Fan In Focus
Dave
Indge
24th July 1999
NAME: David Indge
PLACE OF BIRTH: East Ham, London.
DATE OF BIRTH: 12th June 1950
OCCUPATION: Vice President, Internet Medical Company
FAVOURITE FILM: Goldfinger/Starman/Hunt for Red October
PERSONAL INFO: Moved to Dagenham from East Ham in 1955. Went to Hunters
Hall School, then on to Eastbrook. Moved to Canada in 1975 and lived in
Saskatchewan (VERY VERY cold in winter, VERY VERY hot in summer) until
1990 when we moved to British Columbia. When they call it beatiful British
Columbia they are not kidding. Bit wet in the winter, but just a fantastic
place to live. I live 25 miles North of Victoria on Vancouver Island.
Victoria is like a little bit of the old England I remember but with all
the finer qualities of North American life. Married with 3 kids.
1)FAVOURITE PLAYERS OF ALL TIME:
This is not in order of preferance, just memory:
DAVE HARRIS was the very first player I can remember. He was typical of
the centre forwards of the time, big and burley. His appeal was he was a
nice guy and after the game, ALWAYS had time for the supporters,
especially the kids (of which I was one). To very impressionable kids,
this was something else for a player to stop and say hi. He always took
time to sign autographs and again to the kids from the terraces, this was
the greatest thing of all. Perhaps it was his attitude towards the kids
which set me off as a Daggers fan. I felt an affinity with one of the
players on the field. I hope he is well.
PETER GREENE. Peter was pure brilliance and could change the course of a
game with his speed and skill. He had the ability to bend the ball so well
with accuracy and power. At times he would go over the top a little and
could have been labeled the nutter of the team if it had not been for Roy
Drake who won that title easily. Peter was always exciting and fun to
watch.
KENNY GRAY: This player was pure class and could make a pass that could
split defence at any time as he did for Enfield against daggers in the '71
Cup Final. He could read the game so well and had a lethal accurate shot.
JIMMY HOLDER: Always gave 100% and then some. Would run through a brick
wall for Ted and with Roy Drake alongside in midfield they were the best
middle two ever.
Finally, IAN HUTTLEY. Proir to Ian arriving Peter Harman had been the
Daggers goalie and before that, the most familiar name I can recall was a
guy by the name of SKINNER. Ian was without doubt the best non league
goalie of his day, with no disrespect intended to anyone else who wore the
Daggers jersey before or since. He was a loyal servant to The Daggers and
a true class act. He was another who ALWAYS had time for the supporters.
He kept the daggers in more than one game by his brilliance. I hope he is
well and still involved with the club.
2)BEST TEAM PERFORMANCE:
Has to be the semi final of the FA Trophy in 70/71 (I think). We played
the game at Luton and was the prelude to our first trip to Wembley. I
forget the team we played but we were expected to lose and the team played
brilliantly. Tony Bass was carried off and we played with ten men for the
latter part of the second half and held on to win 2-1 (I think).
3)WORST TEAM PERFORMANCE:
The following Trophy game at Wembley when Enfield did us in. The whole
team played lousey and Jimmy Daniels our right back scored in his own
goal. Kenny Gray defeated us on his own that day. Terrible, will never
forget it.
4)BEST GOAL OF ALL TIME:
3 of them all worth remembering. PETER GREENE while playing for Leyton
Town against Grays in 1966 at Victoria Road in some cup final. He came
running in from the right wing at full speed with the ball and as he
prepared to shoot, while still running at full speed, place his right leg
behind his left and chipped the ball past Peter Harman (who had left
dagenham earlier to join Grays where he lived) into the top left corner.
Pure brilliance. TONY BASS 35 yarder at Upton Park against West ham in a
London Senior Cup tie. He got the ball in the centre circle with his back
to the goal, turned, took two steps, then blasted the hardest shot I've
ever seen past Mervyn Day. Stunning.... KENNY GRAY while playing for The
Daggers against Aveley at Aveley. Got the ball rolled to him by Ian
Huttley, played one two's down the pitch getting the ball back just
outside the Aveley area and let go a hard rising shot into the net. Second
hardest shot I've seen.
5)MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT:
Going to Wembley in '71 despite the defeat. Also, watching the first
friendly pre season game in 1966 under Ted Hardy and realising something
was about to evolve. >From a non soccer standpoint, in 1964 watching
Dave Harris our centre forward at that time jump the wall by the stand and
drop an opposing St. Albans player with a right cross. St Albans were
behind a couple of goals and the ball had gone into the crowd. The player
had gone into the crowd to get the ball and was pushing everyone to get at
it and happened to push an older man to the ground. The older man was
Dave's Dad and Dave took care of matters right there and then. The St
Albans player went out like a light. Also, the night we played Reading in
the FA Cup. Fantastic evening with an electric atmosphere. We should have
won the game but did not. The official attendance was listed at around
8,000 but some say the actual attendance was closer to 12,000.
6)MOST FORGETABLE MOMEMENT?
Answer given in question 3
7)BEST COMMENT HEARD FROM THE
TERRACES..
One in particular which cannot be printed here.A spectator after watching
dagenham pass the ball back and forth in front of the goal for almost 2
minutes shout something about "Why don't you just shoot the ****ing
thing". The funniest part was a policeman was standing right beside
him and said "My words exactly". Before the days of soccer
hooligans.
8)WHAT WOULD YOU DO TO IMPROVE THE
CLUB:
Cannot say no knowledge of todays club
9)DO YOU FOLLOW A LEAGUE CLUB ?
Still cheer for West Ham
10)ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS:
None so far
11) WHY DID YOU SUPPORT A NON LEAGUE
CLUB:
I lived 2 blocks from the ground in Hunters Hall Road and to go to a
professional game at my age was not on. The daggers were the closest thing
to "pro sports at the time and as such became the team to watch. It
did not cost a lot to get in and if you had no money you could wait until
almost half time and get in for free or climb over the wall at Pondfield
Road. Many times if you had no money you could get in by 3.15 if the right
guy was on the gate. When I did pay which was most of the time very seldom
can I remember leaving not feeling I got value for money. As noted
earlier, the players of the day such as Dave Harris, Peter Harman, Bryan
Barber, Kenny Gibson, Ron Nugent, Ron Gower, Eddie Curley and others I've
forgotten, always took time to talk to the supporters young and old after
the game. This left an impression on me as well as many others.
12) FAVOURITE MATCH NOT INVOLVING
THE DAGGERS:
West Ham vs Leeds when The Hammers won 7 - 0 when they completely
outplayed Don Revies Leeds United. That night Johnny Byrne made Jackie
Charlton look a real chump all night.
13) FAVOURITE NON & FOOTBALL
LEAGUE GROUND VISITED:
Bishops Stortford
14) BETWEEN WHAT YEARS DID YOU
SUPPORT THE DAGGERS:
1955 - 1975 in person now via the internet.
15)WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE MANAGER OF
ALL TIME:
No question about this one, TED HARDY. Before Ted arrived the team had
always been a good solid team and won many titles (Corinthian) and cups
(Essex Senior) but were missing something extra. However, when Ted arrived
things changed quickly and within a year we had become a team to be
reckoned with in non league and Southern League (Semi Pro at that time)
arena's but we could have matched many third and fourth division teams as
well. The sad thing, was many of the noted players could not (or would
not) play for Ted and left for other teams or left the game altogether.
Ted was a brilliant manager and demanded lots from his players. He came to
the club with that reputation and many players followed him. I was
fortunate to have seen his work evolve into some of the best soccer seen
anywhere in the south of England. Also, watching him have a ballistic
attack sitting on the bench when George Dudley would always clear the ball
into the parking lot instead of down the field was worth the price of
admission. Roy Drake also new the way to push Ted's buttons and when he
did that WAS worth the price of admission. Martin Smith also had the
ability to piss Ted off quickly.
16) DO YOU GET A CHANCE TO SEE
SOCCER IN CANADA:
Other than on TV not really. Soccer in Canada is played in the schools
although there are a lot of mens leagues wherever you find a European or
Latin American community. Mostly it is of the Sunday morning at Parloes
Park calibre. Our national team is a joke at best. In North America, if
you do not win at sports you are dead. That has been the case here. There
are some semi pro leagues across the country and in the US and we are in
the Pacific league which includes Vancouver, Seattle, LA, San Fransisco
and Portland, but the calibre is lower than the Daggers I watched. The
skill sets are not there unfortunately. We had a team in Victoria but they
went tits due to lack of support which is common for losing sports teams.
To see a game live I would have to go to Vancouver which by the time the
smoke cleared would cost me upwards of $200. and it's just not worth it.
Add to that the fact it would take me in excess of 3 & half hours to
get there well it is just not worth it. (Plus as long to get back) I get
to see lots of soccer on TV here as we have the live hook up to SKY TV as
well as BBC games so we see lots on Saturdays as well as the Monday
evening games. Throw in the Italian games as well as South American games
we get to see through the international channels on TV and we do get to
see lots. The US is getting into the game right now and are actually quite
good. We see all of the US national games and I have seen them get better
and better. One thing in the US is if you are half decent they will throw
money at you to make you decent. Tons of money. Last game I saw them in
they beat Germany 3- 0 which was quite something. They may not be there
yet but look for them to be spoilers and surprise many in 2002 and 2006
then watch out 2010.
ANY FURTHER COMMENTS:
I think I've dronned on enough here and will bore many who read this.
Steve your site is a credit to The Daggers and it has made my weekends
looking for the reports and the news updates. Your efforts are
appreciated.
Keep it up.
Thanks for this opportunity.
Dave.