Meet the non league club, AFC Welwyn, founded in 2023, aiming to reach League Two by 2034, and already have two promotions to their name.
The Hertfordshire based side currently play in the ninth tier, sitting top of the Spartan South Midlands Football League Premier Division, in their first season, with 22 points from 9 games played.
They emphasise strong social media engagement, attracting younger fans and amassing 25 million hits on social media and online.
To fund its ambitions, AFC Welwyn is offering over 51% of shares to supporters, with all profits reinvested into the club.
With 70 fans already signed up, the goal is 400 co-owners by year-end.
The club invests in media, live-streaming matches and behind-the-scenes content, which has boosted attendance rather than reduced it.
Despite skepticism, AFC Welwyn remains committed to its bold target of seven promotions in 12 years and plans to build its own ground.
AFC Welwyn has set itself a target of reaching League Two by 2034.
The club is asking fans to become co-owners. https://t.co/B29smiPYEf
— Ollie Bayliss (@Ollie_Bayliss) September 23, 2025
The club’s founder Tawhid Juneja, said to BBC Sport: “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.
“The demographics of non-league supporters tend to be a more ageing population, so we thought, ‘How can we bring in younger fans?’
“We’ve had 25 million hits on social media — it’s a big part of how we engage with the community.
“We show arguments in the changing room, warts and all.
“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.
“Some people say to us ‘You’re mad, if you live stream people don’t need to come along to matches’.
“But we found the opposite – people watched online first and then came along to the ground.”
He admits that their ambitious plans have been labelled as “crazy”, but many are joining them on their journey, interested and invested in seeing how they get on in their attempt on needing seven promotions in 12 years.
“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.”
The club explained via their website, why they’re fans owned: “AFC Welwyn is a project that will show the ambition of the Community.
“AFC Welwyn is moving towards a fans-owned not for profit model which brings significant benefits that go beyond the football pitch.
“When a club is owned and operated by its supporters, it creates a deep sense of pride, belonging and shared purpose.
“Decisions are made with the best interests of the community in mind, rather than driven solely by profit or outside interests.
“This model encourages transparency, accountability, and long-term sustainability, as the Club’s success is directly tied to the well-being of the local people.
“Community ownership also fosters inclusivity, giving everyone a voice in shaping the Club’s future and ensuring it reflects the values and spirit of Welwyn Garden City and the surrounding areas.
“Ultimately, it will transform AFC Welwyn into more than just a football club — it becomes a unifying force that brings people together, strengthens local identity, and invests in the area’s social and cultural life.
“The Club will convert to a CIC (Community Interest Company) which will be run as a not for profit organisation. Therefore, a minimum of 65% of profits will be re-invested back into the Football Club to benefit the community and support the ambitious plans we are targeting. Dividends for owners will be capped at a maximum of 35% of profits.
“This means that when you own a part of AFC Welwyn you will only ever receive a maximum of 35% of your share of profits as 65% of profits will be re-invested into the Club. Your ownership will also come with significant membership benefits in return for your support of the Club.
“The Club will issue and sell over 51% of the share capital to fans which will be available to purchase under the 6 different ownership models which come with varying benefits.
“The monthly membership fees will ensure that the Club can continue its growth off the pitch and continue our success and targeted promotions on the pitch as well as being able to invest in our infrastructure with our planned stadium and training facilities where we can continue to grow our youth structure to serve the community.
“There are additional benefits to converting to a CIC as this will allow access to grants that will support the Club financially to deliver more football and well-being projects to our community.
“The next chapter is going to be exciting. We look forward to you joining us for the ride!”
WHAT WE’VE ACHIEVED AND what are OUR PRIORITIES
– Look at what we have achieved in 2 years and what we plan to achieve in the next 9 years!
– Won 2 promotions and a Cup in 2 years!
– Finalists at the Football Content Awards for best non-league club in 2024!
– Surpassed 25 million views on Socials!
– Set up a Development team, under 23s Team, Ladies team and 2 youth teams!
– Ranked 34th most viewed football club on You-Tube beating Premier League teams!
– Supported local charities and have a special Charity shirt where they receive the sales profits!
– Launched the only fans owned club in Welwyn Garden City!
– We WILL secure a site in WGC and develop our own ground and training facilities by 2028!
– We WILL reach the Football League by 2034!
– We WILL develop a full Youth structure with a pathway to senior football for players of every level!
THE ROAD TO WELWYN
Plans for our own stadium and training facilities in Welwyn Garden City
Further details will be provided regarding a proposed site in the Welwyn Garden City region that we are in discussions with both the land owners and the local MP.
Preliminary discussions with all parties have been positive and we are now waiting on a date for a further meeting to discuss the next steps.
The site will be sufficient for us to build a Stadium that will meet Football League regulations with 5 additional pitches for youth teams and senior training facilities.
This would give us 6 pitches in total including the pitch within the stadium.
Naturally, until the we have been given the green light on our discussions we have limited the information that is public as the acquisition of suitable land can be very competitive.
Our aim is to be back in Welwyn Garden City by the 2028/29 season.
UPDATE – We have another meeting scheduled with the MP Andrew Lewin on the 3rd October 2025 to discuss our proposals for one of the sites we have identified in Welwyn Garden City in more detail. We will post updates of the meeting here.
At AFC Welwyn, our mission is to reach the Football League by 2034.
We aim to build a club for the community powered by the community.
Here you will be able to find out how to become a proud owner of AFC Welwyn.
