drop one division into Step 4 for the 2026/27 season.
“As such we WILL be able to achieve promotion back to Step 3 next season should we earn it on the pitch.”
Hashtag founder and chairman Spencer Owen passionately defended the club’s decision to request relegation when the announcement was made earlier this year.
He said: “Last Thursday, on our actual tenth anniversary, I sat in a room with our players and told them something difficult.
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“We have requested that our men’s team step down from the Isthmian Premier Division at the end of the 2025/26 season.
“We are choosing this because, after a long time thinking, we believe it gives us the best possible foundation for what comes next.
“I think the game is broken. It’s not football that’s become God. It’s money. Football’s governance is lacking. The finances are unsustainable at almost every level.
“We want to have the best players we can and play at the highest level possible, but not at the cost of our staff’s jobs and not at the cost of us being able to continue our mission of innovating and changing the game.
“So many teams burn out as a result of flying too close to the sun. We have to stand for something bigger than just winning.
“Moving to Step 4 will mean significant budgetary savings that will be reinvested into other key parts of the business at a crucial time.
“This could be the best thing that ever happened to us, at the perfect time. This is not a relegation. It is a revolution.”
