Despite turning 38 last December, Greg Halford is still going strong after winning just his second promotion in the 21st season of his career.
The ex-Wolves and Nottingham Forest utility man signed for Hashtag United, who were in the eighth tier of English football, last summer. Halford had been playing his football for National League South side Billericay, before making the two-tier drop to The Tags.
It is safe to say Halford has impressed since his move to Hashtag. The defender scored eight times in 32 league appearances as The Tags stormed to the Isthmian North Division title last month, securing their place at Step 3 next season - the highest tier the club has ever been at since forming in 2016.
"It was a massive achievement for the club, to go on that 21-winning streak for the club was huge," Halford told Mirror Football. "It was massive for the lads to get that confidence that they are good enough and are able to compete at this level and a higher level.
"It is about believing in your ability, not getting too carried away and enjoying football. I have thoroughly enjoyed it, it is a new experience for me and something I have never come across before in terms of the social media following. I am glad I was able to help Devs (Jay Devereux), the youngsters and help achieve what they wanted to.
"It’s a unique club, started because of YouTube, and to gain the following they have done has been phenomenal and something I have never seen before. The clubs I have played for before have had a solid following and have been around more than 100 years.
"So, for a club to create their own following, having only been around for seven years and been second in the Championship in terms of media followings is unreal. All credit to Spencer [Owen] and Seb [Carmichael-Brown] and all the backroom people who put it together. It’s a juggernaut and it will keep on moving."
Hashtag initially formed as a so-called YouTube team back in 2016, but officially registered as a semi-professional team two years later, joining the Eastern Counties League. They have since won three promotions and are one division from the National League South.
However, it’s their online presence that catches the headlines. boast more Instagram followers than every current Championship club bar Watford and are changing the way non-league is viewed across the country. They have over 1,000,000 combined followers on social media, including a whopping 228k on Twitter.
"Spencer has got a plan in place not to move too quickly but still keep on progressing," Halford added. "But because of the following on the unique nature of this club, they are still going to keep attracting new players which is always going to be a positive and it’s going to be able to keep it going forward. Players are going to want to play for them due to the following and that’s the biggest selling point. That’s what Spencer has set the club up for."
As for Halford, he started his career at Colchester and moved through the ranks at The U’s, before earning a big-money move to Reading in 2007. However, unfortunately for Halford, it didn’t work at the Royals as he went on to spend time at Sunderland, Charlton, Sheffield United, Wolves and Cardiff amongst others.
Across his career, Halford has made over 500 professional appearances. "I am very proud of what I was able to accomplish and having that amount of games under my belt is very satisfying," he said. "I feel that I underachieved with the potential I had when I was a youngster at Colchester.
"That comes down to a number of things ultimately but I am never going to complain about the career I have had, the clubs I have played for and the people I have met. It has given me so much joy that I can look back on it and tell my son, it was great and I look back on it with fond memories."
Halford added: "Being able to play every single position held me back because I was never able to master one position. If I was able to master one position, I would have been able to have more Premier League appearances and who knows where I would have gone.
"Every manager had a different opinion about me, some preferred me as a centre-back, while others preferred me as a striker or in midfield. It was one of those things that I wasn’t able to hold one position. I never played half-a-season in one position, so that was the biggest challenge for me.
"I had to understand all 11 positions on the pitch, whereas most people have to do one and that was the biggest factor of me not being able to do the stuff that I wanted to do on a regular basis."
During his time at Nottingham Forest, Halford, who started his career as a centre-back, played up front as a lone striker. He scored seven times for The Reds, including two important goals against Queens Park Rangers in 2013 as they battled for promotion back to the Premier League.
Meanwhile, at Cardiff when he got promoted with Neil Warnock, Halford was used as a central midfielder - a completely different position than he had been used to at all. In total, Halford has played in every outfield position on the pitch, but he couldn’t decide which was his favourite.
"It depended what team I was in," Halford said. "If I was in a team like Forest, we used to like to get balls in the box. I scored against QPR and the following week we played Reading and I scored from a header as well playing up front.
"At Sheffield United, we did exactly the same, we played up front and I ended up being their top goalscorer. We ended up being more direct. But then playing in a team like Cardiff and Portsmouth, I was playing as a centre midfielder and we used to try and keep the ball a little bit.
"Other teams, playing as a centre-back, nowadays you play out from the back and I like getting on the ball and creating play, starting play off. It depended on the team I was playing in and the style of play, I couldn’t tell you what my favourite position is because I enjoyed all of them."
