Football club popular on YouTube wants fan owners

AFC Welwyn is a finalist in the Football Content Awards for its media work

A non-league football club that has set itself a target of reaching League Two by 2034 is asking fans to become co-owners.

AFC Welwyn launched in Hertfordshire in 2023 with a strong online focus, and is now in the ninth tier of English football in the Spartan South Midlands Premier Division after two successive promotions.

"We're playing against teams who have been around for 100 years and we've been able to put up a crowd that's the same or bigger than theirs.

"We put that down to the level of engagement and social media," said founder Tawhid Juneja, who lives just outside Welwyn Garden City.

Having played for the other team in the town, Welwyn Garden City FC, Mr Juneja decided to set up his own club.

"The demographics of non-league supporters tend to be a more ageing population, so we thought, 'How can we bring in younger fans?'," he asked.

"We've had 25 million hits on social media — it's a big part of how we engage with the community."

AFC Welwyn, nicknamed the Romans, also has a ladies team and youth development teams

The owners are now inviting "the local community to own the football club", with over 51% of shares available for supporters to buy.

"Unlike traditional clubs, all profits generated will be re-invested directly back into the club to benefit the community and support our ambitious plans, rather than distributed as dividends," it said on its website.

Mr Juneja said 70 people had already signed up and "by the end of this year, we would like to have 400 fans owning the club".

The club has invested heavily in media, with "cameras in the dugouts, behind the goals and in the changing rooms" for live-streaming and behind-the-scenes documentaries.

"We show arguments in the changing room, warts and all," said Mr Junega.

"We want to show the emotions, what happens in real life. We want people to see what it takes to build a club from scratch – it's a lot of pressure."

Tawhid and his life Lisa celebrated winning the 2024-25 Spartan South Midlands League Division One title - as well as the Division Two title and League Cup the previous season

Mr Juneja said live-streaming had not taken away from supporters in the stands at their home matches, which are played at Potters Bar Town FC.

"Some people say to us 'You're mad, if you live stream people don't need to come along to matches'," he said.

"But we found the opposite - people watched online first and then came along to the ground."

The Romans have "ambitious plans" to reach the League Two (the fourth tier) by 2034 - which he admits some see as "crazy", given it would mean seven promotions in 12 years.

The club also hopes to build its own ground in its home town.

"Some of our biggest critics at the start now support our football club," he said.

"We don't apologise for having bold targets. People come on board for that journey."