Hashtag United: YouTube team achieve club record 11 league wins in row

Jay Devereux has been Hashtag United manager since the summer of 2018

Eleven league wins in a row - #WOW, that is some form.

In fact, it is a new club record for Hashtag United, the club set up by YouTube celebrity Spencer Owen in 2016.

They are now locked in what looks like a two-horse race with leaders AFC Sudbury for the Isthmian League North Division title, with Grays Athletic 11 points back in third place.

Hashtag's results since the start of the new year could hardly have been better - four matches played, four wins, 15 goals scored and only one conceded.

But there is no chance of manager Jay Devereux allowing his players to rest on their laurels.

He was less than impressed with what he saw in the first half of Saturday's 4-0 victory against Hullbridge Sports at their Len Salmon Stadium home in Pitsea.

"First half was probably as poor as we've been for quite a while. We were too passive," the 46-year-old told BBC Essex Sport.

"We needed to raise our energy levels, generate a bit of enthusiasm and go and make things happen. In the second half we did, and once we got the first goal it felt like chances would come because they would have to come out a little bit more.

"That proved correct and with the pace we've got going forward our wide boys were always going to be a threat."

Hashtag United celebrate winning the 2019 Eastern Counties League Division One South title

Hashtag won the Eastern Counties League Division One South title in 2019, Devereux's first season in charge, and after a couple of Covid-impacted campaigns, switched to the Isthmian League in 2021-22, when they finished eighth, 10 points short of the play-off places.

They began this season in disappointing fashion with a 1-0 defeat at Bury Town, but their form since losing 4-2 to AFC Sudbury in early November has been irresistible.

Devereux, though, will not be wasting any time reflecting on their 11-match winning streak.

Asked what the record means to him and the team, he replied: "Not a great deal."

He said: "The fact that it's got to 11 is great, but we'll let other people focus on that. It's all about taking each one in isolation. We'll take the next one in isolation, that's served us well over the last couple of months and that's what we'll continue to try and do."

• Listen to full BBC Essex interview with Jay Devereux

Hashtag have a four-point gap to make up on Sudbury, who have won their last nine games ahead of Tuesday's trip to Stowmarket Town.

It is all building up nicely towards a showdown between the top two at Pitsea on 25 February.

"Is that when it is?" said Devereux. "We've got a lot of football to play before then.

"And it [winning run] won't continue if we don't keep approaching games as we have been."

'Pride ourselves on hard work'

He continued: "We can only worry about us, what other people do is beyond our control, so we'll just continue doing what we can to stay competitive, win games of football and see where it takes us.

"If you start looking at other people, you take your eye off yourself and that's when you slip up."

When Owen formed Hashtag United, he described the team as "down to earth guys" who did not "pretend to be top-quality footballers" but enjoyed playing together.

These days, however, Devereux ensures that match-time is a serious business with an 'all for one' mentality that is serving them well.

"We pride ourselves on hard work," he added.

"I think we've proven to be quite entertaining this season, we've got goals throughout the side - our top scorer has only just hit double figures. It's been a real squad effort.

"Everybody's contributed, they've come in with a great attitude, great enthusiasm, they want to do well, they want to improve and we are seeing rewards for that at the moment - but we've still got a lot to do."