Dag & Red

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.

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.

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. The club won its first Football League game at home to Lincoln City on 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.

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.