A soften, a muppet, a fraud, a bungler, a Judas, a taker of bribes. A very good boy, a lad, a maestro, a magnificence. To the gang at Real Bedford Football Club on a sun-bleached night in August, the referee was all of this stuff throughout the span of half an hour. The Bedford followers, separated from the soccer subject by a crooked steel railing and a few meter, held a operating dialog with the gamers all through the sport: “Number 3! Number 3!” shouted Simon, one particularly vocal supporter, “That was a fucking exquisite touch!” Number 3 returned a figuring out grin and a thumbs up.

This is nonleague, semiprofessional English soccer: the ninth rung of the nationwide ladder, the place gamers are paid tens of kilos per week, not tens of 1000’s, and matches entice at finest a number of hundred spectators. The regulars know each other properly—they reside and principally work close by. The recreation was a replay of an earlier match towards F.C. Clacton, from a coastal city 100 miles away, the winner of which might go on to the subsequent spherical of the FA Cup, the oldest and most prestigious knock-out event in England. The earlier encounter had resulted in a large-scale brawl and a 2-2 tie.

Soccer at this stage is never glamorous, however Real Bedford’s new proprietor and chair, Peter McCormack, has the grand ambition of taking the membership to the Premier League, the highest flight of English soccer. McCormack, who took over the membership in April 2022, made his cash first in promoting, then by investing in Bitcoin and producing Bitcoin-related content material. He is a outstanding member of the cryptocurrency group, courtesy of his podcast, What Bitcoin Did, and his plan is to parlay his standing within the crypto world into a global fanbase and profitable sponsorship for Real Bedford.

This match, like all dwelling video games, is being streamed reside on YouTube. The membership has arrange fan teams throughout the globe—from Ghana and Tanzania to China and Cambodia. The membership badge and shirts bear the Bitcoin brand, in an try to show it into one thing for all Bitcoiners to rally behind. And big-name sponsors have adopted, like Gemini, the crypto change run by the Winklevoss twins.

Rags to riches tales are few and much between in English soccer, and the mixing of crypto and sports activities has beforehand led to hostilities between clubs and their fans. But McCormack is assured that this time will probably be totally different, and he’s taking a decidedly hands-on strategy to show it.

McCormack had agreed to host me on the match, but it surely quickly turned clear he wouldn’t be capable of full our first interview. Three hours earlier than kickoff, he was busy laying out merch, curating the altering room playlist, and shuttling bins of drugs from the trunk of his automotive. Later, I squeezed in a number of questions whereas he was marshaling the automotive park, however the remainder must wait. “I’m sorry. You ask someone else to do something, they won’t do it properly,” he stated over his shoulder, as he jogged off to intercept one other wayward driver.