Hashtag United confirm the signing of 37 year old ex-Premier League and EFL star Greg Halford, and has already made his debut for the club.
The versatile has joined the Isthmian League Division North side and played in their 1-1 draw with Stowmarket Town, providing an assist for their late equaliser.
The 6ft 4in is the most experienced signing ever for Hashtag, who play their home matches at the Len Salmon Stadium, in Pitsea.
He also made a second appearance for Hashtag on Bank Holiday Monday, his side winning 3-1 against Brentwood Town to climb up to 10th in the table.
NEW SIGNING! 🚨 @GregHalford15
Having previously played @premierleague and @EFL football, Halford joins the Tags and makes his debut TODAY!
Standing at 6’4 Greg’s our most experienced signing ever and has played EVERY position! 💪
NOW THAT’S HOW YOU START A MATCHDAY!💥 pic.twitter.com/lNuaaz8qrk
— Hashtag United (@hashtagutd) August 27, 2022
Greg is naturally a right-back or centre-back but can play in numerous positions including central midfield, right midfield and even as a striker.
Born in Chelmsford, Halford started his career with Colchester United where he came through the youth system before moving to Reading in 2007.
His stay at Reading was a short one and Halford transferred to Sunderland later the same year. After failing to hold down a regular place with Sunderland, he moved to Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2009 and later to Portsmouth in 2010, Nottingham Forest in 2012, and Rotherham United in 2015.
He signed for Cardiff City in January 2017, where he went on to achieve promotion to the Premier League the following season by finishing second in the Championship.
Halford has also played for Charlton Athletic, Sheffield United, Brighton & Hove Albion and Birmingham City on loan at various points in his career, as well as representing England at under-20 level.
Since 2019, he’s played for the likes of Aberdeen, Southend United, Waterford and Billericay Town.
Former Wycombe striker Adebayo Akinfenwa also come out of retirement to play for Hashtag United in a pre-season friendly just weeks after hanging up his boots.
The physically imposing player hung up his boots at the end of last season at the age of 40, with his final match coming for Wycombe Wanderers in the League One play-off final at Wembley Stadium.
The eighth tier side were founded in 2016 by YouTuber Spencer FC and started out by playing exhibition matches against teams made up of professional club’s staff members.
Hashtag tweeted an picture of Akinfenwa in their kit a few months back, writing: “IT’S NOT BEEN PHOTOSHOPPED THIS TIME. IT’S ACTUALLY HAPPENED @daRealAkinfenwa. VIDEO OUT AT 5PM.” Akinfenwa quote tweeted the post and added: “I said it & I did it.”
In the aforementioned video, Spencer FC revealed that Akinfenwa had been down to the club’s pitch to train on their new 4G surface after approaching him to sign for the club this summer.
He played in a friendly against Walthamstow earlier , with Spencer adamant that the match would not be trial for Akinfenwa.
The veteran forward played the opening 45 minutes of the match before being substituted, with the Tags, who play five levels below Akinfenwa’s last club Wycombe, leading 2-0 at the break.
It was revealed, though, that Akinfenwa will not be signing a permanent deal with the club due to a long-term knee issue that could be aggravated by playing on the artificial surface. Plus he has a busy schedule after retiring, appearing on various media platforms like Sky Sports and BT Sport.
Twitter users gave their reaction as Hashtag United confirm the signing of 37 year old ex-Premier League and EFL star Greg Halford…
@TheBladette: NO FREAKING WAY! WHAAAAAT?!!! I loved him at Sheffield United!!!
@andymp345: Great signing 👏 remember him in his portsmouth days
@originalfrostie: Top bloke
@UtdConor02: Former @WaterfordFCie player last season, good player
@SirPapaFox3: No way Greg is still playing football 😂 remember him in a forest shirt
@adam_pidgley: Cracking signing that, up the tags
@ace10wwfc: Remember him at wolves, absolute monster of a long throw on him
@conorbarry90: played with waterford, top bloke 🔥
@FTLOLpodcast: Massive signing!
@BenShinton: No way!! Remember him at Wolves with his monster of a long throw in!!
@rymufc77: Thats a brilliant signing
@ChambersLuke7: Wow 😂
@mattitude_29: Loved this guy at Pompey!
@RobboRUFC: Signing and half. Reyt player for us at Rotherham
@redwatto: Decent player for us at Forest. Even played as a striker at times
@jackcummins_9: Was class at Pompey. Ridiculous throw ins and a crazy penalty taker.
@Mourby: What a geezer 😂 #Pompey
@Coach_LewisVJ: Remember him playing at Forest as a Centre Half and then next game was scoring 2 upfront against QPR 😂
@Dhilldow: This is actually crazy, i used to watch him every week throwing cannons into the box at Wolves
@Fazzzzerr: fucking hell fair play
@samevansnffc: The longest throw and the best “Chuck the big lad up top” in world football 🐐 #NFFC
Most importantly @GregHalford15 played for Birmingham City on loan. I do appreciate it’s probably just me that is impressed by that though 😅. https://t.co/qW7BLTKZzb pic.twitter.com/IMVHGn8Vuf
— ᴺᵃˢʰʸ (@Nashyphoto) August 27, 2022

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