Preview: Dagenham and Redbridge Away

Head in the clouds, and a mouthful of pie, Head in a blouse, everybody loves him, I see why.

Before they arrive, on their chariots of shit, the MK Dons apologists can pipe the fuck down. They are poised upon reading this article, before seeing this fixture, to leap upon the idea that a club born from a merger as recently as 1992 is similar to them, the same as them. Dagenham and Redbridge FC are not the same as MK Dons. In an area the size of Tylers Green until the late 1920s, filled with West Ham and Tottenham fans, the non-league clubs of East London had struggled to exist for years. Leytonstone, Iford, Walthamstowe Avenue, Barking, Barkingside, Rebridge Forest were all too close, too successful and unsuccessful in equal measures for them all to remain alive together. And while it would be untrue to say that there weren’t the sort of political uproars and personal squabbles that come with all mergers and changes, the resultant club of D&R FC was far from regarded as universally repugnant. It’s not unusual to speak to Dagenham fans now who subscribe to the opinion that one healthy Football League club is better than four struggling non-league clubs. Most importantly, those involved with the mergers had geography on their side, and the area itself wasn’t left without football clubs. Indeed, it’s an part of the world with what is now long history of mergers and name changes – Ford United, another Dagenham side promoted out the realms of the work side, are now Redbridge FC, somewhat confusingly, operating in the Isthmian Division One North. In 1992 Dagenham had the ground and Redbridge Forest had the money, so the story goes, and the bullet was bitten and they went for it. And success has arrived.

Of course, Dagenham and Redbridge have been the most successful incarnation by far, due in no small part to the canny management of John Still, well remembered by Wycombe fans as a bruising opponent over the years. Still’s love for the club, and the clubs that preceded it (Still was a player was Leytonstone & Ilford and Dagenham, then manager of Redbridge Forest), as well as the area he was born and brought up in, is evident in the way the side fought their way to a comprehensive Conference title last season. I say fought because Dagenham overcame the loss of two genuine gems unearthed by Still, both to Peterborough United at the end of the season. Shane Blackett, a composed centre half hailing from Luton, and Craig Mackail-Smith, England’s National Game centre forward, who Wycombe fans would have witnessed first hand at London Road at the end of March. To continue the momentum having lost those two players wasn’t easy, and Dagenham didn’t fly to the title in the manner they might have done without those departures, but they dug in, and tied it up relatively early. Still stresses the importance of local players that will care for the club, and the performances last season reflected that sense of pulling together, something that faded title challengers Oxford United failed abysmally to achieve.

Mackail-Smith’s departure wasn’t quite as destructive as it might have been, mainly due to the goals scored by beanpole lank fest Paul Benson. A genuine finisher with a decent touch, Benson graduated from playing for Bell Sports in the Southend Sunday League to being the Conference’s top scorer. Left out of the side for Chris Moore on Tuesday night against Luton Town in the Carling Cup, it will be interesting to see if Benson starts on Saturday. He’s not a player to cause havoc or particularly stand out, but he rarely gives the ball away and, as the goals record suggests, isn’t one to miss chances. Ninety-six goals in two seasons in the Essex Intermediate league is worth a pat on the back at least. If he plays Saturday, a Wycombe fan in a beige car coat behind you will compare him to Peter Crouch.

So perhaps the big question on Saturday will be, as it often is for newly promoted sides, can the players make the step up? Many will tell you that the bottom of League 2 is a worse standard than the top of the Conference and with most Conference sides now full time, there may be something in that. Industrious, busy players like Sam Sloma down the left and Dave Rainford in midfield excelled in the Conference last season, but will it be enough in league football? Captain Anwar Uddin, schooled in the same FA Youth Cup winning West Ham side as Joe Cole and Michael Carrick, is an indisputable rock at centre back, and the ineffectiveness of John Sutton in the first two games of the season will be under great scrutiny. The cliché “he’ll get no change from him” was made for Uddin, and Sutton faces a challenging afternoon. So too, might the travelling Wycombe fans, having to endure the streams of crap discharged from former QPR motor mouth goalkeeper Tony Roberts. A Chatty Fuck, as one Welsh Blues fan once described him to me.

It’s a winnable game for Wycombe, a crowd of around 1900-2000 is expected, which is piss poor in anyone’s language, with a decent amount likely to travel from south Bucks. Dagenham’s first ever Football League game will certainly start at a decent pace and a physical contest, for the first 20 minutes at least, can be expected. But Lambert’s signings have quality and Bullock and Williams give experience and width, though how much they can be exploited on a tight Victoria Road pitch will be in question. Looking at Wycombe pre-season, there’s a slight feeling that the ability is there, we’re just waiting for things to click. The problem will be how low we have to wait, and how the results fall while we’re waiting. A hard fought 1-0 win, or even a 0-0 draw, will be a step in the right direction at Dagenham on Saturday.

Fingers crossed, for a result and for a 90-minute break in the rain.

16.08.2007. 13:59