Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club (), often known simply as Dagenham and abbreviated when written to Dag & Red, is a professional association football club based in Dagenham, Greater London, England that play in the , the sixth level of the English football league system. They are nicknamed the Daggers and play their home games at Victoria Road which holds a capacity of 6,078.
The club was formed in 1992 through a merger of Dagenham and Redbridge Forest, the latter merged from Ilford, Leytonstone and Walthamstow Avenue. The club's traditional colours are red and blue, to represent the merged teams. The club replaced Redbridge Forest in the Football Conference but were relegated in 1996. They won the Isthmian League title in 1999–2000 and qualified for the next three Conference play-offs, missing out on the 2001–02 title on goal difference and losing the 2003 Conference play-off final. They secured promotion into the Football League after winning the conference title in the 2006–07 season. They then moved up from League Two after winning the 2010 play-off final, though were relegated the next season after finishing 21st in League One. Dagenham were relegated back into non-League football in 2016. They suffered a further relegation to the National League South in 2024–25.
History
Formation Dagenham & Redbridge F.C. was formed in 1992 following a merger between two clubs – Dagenham F.C. and Redbridge Forest F.C.. Both clubs had fallen on hard times due to dwindling attendances. The club can trace back its ancestry to 1881 as Redbridge Forest was an amalgamation of three of the amateur game's most famous clubs, Ilford, Leytonstone and Walthamstow Avenue. Between the clubs they won the FA Trophy once, FA Amateur Cup seven times, Isthmian League 20 times, Athenian League six times, Essex Senior Cup 26 times and London Senior Cup 23 times.
Non-League Dagenham & Redbridge spent its inaugural season in the Football Conference, taking the place of Redbridge Forest. The club's first fixture after the merger was on 25 July 1992, which was an 8–0 thrashing of Great Wakering Rovers in a friendly. The first competitive result was a 2–0 win over Merthyr Tydfil in the conference.
Dagenham & Redbridge spent several seasons in the Football Conference but were relegated to the Isthmian League Premier Division in 1996, at that point the 6th tier of English football. They remained in that division until winning promotion in the 1999–2000 season, subsequently cementing themselves as one of the strongest clubs in the conference, finishing third, second and fifth in its first three seasons back following promotion.
The club was narrowly beaten to the conference title by Boston United in 2002 on goal difference. Boston United were subsequently found guilty of making illegal payments during the 01/02 season. Dagenham & Redbridge attempted to have itself declared Conference Champions, and therefore take Boston's contentious place in The Football League, however their appeal was unsuccessful and they remained in the Football Conference for the 2002/03 season. A four-point deduction was put in place against Boston United for the following season but not for the season in which the irregularities had been committed.
The Daggers then declined somewhat, finishing the 2003–04, 2004–05 and 2005–06 seasons in mid-table. On 27 February 2004 they were hammered 9–0 at home by Hereford United, equalling the record highest winning margin in the conference.Dag & Red 0–9 Hereford BBC Sport, 27 February 2004
The 2006–07 season saw Dagenham & Redbridge battle it out with Oxford United for the top of the league spot. Despite Oxford quickly racing to the top, a collapse in Oxford's form combined with an excellent run for the Daggers saw them overtake Oxford in the league. On 7 April, Dagenham & Redbridge beat Aldershot Town 2–1 to mathematically secure the conference title, meaning the club would play in the Football League for the first time in its short history.Dag & Red 2–1 Aldershot BBC Sport, 7 April 2007Daggers delight at promotion prize BBC Sport, 7 April 2007
2007–2015: Football League Dagenham & Redbridge played their first match in the Football League on 11 August 2007, a 1–0 defeat to Stockport County.Stockport 1–0 Dag & Red BBC Sport, 11 August 2007 The club won its first Football League game at home to Lincoln City on 1 September 2007.Dag & Red 1–0 Lincoln BBC Sport, 1 September 2007 The Daggers finished the season in 20th place, ensuring a second season of Football League competition. The following season, the Daggers reached their highest position in the English footballing pyramid yet, an 8th place finish in League Two, where they narrowly missed out on the League Two play-offs after losing to Shrewsbury Town at home on the final day of the season.Dag Red 1–2 Shrewsbury Football.co.uk, 2 May 2009
The 2009–10 season saw the Daggers promoted from League Two to League One via the play-offs. They defeated Rotherham United in a dramatic play-off final at Wembley which ended 3-2 to Dagenham. The Daggers took the lead twice, only to concede moments later on both occasions. Jon Nurse regained the advantage for Dagenham & Redbridge, scoring a 70th-minute winner. The Daggers’ first game in League One was a 2–0 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday, which set the scene for the rest of the season, and they finished 21st and were relegated on the last day of the 2010–11 season back to League Two.
Their first season back in League Two resulted in a 19th place finish. Manager John Still left the club during the 2012–13 season to join Luton Town after nine years at the helm. The Daggers would end up finishing 22nd that season, narrowly avoiding relegation back into non-league football by a single spot. Following the club's safety from relegation, Wayne Burnett was appointed as manager on a permanent basis after a spell as caretaker manager. Despite an inconsistent start to the 2013–14 season, Dagenham & Redbridge finished in ninth place.
However, the club faced a match fixing scandal during the season. Following newspaper reports, an investigation launched by the National Crime Agency jailed two players and businessman, Krishna Ganeshan, Chann Sankaran and Michael Boateng, a Whitehawk player, for match-fixing. Moses Swaibu was similarly charged in January 2014. They were convicted of conspiracy to commit bribery for a failed plot to fix a game between AFC Wimbledon and Dagenham & Redbridge on 26 November. It is believed that the case may have been part of a wider Singaporean match-fixing syndicate which Europol and other investigations uncovered.
In 2014–15 League Cup, Dagenham & Redbridge played out a 6–6 match with Brentford before losing the subsequent penalty shootout. The EFL commemorated the historic match by removing the nets from Victoria Road for that game, putting them on display at the National Football Museum in Manchester.
In the 2015–16 season, the Daggers started the season poorly. Burnett was dismissed in December 2015, to be replaced by John Still. They drew Premier League club Everton in the third round of the FA Cup, but ended up losing losing 2–0. Still was unable to save Dagenham & Redbridge from relegation in his third spell. After a 3–2 defeat away to Leyton Orient, relegation from League Two was confirmed, and Dagenham's nine-year spell in the Football League was brought to an end.
2016–2025: return to non-League In their first season back in the National League, they ended the season in fourth place; they lost their play-off semi-final to Forest Green Rovers. The 2017–18 season started positively, but after the club was hit by a financial crisis midway through the season, the Daggers finished the campaign in 11th place. The financial crisis was resolved early in the 2018–19 season.
Peter B. Freund of Trinity Sports Holdings purchased controlling interest in the club in 2018. He sold the club in 2024 to Club Underdog, a subsidiary of North Sixth group, who reached an agreement in principle to purchase the club. They became the fifth club owned by the group, joining Italian clubs Campobasso and Ascoli, Swiss club FC Locarno and the newly formed American club Brooklyn FC.
Manager since March 2023, Ben Strevens was sacked in December 2024, after a run of just seven wins from 23 league fixtures left the Daggers five points above the relegation zone. They were ultimately relegated to the National League South on the final day of the 2024–25 season.
On 3 March 2026, British influencer Olajide Olatunji, more commonly known as KSI, purchased a minority stake in the club. He reportedly wants to take the team to the Football League, and eventually to the heights of the Premier League. On 6 March, Variety announced that KSI alongside After Party Studios will be producing a docuseries titled "Race to the Top", chronicling his takeover of the club similarly to Ryan Reynolds' "Welcome to Wrexham."
Club sponsorship Kit suppliersDatesSupplier1996–97En-S1997–2013Vandanel2013–2019Sondico2019–2023Nike2023–2025Admiral2025–presentUmbro Shirt sponsorsDatesSponsor1992–96Dagenham Post1996–97Recorder Newspapers1997–2006Compass2006–West & Coe
Current squad
First-team squad
Out on loan
Team management Updated 14 August 2026 PositionName Manager Lee AllinsonPlayer-Assistant Manager Andy CarrollSenior Technical AdviserIan AllinsonTechnical AdviserGary KingFirst-team Coach Cliff AkurangGoalkeeping Coach Alexandros BalaskasStrength and Conditioning CoachLucas PerryFirst Team AnalystScott MunroHead of Recruitment Rich BatesClub doctor Dr. Alex GibbsHead of Youth Development Stuart Fergus Club Officials PositionName Chairman Anwar Uddin MBEChief Executive Officer John GrabowskiPatronThe Worshipful The Mayor of the London Borough of Barking and DagenhamHonorary Life PresidentSteve Thompson MBEVice-Presidents Ray Calcutt FRSA, C.Eng., M.I. Mech.E, Paul Gwinn JP, Dave Bennett Board of directors
Directors: Peter Freund, John Grabowski, Alan Jeyes (Members Director)
Club Administration PositionName Club Secretary Charlie FraserMedia Officer Tom Rist Commercial ManagerCaroline LogushSafety OfficerCraig Witham Ticketing & Club Shop Manager Charlie FraserBar & Conference ManagerChris PollardCommunity Trust ManagerDenis LawrenceGroundsmanMitchell DigginesDesignated Safeguarding OfficerDenis LawrenceTurnstiles ManagerJamie Joyes
Managers Dagenham & Redbridge have had twelve different managers since their formation in 1992.
FromToManagerMay 1992May 1994 John StillMay 1994September 1995 Dave CusackSeptember 1995April 1996 Graham CarrApril 1996March 1999 Ted HardyMay 1999April 2004 Garry HillApril 200426 February 2013 John Still2 May 201321 December 2015 Wayne Burnett31 December 201518 May 2018 John Still5 June 201829 December 2019 Peter Taylor3 January 202024 February 2023 Daryl McMahon10 March 202326 December 2024 Ben Strevens 16 January 20258 May 2025 Lewis Young5 June 202518 March 2026 Lee Bradbury18 March 202625 April 2026 Andy Carroll (Interim player-manager)3 May 2026Present Lee Allinson
Stadium Dagenham and Redbridge play out of the Chigwell Construction Stadium. Also known as Victoria Road, it has been used for football since 1917. However, it was not fully enclosed until 1955. The pitch was massively upgraded during that summer, including being re-seeded.
In 1956, the main stand (boasting a capacity of 800) was built by JW Bowers. Before this, there was only a small wooden stand. Further improvements were made that summer by adding turnstiles and some toilets.
1958 saw the addition of the cover over the far side of the pitch. Very little happened until 1990, when Redbridge Forest F.C. paid for a new stand to be built. Just two years later, Redbridge and Dagenham merged, and they fixed the perimeter wall and the toilets.