Dagenham &
Redbridge F.C. was formed on the 1st July 1992 following the merger of
Redbridge Forest and Dagenham Football Clubs.
The Club in its present format had a very successful
first season finishing 3rd in the GM Vauxhall Conference,
Semi-finalists in the League Cup and reaching the 1st round proper of the
FA Cup, where they were defeated 5-4 in a thrilling game against Leyton
Orient. The game set the clubs record attendance with 5,300 watching
the all ticket match. That same season the Daggers had a record 7 players
picked for the England Semi-professional squad.
The following season saw the Daggers finish 6th in the league. The
eventual competition winners, Woking, knocked the club out of the FA
Trophy in the second round, but the Daggers gained revenge later in he
season recording the second highest away victory ever in the GM Vauxhall
Conference, winning 8-1. In the F.A. Cup the club failed to emulate
the previous seasons success when they beaten in the final
qualifying round against Cambridge City. During the season they sold
striker Juan Mequel De Souza to Birmingham City for a five figure fee.
At the end of the season, manager, John Still left the club to take charge
at Peterborough United. Replacing John at Victoria Road was Dave
Cusack, former manager of Boston, Doncaster and Rotherham.
In season 1994/95 a catalogue of injuries meant the Daggers were rarely
able to field a full strength side, this reflected in their final position
of 15th in the Conference. The Club went out of both F.A. competitions in
the early stages. The only chance of silverware was in the league
cup where they lost to Kettering in the Semi-Final..The average gate was
similar to the previous season, being just below 1,000.
After a poor start to the 95/96 season the Daggers parted company with
Dave Cusack and appointed Graham Carr as manager. Unfortunately, he
was unable to change the fortunes of the club and, other than reaching the
3rd qualifying round of the F.A. Cup where they were defeated by Purfleet,
they were knocked out in the first round of all cup competitions. At the
end of March the club parted company with Graham Carr and turned to Ted
Hardy to try to pick up enough points to avoid relegation. He was not
successful and the drop was inevitable.
During the close season Ted rebuilt the team and back room staff,
bringing in Dennis Moore as his assistant and Glyn Creaser as player
coach. The season was a very successful one for the club culminating
in the F.A.Umbro Trophy Final at Wembley, against Woking where they were
beaten 1-0 aet. They also reached the 1st round of the F.A. Cup being
defeated by Ashford Town on penalties and finished 4th the the League.
During the close season they purchased Paul Cobb from Purfleet for
a 5 figure fee. Various ground improvements have been made including a new
perimeter wall around the pitch.