House of Flying Daggers

[mark wilson27]

A two nil loss to Man.City isn't a bad thing in the grand scheme of things. It looks like you have a good points barrier between you and the dreaded drop but I'm sure your not resting on your laurels. Good luck for the rest of the season CFuller

[CFuller]

On 8/21/2017 at 09:26, mark wilson27 said:

A two nil loss to Man.City isn't a bad thing in the grand scheme of things. It looks like you have a good points barrier between you and the dreaded drop but I'm sure your not resting on your laurels. Good luck for the rest of the season CFuller

Of course it's not a bad thing. We're nowhere near the level of the Manchester clubs, so to only lose 2-0 at City is very encouraging. What I am worried about is whether we'll cope without Khumalo, especially as his replacement Scheepens has picked up an injury already.

[CFuller]

FEBRUARY 2036 (continued)

If our last away game was devilishly difficult, our next one was likely to be rather less taxing. We were up against second-from-bottom Aston Villa, who had shipped 63 goals and kept just two clean sheets in the Premier League this season.

 

You may remember from our previous meeting with Villa that Tristan Egueh made mincemeat of their defence - and Chad Gauss in particular. For the rematch at Villa Park, I decided to put Tristan and his partner-in-crime Mark Washington up against the now 37-year-old Canadian centre-back again. Would there be another massacre?

 

6 February 2036: Aston Villa vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Our first chance in this game came not from either of our strikers, but from Oumar Fofana, who headed Matthew Fraser's corner just over the crossbar after four minutes. Three minutes after that, Oumar played in attacking midfielder Billy Stevenson, whose drilled effort was caught by Aston Villa goalkeeper Jonathan Hudson. Mark Washington had his first attempt at goal in the 9th minute, but it flew ridiculously far from the target.

 

Mark's next effort, in the 21st minute, did at least test Hudson. The American forward got through the channel between Chad Gauss and Villa's left-back Jon Fleming to collect an incisive pass from Fofana, but Hudson tipped his shot behind. The resulting corner was drifted in by Fraser, and flicked over the bar by Tomo Kurtovic.

 

Then came a worrying development in the 24th minute, as Tristan Egueh went down hurt after a firm challenge from Villans centre-back Théo Forster. Injury effectively ended Tristan's hopes of replicating his stellar performance against Villa in October, as Joel Honeyball came on to replace him. Losing Egueh affected us for a while, and the hosts would have a rare chance to take the lead after almost exactly half an hour. Striker Bruno Vukcevic beat our goalkeeper Kieran Whalley to a first-time centre from Petr Jelinek, but his header flew behind, and we breathed a sigh of relief.

 

Washington and Stevenson then came close to putting us in front before we finally made the breakthrough on the stroke of half-time. After drawing Gauss and Forster towards him, Mark squared the ball towards an unmarked Joel, who tucked it away for 1-0! That was the 50th league goal of Honeyball's Daggers career, and his first this season!

 

Joel may have given us a narrow half-time lead, but he couldn't build on it after the break. Six minutes into the second half, he was floored by an excellent sliding tackle from Jelinek that left him badly hurt. The substitute had to be substituted, and with no other strikers on the bench, I had to drastically change our system. The 4-4-2 diamond became a 4-3-2-1, with Stipo Brkic coming on to accompany Stevo behind our lone striker Mark.

 

Villa boss Will Grigg made a big change of his own in the 64th minute, replacing the tiring Gauss with a younger and fresher centre-half in Andrew Hardy. Washington couldn't really use his pace to cut through the defence anymore, and he would have a limited impact on the rest of this match. Hudson then saved efforts from Stevenson and Seb Brennan before Aston Villa went on the attack in the final 20 minutes.

 

On 73 minutes, Vukcevic pulled a sitter wide after his Villans strike partner Reiss Benjamin had cleverly knocked the ball through Daggers defender George Darvill's legs. The Bosnian tried again in the 75th minute, but Whalley turned his header round the post. Another chance came his way in the 79th minute. A massive gap opened up in our defence, and Vukcevic ran through it to receive on-loan Lyon winger Marko Riou's lob and fire past Kieran.

 

Dagenham left-back Ante Djuzel had been caught napping there, and he would shoulder most of the blame again when we inevitably fell behind in the final minute. Ante was unable to get Riou's byline centre out of our six-yard box before Vukcevic stabbed it into the net. Somehow, against one of the worst teams to grace the Premier League in recent years, we had snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

 

Aston Villa - 2 (Vukcevic 79,90)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Honeyball 45)

Premier League, Attendance 28,006 - POSITIONS: Aston Villa 19th, Dag & Red 12th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Moser, Darvill, Kurtovic, Djuzel, Brennan, Fofana (Barnes), Fraser, Stevenson, Washington, Egueh (Honeyball (Brkic)). BOOKED: Fofana, Moser.

 

"HOW THE F*** DID THAT HAPPEN, GUYS?" I fumed at full-time. "You were in total control for about three-quarters of that game, but for the last 20 minutes or so, you just seemed to switch off! You can't do that in any Premier League game - not even against a team like Aston Villa!"

 

I specifically singled out left-back Ante Djuzel for criticism. That wasn't Ante's first horror show this season, and so I laid down the law by fining him a week's wages and dropping him to the reserves. The 20-year-old complained that I wasn't being fair, but the Premier League's a harsh environment, and he wasn't yet capable of surviving in it.

 

We had a couple of days to work on our failings before returning to Rainham Road to face Fulham. The Cottagers had bounced back to form this season and were right in the mix for a UEFA Champions League spot, so this match would surely be a tough one.

 

Following our late collapse against Aston Villa, I shook things up by bringing a couple of 18-year-olds into the starting line-up. Argentine right-back Vicente Gridelli was given his Daggers debut, and Icelandic playmaker Engilbert Sverrisson made his first start of this season after tearing up the reserve league.

 

9 February 2036: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Fulham

Robbie MacKenzie came back into the fold after sitting out our last game, and he could've scored within two minutes. Fulham goalkeeper Joe Allen did well to catch MacKenzie's free-kick, and he would also keep hold of a low drive from Engilbert Sverrisson in the 9th minute. Robbie's next shot, in the 13th minute, was rather more wayward.

 

We seemed to have the edge early on, though we did make occasional mistakes that gave Fulham chances to open the scoring. One such opportunity arose after Cottagers midfielder Daniel Chávez intercepted a headed clearance from Daggers counterpart Martin Thompson in the 24th minute. Chávez moved the ball out left to winger Jonathan Gorman, and the 19-year-old Manchester City loanee weighted a cross to his captain Martyn Thomas in our area. Fortunately, Kieran Whalley punched the ball away just before Thomas could head it home.

 

Another big moment came three minutes later, when we stunned the Cottagers with an incisive counter-attack. Greg Killick switched a long ball to MacKenzie on the edge of the area, and Robbie shrugged off Fulham's left-back Mathieu Retailleau before volleying into the net!

 

Shortly after MacKenzie gave us the lead, Fulham attempted to retaliate through Daniele Gatti, but the United States striker sent his half-volley well wide. Our own American frontman Mark Washington then missed the target in the 29th minute, as did Sverrisson in the 34th.

 

Daggers newcomer Vicente Gridelli could have delighted the Rainham Road crowd in the 38th minute, as the right-back hit a strong long-range shot that was caught well by Allen. We broke into Fulham's area again shortly afterwards, and when visiting midfielder Wayne James tugged on Engilbert's jersey, the referee awarded us a penalty! MacKenzie might have missed his last spot-kick, but he made no mistake this time around. Five minutes before half-time, we found ourselves 2-0 ahead!

 

Although Sverrisson had played well in the first half, the Icelandic youngster was struggling for fitness somewhat, so Billy Stevenson took his place for the second period. About four minutes after play restarted, Billy dribbled at the Fulham defence and unleashed a powerful shot that Allen brilliantly stopped.

 

At the other end, Whalley would face his next test from the Cottagers' attackers in the 60th minute. Gorman blasted the ball goalwards from 30 yards out, and Kieran had to react quickly to beat it away. That began a worrying spell in which we conceded goodness knows how many corners, but we got out of that situation alive and soon looked to kill the game with a third goal.

 

A fantastic long ball from left-back Rocco Mazzola in the 72nd minute sent Washington through - and after beating Fulham's centre-back pairing of Ben Williams and Michel, he just had to get his shot beyond Allen. Mark had only scored once in his previous 10 games, and the Yank's drought continued when Allen parried his strike.

 

That miss would prove very significant in the 87th minute, when Fulham pulled a late goal back on the break. You won't be surprised to read that it was Gatti - the Cottagers' hat-trick hero from our last encounter - who halved our deficit by finishing Thomas' through-ball.

 

Stevenson could've settled our nerves by scoring our third goal shortly after the restart, but Allen's latest save kept the contest alive. Then, after one last Daggers attack fell apart in injury time, Fulham prepared to launch a final assault of their own.

 

Winger Biyoko N'Gabsi knocked Williams' clearance past Dagenham defender Hamzah Jaafar to send Gatti racing through on goal. Fortunately, George Darvill managed to force Gatti wide, giving Hamzah time to get back, block the American's shot, and concede a corner. Jaafar then made another vital interception to clear Retailleau's corner, after which the referee blew his whistle. We had won - by the skin of our teeth!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (MacKenzie 27,pen40)

Fulham - 1 (Gatti 87)

Premier League, Attendance 17,848 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 12th, Fulham 7th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Jaafar, Darvill, Radosavljevic, Gridelli, Mazzola, Thompson, Killick (Barnes), Sverrisson (Stevenson), MacKenzie, Washington (Egueh).

 

That was our fourth win in our last five home league games... but we could easily have thrown it away. A lot of hard work would have to be done in the three-week interval before we next took to the pitch.

 

The rest of February was dedicated to intensive training, with a specific focus on ball control. For a team that liked to play flowing possession football, our passing this season had been rather poor, and we weren't creating as many chances inside the opposition penalty area as I would've liked.

 

Off the training field, I decided to put some of the £10.5million we'd made from selling Albert Khumalo to good use. I persuaded the board to increase our junior coaching budget and help make our youth programme one of the best in the league.

 

Although I pushed the players to their limits during the extended break, they came out of it largely unscathed when it came to injuries. The only notable casualty was Stipo Brkic, who strained his groin and would miss our next two matches. However, Stipo wouldn't be as significant a loss as he had been when he injured his back around this time last year.

 

Indeed, the most serious injury to a Daggers player this month was to one of the many we had out on loan. Unfortunately, the player in question was Elliot Cook - one of our brightest hopes for the future.

 

16-year-old Elliot had made just one substitute appearance in the Championship for Plymouth Argyle when he tore a calf muscle during an Under-18s match. His season is over already, and I fear that his long-term development might suffer greatly. Let's hope that injury isn't a sign of things to come.

[CFuller]

MARCH 2036

Although Leeds United were still in the Championship relegation zone, on-loan Daggers midfielder Dave Hutchinson was at least giving them a fighting chance of survival with consistently strong performances. February would see Hutch named as the Championship's Young Player of the Month for a second time, and when he rejoins us in the summer, you can bet he'll be back in our first-team squad.

 

Relegation was no longer a real threat for us back at Rainham Road. With 12 games to play, we were 19 points clear and comfortably in mid-table. Indeed, if we could kick off March with a couple of strong results at home, there would be no reason why we couldn't challenge for a place in next season's UEFA Europa League.

 

First up for us was a meeting with 5th-placed Arsenal. We'd defeated Thomas O'Ware's Gunners at the Emirates Stadium twice in the past, but we'd never actually beaten them on our own turf.

 

1 March 2036: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Arsenal

Arsenal made the more positive start, winning a couple of corners inside the first four minutes. We first showed some aggression in the 10th minute, when midfielder Martin Thompson swerved a shot wide after being set up by Engilbert Sverrisson. Engilbert went for goal himself two minutes later, but he was denied by a strong catch from Gunners goalkeeper Shaun Murat.

 

Sverrisson's next shot went wide in the 18th minute, while Arsenal fared little better with poor efforts from striker Richard Fishlock and midfielder Liam Wood later on. The visitors' inability to break our backline was largely down to some spirited defending from Daggers centre-half George Darvill, who threw himself into a crucial tackle on Fishlock in the 27th minute. Darvill did himself some damage in the process, but he insisted that he could play on, and so I left him to it.

 

Sure enough, George confirmed his fitness three minutes later, as he cut out a centre from Gunners right-winger Gordon Hubbuck just before Clive Johnson could tap it in. That was Arsenal's last chance to take the lead before we finished the half as strongly as they had started it.

 

In the 44th minute, Murat tipped behind a deflected free-kick from Robbie MacKenzie to concede a corner. Matthew Fraser floated the set-piece towards the near post, where Velimir Radosavljevic rose highest to head it in and send the home fans wild! We were on course for another stunning victory over Arsenal!

 

Arsenal may have been undone by a set-piece, but they caught us out with one of their own in the 55th minute. After Seb Brennan pushed Fishlock just outside our penalty area, Plínio chipped the free-kick into the six-yard box, where Álvaro José prodded it home. Luckily for us, the referee's assistant had raised his offside flag against the Brazilian centre-half, and our lead remained intact.

 

Nevertheless, the Gunners continued to push us to our limits. Our goalkeeper Kieran Whalley showed tremendous composure to push behind an angled effort from Hubbuck after 58 minutes. He would be called upon again moments later to catch a header from Plínio.

 

Arsenal's shooting would become increasingly wayward over the final half-hour, while our defence grew stronger and stronger. Darvill was putting in one of the finest shifts of his still-young career, as he nodded away cross after cross from Plínio, despite being in obvious pain. George almost capped off his day with a rare goal, but he headed Matthew's 76th-minute corner just wide of the target. In the end, that late first-half goal from his defensive colleague Velimir would be the decisive one, as Arsenal ran out of steam and we ran out 1-0 winners!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Radosavljevic 44)

Arsenal - 0

Premier League, Attendance 17,848 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 11th, Arsenal 2nd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Kurtovic, Darvill, Radosavljevic, Brennan (Gridelli), Mazzola, Thompson (Barnes), Fraser, Sverrisson (Stevenson), MacKenzie, Washington.

 

George Darvill was unsurprisingly named man of the match after one of the most spirited individual performances I'd seen in a long time. To put it into context, George played for just over an hour with a dead leg - sustained in that tackle on Richard Fishlock - and still helped us to shut out one of the strongest teams in England!

 

Darvill had to miss training for most of the following week, and consequently, he was unable to start our next game at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers. He was at least able to take his place on the bench, but Greg Killick couldn't after twisting his knee in training. Killick would be out for around three weeks.

 

That game against fellow mid-tablers Wolves marked a milestone moment in the career of Matthew Fraser. The loyal Scottish midfielder became the first player to make 300 league appearances for Dagenham & Redbridge under my stewardship.

 

8 March 2036: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Wolverhampton Wanderers

Wolves striker Marcelo Galeano Zarza failed to trouble us with a very early strike that he blazed over the crossbar. Our first shot at goal was rather more threatening to the visitors' goalkeeper Russ Townsend. A 9th-minute drive from Daggers skipper William Barnes was pushed behind by his Wolves counterpart. Will also went close to scoring from a free-kick in the 17th minute as we gradually asserted our authority on the game.

 

On 20 minutes, an excellent pass from Oumar Fofana set up Billy Stevenson, whose shot was deflected into Townsend's hands. Another minute later, our milestone man went agonisingly close to registering an assist. A fantastic corner delivery from Matthew Fraser should have been converted by Velimir Radosavljevic, who unfortunately clipped the top of the bar.

 

Another Scotsman's corner caused us problems at the other end in the 31st minute. Tom Telfer found his Wanderers colleague Franco Vitone in our six-yard box, and the ball struck Vitone's upper arm and looked like crossing the line until Daggers left-back Rocco Mazzola hacked it clear!

 

Rocco had kept his concentration at a crucial time... but his opposite number Kfir Sabag couldn't when we won another corner after 36 minutes. The visitors appeared to have seen off the set-piece when Sabag lost control of the ball in their penalty box and presented Stevenson with an easy tap-in! Billy gladly accepted the Israeli left-back's gift, and we were 1-0 up at half-time!

 

Throughout this match, our midfielders frustrated their Wolves counterparts with some strong tackling. Captain Barnes overstepped the mark somewhat two minutes into the second half, when he was booked for pushing Janusz Blaszczyk, but he would soon cause the away side more pain. The game was in its 53rd minute when Will found Tristan just outside the Wolves box. Egueh then looked to his left and found an unmarked Stevo, who drove in his and our second goal of the afternoon!

 

Another Daggers midfielder looked to make it 3-0 in the 59th minute, but Oumar Fofana was denied his third goal of the season by a determined block from the experienced Townsend. Wolves finally seemed to wake up in the 65th minute, when Telfer drilled a near-post corner to Garry Steadman. Much to our relief, Steadman volleyed the ball against the post before Mazzola calmly put it into touch.

 

Steadman was having a nightmare, as was his strike partner Galeano Zarza, whose awful attempt on 69 minutes was effectively Wanderers' last chance to get back into the game. We would keep the pressure on our hosts through the closing stages, and though we couldn't add to our 2-0 lead, Fofana went very close by hitting the bar in injury time.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Stevenson 36,53)

Wolverhampton Wanderers - 0

Premier League, Attendance 16,719 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 11th, Wolves 13th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Moser, Kurtovic, Radosavljevic, Mazzola, Fofana, Fraser, Barnes (Brennan), Sverrisson (Washington), Stevenson, Egueh (Honeyball). BOOKED: Barnes.

 

6th-placed Chelsea surprisingly lost to Southampton the following day, and that result left us just five points adrift of the Blues. A European place really was looking obtainable for us!

 

Unfortunately, we lost another midfielder to injury in the build-up to our next match. Martin Thompson pulled his hamstring during a sprint session, putting him on the sidelines for at least three weeks.

 

I also looked at our latest crop of youth-teamers... and this season's intake was perhaps the most underwhelming in years. The youth candidates lost heavily to our Under-18s, and although we signed 12 of them up, I'm not expecting any to become world-beaters. Left-back Keith Hamilton and right-winger Niall Nash were the two players who looked most likely to make the grade, but that wasn't saying much.

 

My attentions quickly turned towards Anfield, where we faced a resurgent Liverpool side who were in 4th place. Impressively, the Reds had lost just once in all competitions since holding us to a 1-1 draw at Rainham Road three months earlier.

 

16 March 2036: Liverpool vs Dagenham & Redbridge

This match saw the fit-again Patrick Scheepens make his long-awaited first Dagenham start at right-back. It became clear early on that this would be a stressful game for Scheepens - and the rest of our defence.

 

Although Liverpool defender Victor Hugo headed winger Adi Music's corner over the bar in the sixth minute, it wouldn't be long before the latter turned us into 'Les Misérables'. Less than a minute later, Music took the ball from the halfway line, dribbled past Scheepens and entered our area, where he capped off a fine run with a finish to match. That was music to the Kopites' ears, but unless things improved for us quickly, I'd be giving my defenders severe earache!

 

A free-kick goal from Robbie MacKenzie in the 10th minute would've helped cool my temper, but the Scot's shot was held by Liverpool's England keeper Gavin Stopforth. Three minutes later, our custodian Kieran Whalley made two excellent saves to prevent either Pavle Oljaca or Liam Baldwin from doubling the Reds' lead.

 

Oumar Fofana had our next chance to level from 20 yards out after 20 minutes, but Stopforth stopped the Malian's strike in its tracks. Five minutes after that came the rarest of sights - a mistake from George Darvill! George lost track of Reds frontman Flávio, who headed Oljaca's free-kick home for 2-0.

 

Liverpool were in control, and but for a couple of wayward efforts from Engilbert Sverrisson and Fofana, we never looked like pulling a goal back before half-time. We returned to our dressing room to the deafening sound of the home fans chanting "You'll Never Walk Alone". But forget Gerry & The Pacemakers - if the Daggers performed any worse in the second half, I'd be needing a pacemaker!

 

I made two changes at half-time, as the underperforming Darvill and Fofana made way for Seb Brennan and William Barnes. Mark Washington had also been disappointing, but I kept faith in the out-of-form American. That faith could've repaid a minute after the restart. Alas, a fantastic through-ball from Engilbert proved to be for nothing, as Mark's strike was pushed away by Stopforth.

 

The Anfield roar would then grow even louder in the 58th minute, thanks to yet another mistake from our not-so-dependable skipper. Barnes' attempted back-pass to Velimir Radosavljevic went through the Serbian defender's legs and was intercepted by Oljaca, who duly made it 3-0 Liverpool!

 

Barnesy's latest blunder wouldn't go unpunished, and I subbed the sub about five minutes later. Austrian centre-half Hamzah Jaafar came on to tighten up our defence, but my decision to use up my third substitution so early would come back to bite me.

 

After 73 minutes, Daggers left-back Rocco Mazzola's game was ended by a knock sustained in a strong tackle from Liverpool winger Nermin Salihovic. We had to play the final 15 minutes or so with only 10 men... and it was a miracle that our opponents didn't score again. Music headed wide a chance to secure a fourth Liverpool goal in injury time, but the fat lady had long finished signing by then. We had lost away from home for the third time in succession.

 

Liverpool - 3 (Music 7, Flávio 25, Oljaca 58)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Premier League, Attendance 55,855 - POSITIONS: Liverpool 4th, Dag & Red 11th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Kurtovic, Darvill (Brennan), Radosavljevic, Scheepens, Mazzola, Fraser, Fofana (Barnes (Jaafar)), Sverrisson, MacKenzie, Washington. BOOKED: Fofana, Brennan.

 

Such a heavy defeat raised serious doubts in my mind about a couple of players - specifically, captain William Barnes and vice-captain Kieran Whalley. Neither of them would start when we hosted Nottingham Forest a week later. Indeed, I dropped Barnes from the squad altogether, and I told the error-prone midfielder that he was now in the 'last-chance saloon' as far as his long-term Daggers career was concerned.

 

Mark Washington had scored just ONE goal in his last 14 Premier League games, so you probably wouldn't have expected him to be leading us out against Forest. Although my patience in the American striker was wearing a little thin, I hoped that handing Mark the skipper's armband would reignite the spark in his game.

[CFuller]

MARCH 2036 (continued)

22 March 2036: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Nottingham Forest

On-loan Denzel Gallen was back in the Dagenham goal for this match, and he would have plenty to do in the first 15 minutes. The teenager showed plenty of composure to hold onto a number of early strikes from Nottingham Forest forwards Dave Blake and Terry Swann.

 

Our first attempt at goal came in the 13th minute, and it was a poor one from long range by Seb Brennan. Mark Washington was at least on target when he drove the ball goalwards in the 21st minute, but Forest goalkeeper Alex Albert pushed it away. Although our short-passing game was allowing us to keep hold of the ball quite well, turning possession into serious scoring opportunities proved to be somewhat difficult. More often than not, we would lose the ball cheaply, or Forest's midfielders would win it off us with some strong tackling.

 

On 29 minutes, the Tricky Trees made things even trickier for us. Right-winger Aleluia had a cross cleared by Dagenham defender George Darvill, but his follow-up delivery almost found Swann in the six-yard box. Daggers right-back John Moser intercepted the centre... but he could only knock it onto the post and across the goal line! An unfortunate own goal had put us 1-0 behind.

 

Billy Stevenson blazed wide an opportunity to cancel it out moments after the restart, and we continued to push for an equaliser until half-time. Mark Washington headed the ball inches over in the 37th minute, and Brennan also went close in the 44th, but we remained behind at the interval.

 

I took a major gamble at half-time, replacing the disappointing Oumar Fofana with an untested 17-year-old. To his credit, Lee Allen fared quite well on his competitive debut, as he added some bite to our midfield and gave us a bit more impetus going forward. After 59 minutes, Lee set up a long-distance drive from Billy that was well held by Alex Albert.

 

We pushed Nottingham Forest into their own half again in the 65th minute, when Matthew Fraser floated in a corner that Tomo Kurtovic headed over. About two minutes later, Washington intercepted a poor Forest free-kick from John Woods. Mark then started a Dagenham counter-attack that he would emphatically finish by dinking Robbie MacKenzie's weighted pass over Alex Albert! Our top scorer's two-month goal drought was over, and we were level!

 

When Forest midfielders Arjan Krasniqi and Manuel Chacón each picked up neck injuries in the next few minutes, I sensed that the visitors were even more vulnerable. However, we couldn't keep out momentum going, and it was the East Midlanders who went closest to winning the game late on. Substitute Paul Doyle flicked a header just over our bar in the 81st minute, three minutes before Swann went similarly close with a ferocious strike. In the end, though, the points would have to be shared again - for the third time in these teams' last four meetings.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Washington 67)

Nottingham Forest - 1 (Moser og29)

Premier League, Attendance 17,848 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 11th, Nottm Forest 15th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Moser (Radosavljevic), Darvill, Kurtovic, Mazzola, Brennan, Fofana (Allen), Fraser, Stevenson (Sverrisson), MacKenzie, Washington.

 

A mere draw at home to Nottingham Forest was not ideal, but at least we weren't on a downer when we visited 18th-placed Sheffield United the following weekend. A draw at Bramall Lane would mathematically guarantee our survival, allowing us to fully concentrate on finishing as high up the table as possible.

 

Greg Killick returned to the side after recovering from his knee injury, but two more Daggers were now on the sidelines. George Darvill and Engilbert Sverrisson were each expected to be out for at least three weeks, after George suffered a back strain and Engilbert pulled a hamstring.

 

29 March 2036: Sheffield United vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Mark Washington had been buoyed by ending his goal drought against Nottingham Forest, and he almost got another goal just 27 seconds after play started at Bramall Lane. Mark got his head to an excellent left-wing cross from Ante Djuzel, but Sheffield United goalkeeper Ross Archer just about pushed it away.

 

United then launched a host of early attacks and forced us into conceding a host of corners. They also wasted a great chance to take the lead after six minutes, when Jon Tolley's far-post cross was flicked wide by Aaron Byrne. Five minutes after that narrow escape, we once again got unlucky at the other end. Archer produced another stunning save to turn behind a header from our skipper William Barnes.

 

The Blades again tried to cut through us midway through the half, but Ido Haliva drove a long-distance shot well wide in the 17th minute before Tolley snatched at a better opportunity in the 23rd. The standard of play didn't improve a great deal later in the first half, which fizzled out after an awful miss from Washington in the 36th minute. Mark's profligacy was a major concern for me at the break, as were a couple of knocks sustained by Barnes and right-back Patrick Scheepens in that first period.

 

Sheffield United's defence would continue to make Washington's life difficult in the second half. Our leading scorer had one more hopeless punt at goal in the 53rd minute and was then kept quiet for the rest of the match. Meanwhile, the Blades were getting increasingly closer to a breakthrough goal. After 66 minutes, substitute forward Vaios Limnios cleverly knocked the ball down the line for Byrne, who then crossed from the byline to Haliva. Our travelling supporters held their breaths as the Israeli striker's header bounced inches wide.

 

We would survive yet another scare two minutes later. Blades defender Rene van der Laan had a header cleared off the line by Daggers right-back John Moser, and a scramble ensued before Velimir Radosavljevic finally hacked the ball into touch. The increasing pressure then began to get to us, as Velimir and Will each received yellow cards for clumsy fouls.

 

Eventually, after 79 minutes, we cracked. Tolley crossed deep from the left towards the far post, where Colin Bridges - a late replacement for Haliva - got ahead of Daggers left-back Ante Djuzel and flicked it past goalkeeper Denzel Gallen. Bramall Lane erupted, and it seemed that we would fall to a disappointing defeat.

 

Then Tolley turned from hero to zero by tripping Moser in United's area with barely two minutes to go. Billy Stevenson took the resulting Dagenham penalty, and the former Sheffield Wednesday midfielder sent Archer the wrong way to draw us level!

 

To be honest, we didn't really deserve a point... and we wouldn't get it in the end. In the last minute of normal time, a needless foul from the naïve Djuzel on Bridges presented Sheffield United with a free-kick in a great position. Bjorn Melander's delivery into our box found van der Laan, who capped off an excellent defensive display by nodding in the winning goal. The Blades had earned a crucial victory in their bid to avoid relegation, while our own Premier League survival had still not quite been secured.

 

Sheffield United - 2 (Bridges 79, van der Laan 90)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Stevenson pen89)

Premier League, Attendance 22,106 - POSITIONS: Sheff Utd 18th, Dag & Red 11th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Gallen, Scheepens (Moser), Radosavljevic, Kurtovic, Djuzel, Brennan, Barnes (Killick), Fraser, Stevenson, MacKenzie (Egueh), Washington. BOOKED: Radosavljevic, Barnes.

 

That was a sickening blow. A draw would've been enough to ensure our safety, but now we had to come to terms with a fourth away defeat in a row. To be honest, I can't put a finger on why we've struggled so badly outside of Rainham Road of late.

 

Still, at least Dave Hutchinson won the Championship Player of the Month award once again this month. Hutch has certainly reaped the rewards from a loan spell at Leeds United... but perhaps I should've recalled him in January. Hindsight's a wonderful thing, eh?

[CFuller]

Premier League Table (End of March 2036)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.          Man Utd                31    22    7     2     84    22    +62   73
2.    EL    Arsenal                31    18    8     5     51    23    +28   62
3.          Liverpool              31    17    7     7     55    36    +19   58
4.          Man City               31    16    8     7     63    30    +33   56
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.          West Ham               31    15    10    6     48    26    +22   55
6.          Fulham                 31    15    7     9     50    38    +12   52
7.          Derby                  31    15    6     10    55    41    +14   51
8.          Burnley                31    13    9     9     46    44    +2    48
9.          Chelsea                31    13    8     10    44    33    +11   47
10.         Southampton            31    14    5     12    41    42    -1    47
11.         Dag & Red              31    12    6     13    36    40    -4    42
12.         Rochdale               31    10    9     12    32    30    +2    39
13.         Tottenham              31    10    9     12    33    58    -25   39
14.         Wolves                 31    8     13    10    40    50    -10   37
15.         Nottm Forest           31    8     8     15    49    61    -12   32
16.         Norwich                31    7     11    13    37    55    -18   32
17.         West Brom              31    8     5     18    37    55    -18   29
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
18.         Sheff Utd              31    6     5     20    29    55    -26   23
19.         Reading                31    4     4     23    19    64    -45   16
20.         Aston Villa            31    3     7     21    31    77    -46   16

 

[mark wilson27]

One more win and you've got another season in the Premiership. That's pretty damn good sir

[JayR2003]

And Hutch looks like the real deal.  Hope the Championship success translates into your campaign next year since it looks like you may be needing to adjust the expectations for a few players in your side with some struggling (Djuzel, Whalley, and Barnes).

[CFuller]

On 8/24/2017 at 08:57, mark wilson27 said:

One more win and you've got another season in the Premiership. That's pretty damn good sir

It is indeed. The aim now is to finish inside the top half, though our recent form suggests we might struggle to achieve that.

18 hours ago, JayR2003 said:

And Hutch looks like the real deal.  Hope the Championship success translates into your campaign next year since it looks like you may be needing to adjust the expectations for a few players in your side with some struggling (Djuzel, Whalley, and Barnes).

I'm at that point in the season when I'm starting to form my plans for next season's squad. Hutch will definitely be in my plans. He's consistently been one of the best performers in an otherwise rubbish Leeds team that could well be relegated to League One.

Quite a few of my players are battling for their futures now, and those three you've named are among them. Whalley will do well to remain my first-choice goalkeeper last season, while Djuzel's running out of time to establish himself at left-back.

Barnes has the biggest question mark hanging over his head, though. I might well look to sell him in the summer and replace him with a much better midfielder, possibly from overseas. Actually, come to think about it, Barnes' future will become a lot clearer in this next update...

[CFuller]

APRIL 2036

Our second Premier League season was coming to an end, and as things stood, we were on course for another lower mid-table finish. However, with some very tricky matches still ahead, there was a real possibility that we would regress on our 12th-place finish from last term. As a manager who expects his team to improve gradually year-on-year, that would not be a good sign.

 

So, without further ado, here were our final seven fixtures for this season:

5 April: vs Derby County (A) - Derby were 7th, and had lost just once in their last 14 matches

12 April: vs West Ham United (H) - West Ham were 5th, and had one of the league's best defensive records

19 April: vs Manchester United (H) - Man Utd were 1st, and were unbeaten in 17 Premier League games

26 April: vs Chelsea (A) - Chelsea were 9th, and had taken four points from their last six PL matches

4 May: vs Tottenham Hotspur (A) - Tottenham were 13th, and had won four of their last five games

10 May: vs West Bromwich Albion (H) - West Brom were 17th, and had just ended a five-match losing run

17 May: vs Norwich City (H) - Norwich were 16th, and had won only three matches in 2036 thus far

 

Our run-in began at Pride Park against Derby County, who - like us - were in their second successive Premier League season. However, while our aspirations of playing in Europe were now looking very hopeful at best, Derby's dreams of UEFA Europa League football seemed rather more realistic. In stark contrast to last season, the Rams had managed to sustain a strong start and were still as high as 7th.

 

5 April 2036: Derby County vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Dagenham midfielder Billy Stevenson showed some very fancy footwork in the second minute. After a sharp 180-degree turn, he dribbled past Derby counterpart Aarran Bryant and unleashed a 25-yard strike that was caught by Rams goalkeeper Marko Stipic. Our returning goalie Kieran Whalley also passed an early test, pushing away a strike from Bryant in the fourth minute.

 

This looked like being a close game... but then came a few ominous signs for the Daggers. Firstly, right-back Seb Brennan was controversially booked in the 13th minute following a seemingly innocuous challenge on Derby's left-back Jon Falt Ohr. Five minutes later, a tackle from Stevenson on Paul Sherwood did more damage to our playmaker than the Rams captain. Billy appeared to have hurt his knee, and so he was forced off and replaced with Joel Honeyball.

 

We would really suffer without Stevenson, and Derby were dominant throughout what remained of the first half. Leading scorer Steve Heaton had a header saved by Whalley in the 22nd minute, while Bryant would also seriously trouble Kieran in the 39th. Although County weren't quite able to open the scoring before half-time, they were bossing possession and looking every bit like a team capable of gracing Europe. I'd have to do something if we weren't to get mullered in the second period.

 

I thought that Greg Killick had been far too wasteful in possession during that first half, so Oumar Fofana replaced him in midfield for the second period. A fat load of good that did us. Derby continued where they left off after the break, with defender Larry Coburn forcing Whalley into a difficult save in the 50th minute.

 

The Rams would finally break through our defence a couple of minutes later. They had a huge stroke of luck when winger Mohamed van Aken's shot ricocheted off a couple of Dagenham defenders and fell nicely for Heaton to volley in his 15th Premier League goal this season.

 

Derby were 1-0 up, and when Heaton headed wide a chance to double their lead on 56 minutes, I decided to take drastic action. "I've got to go for it, Fabio," I told my assistant Fabio Saraiva. "We're playing 4-4-2 now."

 

I'd never used 4-4-2 in the PL, but I felt like we needed more width if we were to seriously test the Rams. Honeyball moved to the left flank, while Mark Washington - who'd seen very little action up front - was shifted to the right. Brennan came off the field, and 17-year-old Jonas Kjaerulff was brought on to accompany Robbie MacKenzie in attack. Would those radical changes alter the course of this game?

 

Erm... no. The Rams continued to batter us in our own half, leaving Jonas and Robbie isolated up front, and our makeshift wingers unable to make an impact. Although Kieran tried to keep the scoreline down by saving a low drive from Heaton in the 69th minute, it wouldn't be long before he too was starting to look overwhelmed.

 

Whalley was too slow to react to a vicious 74th-minute drive from Heaton, which sent us 2-0 down. The assist-maker for that goal was Derby's new Chilean midfielder Javier de Gregorio. I'd seriously considered signing de Gregorio from Serbian club Banat Zrenjanin in January, but I didn't feel that he was direct enough (how ironic), and so the Rams bought him instead.

 

Our second-half nightmare continued on 79 minutes, when Marcus Pitman carved us open by finding the overlapping run of Falt Ohr. The Swede's initial shot hit the post and then bounced off Whalley's back before Falt Ohr almost apologetically slotted his second attempt across the line. That was Falt Ohr's first league goal in English football (naturally), and the contest was over. Derby coasted to a 3-0 win, though not before Kieran saved an 82nd-minute drive from Sherwood that could've added to our misery.

 

Derby County - 3 (Heaton 52,74, Falt Ohr 79)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Premier League, Attendance 33,202 - POSITIONS: Derby 6th, Dag & Red 11th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Radosavljevic, Moser, Kurtovic, Brennan (Kjaerulff), Mazzola, Fraser, Killick (Fofana), Stevenson (Honeyball), MacKenzie, Washington. BOOKED: Brennan.

 

That made it five consecutive defeats away from home, and three losses in our last four matches anywhere. Our season was falling apart at the seams, both on the pitch and in the dressing room.

 

There was little doubt that losing Billy Stevenson so early was a blow that we couldn't recover from. We would have to get used to playing without him. Billy had strained his knee ligaments, and it was highly doubtful that he'd feature again this season.

 

Meanwhile, my relationship with Mark Washington had been stretched to breaking point. I couldn't accept another lacklustre performance from the American striker, and so I fined him a week's wages.

 

Washington didn't take very well to being fined. While most of his team-mates were still getting changed, Mark accused some of them of not allowing him to play his natural game, and a full-scale verbal war broke out before I intervened.

 

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" I bellowed, and the room fell deafly silent. "We've been awful these last few weeks, and you're not going to fix that by just slinging insults at each other like you're f***ing schoolboys! At the end of the day, NONE OF YOU have pulled your weight! You ALL have to accept responsibility."

 

I then took Washington out of the dressing room and told him that he would still have to pay his fine. Mark tried to protest, but he backed down when I warned him that I'd drop him to the reserves if he didn't pay up. He now knew that I wouldn't let anyone off if they weren't performing, no matter how important to the team they were.

 

While we were flying back home later that evening, assistant manager Fabio Saraiva informed me of another worrying development. While I was talking to Mark outside the dressing room, 17-year-old Jonas Kjaerulff had suddenly burst into tears without warning. Fabio feared that Jonas was struggling to cope emotionally with the pressures of playing in the first-team.

 

When we arrived back in Dagenham, I put my arm around the young Dane's shoulders and had a quiet word with him. While I told Jonas honestly that he hadn't played very well, I added that I might've rushed him on too early.

 

It also seemed to me that Kjaerulff wasn't quite ready for another dose of Premier League football. I suggested that he concentrate on scoring for the reserve and youth teams over the coming weeks before I would consider putting him back in with the big boys.

 

The next week of training would be rather stressful - and it was just as well, as our next match was at home to West Ham United. The Hammers were in 3rd place and on course to qualify for the UEFA Champions League, so our long unbeaten record at Rainham Road was likely to be severely tested.

 

12 April 2036: Dagenham & Redbridge vs West Ham United

With both teams at opposite ends of the confidence scale, it was no surprise that West Ham made the brighter start. Winger Patrik Petrus looked a cert to put them ahead after 83 seconds, when he ran onto a brilliantly-weighted through-ball from teenage right-back Amani Douglas. Kieran Whalley somehow pushed the Slovakian's shot behind, and he also saved Nathan Guppy's header from the resulting corner delivery by Luke O'Leary.

 

Guppy and O'Leary would link up for another dangerous set-piece in the 10th minute, when the latter's free-kick was flicked goalwards by the Hammers skipper. Kieran tipped Guppy's header over his goal, and we narrowly survived again. Four minutes after that came our first real attack. Martin Thompson cleared the West Ham backline and found Ante Djuzel in the penalty area, but Ante scuffed his half-volley into the side netting.

 

A trio of Hammers - left-winger Robert Dekker, midfielder Ben Clarke, and striker Ewerton - then went close to scoring before the half-hour mark. When West Ham did take the lead in the 34th minute, though, it was through another player. Dagenham skipper William Barnes was accused of impeding Douglas just inside our penalty area, and the ref awarded a spot-kick that Cameroon midfielder Yannick Atangana drilled underneath Whalley's dive.

 

Barnes tried to make up for his goal-costing error in the 43rd minute, but his crashing drive was brilliantly pushed away by Carlton John-Lewis. Unless Barnesy and co upped their game after the break, we would be heading for defeat.

 

Much to my horror, the first quarter-hour after the restart saw a catalogue of Dagenham errors. In the 51st minute, a deep cross from Douglas flew over Whalley and into our net. To be fair, though, Kieran was being unfairly impeded by Dekker, and the officials correctly disallowed the 'goal'. Whalley played the subsequent free-kick short to Hamzah Jaafar, who then squared it to his centre-back colleague Velimir Radosavljevic. So far, so good... until Velimir lost the ball to Ewerton, who raced through on goal before incredibly missed the target!

 

Radosavljevic got away with that clanger, but another mistake in the 58th minute would not go unpunished. I was about to commend the Serb for a vital saving challenge on Ewerton when he once again lost the ball cheaply. England midfielder Clarke tackled Velimir and drilled the ball across our penalty area to find Petrus, who duly doubled United's advantage.

 

I was so incensed with Radosavljevic that I took him and the similarly hopeless Barnes off almost straight away. We defended rather better after those changes, although we allowed West Ham a chance to make it 3-0 after 72 minutes. Petrus found Ewerton unmarked in our penalty area, but Kieran had the composure to push the Brazilian's shot behind at his near post.

 

While Whalley could not be faulted in this match, I saw very little desire or passion elsewhere in this Daggers side. After Stipo Brkic narrowly missed out on bagging us a consolation goal in the 76th minute, we whimpered to a first home defeat since November.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

West Ham United - 2 (Atangana pen34, Petrus 58)

Premier League, Attendance 17,848 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 11th, West Ham 3rd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Scheepens, Jaafar, Radosavljevic (Kurtovic), Djuzel, Fofana, Thompson, Barnes (Brennan), Brkic, Washington (Honeyball), Egueh.

 

Granted, West Ham are a very strong team these days, but to lose at home against our nearest rivals without putting up a fight was almost unforgivable. Heads would have to roll.

 

As much as it pained me to say it, captain William Barnes was now more of a liability than an asset. After another disappointing display, I told Will that he was no longer required at Rainham Road and would be made available for transfer in the summer. Barnes took my decision with the professionalism that I'd instilled in him, and he reluctantly agreed that, after nine years with the Daggers, it was perhaps time to part ways.

 

Barnes would be out of the first-team picture for the time being - and, sadly, so would another midfielder. Rising star Martin Thompson's season came to an early end when he strained his knee ligaments in training.

 

This was fast turning into the worst anti-climax since The Sopranos.

[CFuller]

APRIL 2036 (continued)

We'd now lost our last three games and gone winless in our last five. This late-season drought was likely to get worse before it got any better, as the two most recent Premier League champions were next up for us.

 

First up were the defending champions Manchester United, who would all but secure a second straight title if they won at Rainham Road.

 

Alexander Mejía's charges had swept all before them in the league, where they had lost only twice. The most recent of those defeats had come away to arch-rivals Manchester City... on 3 November. That was the Red Devils' only loss so far in their temporary home at the Yaya Touré Arena, where they remained officially unbeaten on home soil in their first season away from Old Trafford since the 1940s.

 

United weren't too bad outside of Manchester, either, and they were the heaviest of favourites when they arrived in Dagenham. Barring a miracle, our dreadful record against the two Mancunian giants was set to continue.

 

19 April 2036: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Manchester United

Engilbert Sverrisson looked lively for us in the opening stages. In the fifth minute, he set up a long-range chance for Robbie MacKenzie, who unfortunately couldn't get it on target. We got an even greater opportunity to stun the champions three minutes later. United striker Sean Jordan's cross was headed out of our area by MacKenzie to Mark Washington, who chipped it ahead of Sverrisson. A poor interception from Red Devils midfielder Sebastián Núnez left Engilbert with just goalkeeper Carl Baker to beat... but the Welshman prevailed with a stunning save.

 

Such a gutting moment left us cursing our luck, but fortune would soon start to favour us. Daggers goalkeeper Denzel Gallen made not one but two excellent saves to prevent Moses Penfold from putting the visitors ahead on 14 minutes. We then survived a couple of efforts from United captain José Luis and continued to hold out... until the 29th minute. Matheo Honoré's deep cross from right-back was flicked on to Jordan, who unleashed a breathtaking half-volley that Denzel couldn't really do much about.

 

If Manchester United's first goal was sublime, their second - about four minutes later - was bordering on ridiculous. Penfold's attempted through-ball to Jordan was intercepted by Daggers defender Velimir Radosavljevic, and his colleague Tomo Kurtovic then tried to pass it back to Gallen. Much to Tomo's horror, Jordan managed to get in and slide the ball between Denzel's feet for his 30th goal of the season!

 

United went 2-0 up, and Mexico winger Arturo Samario was unlucky not to increase that lead further after 35 minutes, when he narrowly missed the target following an excellent solo run. The Red Devils were proving to be as dominant as I'd expected them to be - the only thing missing from their first-half display was a Penfold goal. He could've had one on 37 minutes, but Gallen caught his header to send us into the break trailing 'only' by two.

 

Penfold again went tantalisingly close to adding his name onto the scoresheet in the 49th minute. The England striker headed Tarek Taider's left-wing cross goalwards from just outside the area, and he ended up rattling Gallen's crossbar. The woodwork would also prevent Jordan from sealing his hat-trick in the 62nd minute, when Jordan's header from Samario's corner was deflected behind.

 

We'd adopted a more compact approach after falling 2-0 behind, and United were finding us rather more difficult to break down. We also managed to launch a few attacks every now and then. Some impressive build-up play from Sverrisson and Washington led to an opening for substitute Tristan Egueh in the 68th minute, but Baker produced another fine save.

 

Tristan made another bid for goal in the 72nd minute, as he skipped past a slide challenge from José Luis before drilling his shot just wide. That was our last chance to take something from this match before United finished strongly.

 

Penfold skimmed our crossbar with a wicked bending effort on 77 minutes. Five minutes later, Jordan's next attempt to claim goal number 3 was caught by Gallen, who certainly hadn't disgraced himself. Indeed, our whole defence deserved huge credit for restricting such a strong Manchester United team to just two goals.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Manchester United - 2 (Jordan 29,33)

Premier League, Attendance 17,848 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 13th, Man Utd 1st

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Gallen, Kurtovic, Moser, Radosavljevic, Scheepens, Mazzola (Djuzel), Fraser, Fofana (Allen), Sverrisson, MacKenzie (Egueh), Washington.

 

Although we'd lost yet again, results elsewhere meant that our Premier League survival had - at long last - been secured. It was hard not to think about what might've been, though.

 

Back in mid-March, we had harboured serious hopes of qualifying for Europe for the first time in our history. After picking up a grand total of one point from six games, that dream was now officially over.

 

My main target before this season began had been to finish in the top half. We now found ourselves needing to beat 10th-placed Chelsea at Stamford Bridge if we were to still have a realistic chance of meeting that objective. Remember, our previous six away matches had all ended in defeat.

 

I made a couple of bold selections for my starting line-up. One of them was centre-back George Darvill, who appeared in his 200th league game for the Daggers despite not being back to full fitness after his recent back injury. At the other end of the experience scale was fellow youth product Lee Allen, who made his first competitive start in midfield at the ripe old age of 17.

 

26 April 2036: Chelsea vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Our record at Stamford Bridge was nothing short of abysmal, and it was clear right from the start that we would find it very difficult to fix that. Although frontmen Gianni Improta and Alun Harding were both wayward with their opening shots in the first two minutes, Chelsea would soon move closer to a breakthrough.

 

In the eighth minute, Tomas Jazvin floated a close-range free-kick towards the top corner of Denzel Gallen's net, only to be denied by an excellent catch from our teenage goalkeeper. Gallen also dealt with a vicious strike from Improta in the 11th minute before things went quiet for a while.

 

The Blues picked up again in the 22nd minute, when Improta prodded the ball inches wide of goal after latching onto a fine delivery from midfielder Guillermo Mas. The Italy striker's next effort in the 26th minute was bravely blocked by Daggers centre-back Tomo Kurtovic, but we couldn't hold out for much longer. Five minutes later, Jazvin chipped the ball towards Improta, who skirted away from a hesitant Kurtovic and powered in the long-awaited opening goal.

 

We finally launched an attack of our own two minutes after falling behind, but Tristan Egueh's incisive ball was followed by an agonising miss from Daggers skipper Mark Washington. It had been a first half to forget for Washington, who was booked as early as the fifth minute and made hardly any impact thereafter. Chelsea could've rubbed salt into Mark's wounds from the counter-attack, but Denzel kept out Khaled Fahim's strike. Had the Egypt midfielder scored, it would surely have been game over already.

 

Sensing that we needed to stretch the play out more, I decided to throw on a couple of wingers and adopt a direct 4-4-2 in the second half. Going back to basics didn't work against Derby County... and it sure as hell didn't work at Stamford Bridge. My tactical switch backfired in the 47th minute, when Improta buried a rebound strike after George Darvill had intercepted his through-ball to Harding and knocked it back towards the Italian.

 

Improta was now eyeing up a hat-trick, which he could've wrapped up in the 53rd minute. Thankfully, his header from Maximiliano Fernández's left-wing cross was too weak to seriously test Denzel.

 

We then tried to unsettle the Blues with some, er, rather 'industrial' tactics. Oumar Fofana hacked down Blues midfielder Almir Murtic just outside our area in the 54th minute, forcing the Bosnian to briefly leave the field for treatment. Jazvin's resultant free-kick hit the Dagenham wall, but he would have better luck from another set-piece after 58 minutes. Kurtovic had another nightmare moment when Chelsea centre-half Sébastien Etoundi beat him to a Jazvin corner, which he headed home for 3-0.

 

Things would only worsen from then on, as Kurtovic and his fellow defenders continued to lose focus and gift the Blues even more scoring opportunities. We were fortunate to see most of them go to waste... but not all of them.

 

Having spent close to half an hour chasing a fourth goal, Chelsea finally got what they were after in the 84th minute. It stemmed from a shocking throw-in by Dagenham right-back John Moser, deep in Blues territory, that Murtic easily intercepted. The hosts then launched a devastating counter-attack that culminated in Sam Hohn finding his fellow substitute Manuel Paiva in acres of space down the right flank. The Portuguese winger powered his strike past a flat-footed Gallen, and our heaviest defeat of the season was complete.

 

Chelsea - 4 (Improta 31,47, Etoundi 58, Paiva 84)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Premier League, Attendance 43,000 - POSITIONS: Chelsea 10th, Dag & Red 14th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Gallen, Moser, Darvill, Kurtovic, Djuzel, Killick, Allen (Honeyball), Fofana (Brennan), Sverrisson (Faithfull), Washington, Egueh. BOOKED: Washington.

 

Make that seven away defeats in a row...

 

April 2036 had been - without any doubt - THE worst month of my managerial career. It was bad enough to lose all four of our games, but to not even score in any of them was enormously frustrating.

 

I thought that we had enough quality to hold our own in the Premier League. After all, we have beaten Arsenal twice this season, won at home against Chelsea, and taken points off the likes of Fulham and Liverpool. This barren run is making me think again.

 

We still have three games left to play this season, and a couple of positive results could send us into the summer break feeling optimistic about what lies ahead. As things stand, though, I am planning a major squad overhaul ahead of next season.

[CFuller]

MAY 2036

Awful April was now in the past, and May gave us the opportunity to end what had been a very difficult second Premier League season on a high. The month began with some bad injury news concerning Greg Killick, who would miss our final three games after picking up a groin strain on Friday morning.

 

Things did get better the following afternoon, when Dagenham & Redbridge Reserves took on Southend United Reserves in the Essex Senior Cup Final. Oumar Fofana, Toby Faithfull and Tristan Egueh all got their names on the scoresheet as the Daggers won 3-1 and lifted the county cup for the third time in five years.

 

24 hours later, the first-team hoped to arrest their alarming end-of-season decline at the AIA Stadium against Tottenham Hotspur.

 

It wasn't that long ago that we were comfortably in mid-table and several points ahead of Tottenham, who were battling against relegation. In the last two months, though, we had spiralled completely out of control, while Spurs had surged up the table and overtaken us. It was no surprise, then, that the hosts were priced up as almost unbackable 1-6 favourites to avenge their heavy defeat to us at Rainham Road on Boxing Day.

 

4 May 2036: Tottenham Hotspur vs Dagenham & Redbridge

We'd become used to getting overwhelmed by more technically-gifted opposition away from home, and that was very much the case at the AIA Stadium. 33-year-old Tottenham winger Iván Brandán displayed the pace of a much younger man in the first minute, when he dribbled majestically towards goal before firing a shot into Dagenham skipper Kieran Whalley's hands. Kieran would have to stop the evergreen Brandán again in the fifth minute, saving the former Italy international's free-kick.

 

Moments later, Spurs threatened to punish a poor clearance from Daggers defender George Darvill. Gerald Parsons flicked the ball to his strike partner Shane Stevens, but George redeemed himself by scrambling Stevens' header away.

 

We launched our first counter-attack after 11 minutes, when Matthew Fraser found Mark Washington in the Tottenham area. Alas, Mark couldn't find enough space to get his shot beyond Spurs keeper - and fellow American - Stephen Palacios. We would be back on the defensive about two minutes later, when Whalley somehow got a glove to a vicious strike from Parsons.

 

The hosts would miss even more chances later on, with the likes of Parsons, Brandán, and captain Adi Nasser Al-Din all guilty of wasting decent openings. The best of those opportunities arguably came Brandán's way in the 38th minute, when he fired a free-kick against the crossbar. Darvill then managed to get the ball clear as we maintained the deadlock at half-time.

 

Although we won a couple of corners early in the second half, that wasn't a sign that we were about to end our goal drought anytime soon. Indeed, after 52 minutes, our run of successive defeats looked set to continue as well. Brandán's byline cross drew a difficult fingertip save out of Whalley, and Hamzah Jaafar tried to head it away from danger. Unfortunately, the Austrian defender's clearance only went as far as Tottenham midfielder Vladimir Sipcic, who got past his young Daggers counterpart Lee Allen and unleashed a shot that crept in off the near post.

 

That was a painful way to fall behind, and our agony would continue in the 55th minute. Washington fired an excellent strike goalwards, but Palacios just about tipped it over the bar. That was Mark's second shot on target... and it would also be our last.

 

Tottenham were in total control for the rest of the match and could easily have doubled their lead on a number of occasions. Sipcic hit another fantastic strike in the 68th minute, only for captain Kieran to come to our rescue once again. Parsons then skimmed the crossbar with a header two minutes later.

 

I threw on a couple of teenagers - midfielder Daryl Ryan II and striker Jonas Kjaerulff - either side of that narrow miss as I tried to spark us into life. It was not to be. I'd now used up all my substitutes, and when playmaker Engilbert Sverrisson was forced off with a knock in the 84th minute, any chance we had of salvaging a result disappeared. For the sixth game in a row, I would have to congratulate the opposition manager - Steven Davis in this case - on a deserved victory.

 

Tottenham Hotspur - 1 (Sipcic 52)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Premier League, Attendance 46,873 - POSITIONS: Tottenham 11th, Dag & Red 14th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Jaafar, Darvill, Radosavljevic (Kurtovic), Scheepens, Mazzola, Allen (Ryan), Sverrisson, Fraser, MacKenzie, Washington (Kjaerulff).

 

This was now getting ridiculous - and it was also getting to the point where we were setting all sorts of unwanted club records:

 

• We'd suffered six consecutive defeats for the first time since 2021 - the year before I took over.
• Eight away defeats in a row was unprecedented for this club.
• We'd gone five straight games without scoring for the first time in over 20 years.
• Failure to win our next game would see us go through nine matches without a victory for just the second time since I became manager (our last such drought was back in the 2032/2033 season).

 

Thankfully, we didn't have to play any more matches away from home this season. Our last two fixtures were both at Rainham Road - against West Bromwich Albion (16th in the table) and Norwich City (15th). If we couldn't pick up at least one victory from either of those games, then we really would have major problems.

 

West Brom were likely to be particularly slippery customers for us, as they were still battling to secure their Premier League status. One more win would be enough for the Baggies, whose new Dutch coach Tom Schaap was - at the age of 39 - the PL's youngest current manager.

 

10 May 2036: Dagenham & Redbridge vs West Bromwich Albion

We looked to push high up the pitch and force West Brom to defend from the word 'go'. Our first opportunity to open the scoring came after nine minutes, when Stipo Brkic squared the ball to Tristan Egueh on the edge of the Albion area. Tristan couldn't quite get his shot beyond goalkeeper Matsipa Mulonzo, who made an assured catch for the Baggies.

 

Egueh at least fared better than his strike partner Mark Washington, who missed the target twice in the 11th and 17th minutes. Washington had not yet rediscovered his scoring touch, although he did trouble the visitors with a right-wing cross on 22 minutes. Mulonzo punched it clear, though not before he almost collided with his captain Justin Gibbs.

 

Three minutes later, we put together an excellent passing move that stretched the Baggies out. After Hamzah Jaafar found him in space down the right flank, Daggers full-back Patrick Scheepens provided Brkic with an excellent centre that the Dane thundered home! Stipo's first goal of the season may have been a long time in coming, but it was just what we needed.

 

We went on to coast through the first half without letting Albion have a shot on target, and we also had opportunities to pull further ahead. Tomo Kurtovic's 38th-minute header from a Matthew Fraser corner was tipped behind by Mulonzo, before Seb Brennan drove the ball wide in the 40th.

 

Washington's recent struggles in front of goal didn't improve in the 52nd minute, when his 25-yard drive was blocked by Mulonzo. A couple of minutes later, West Brom striker Ionut Anca hit a speculative shot that flew miles wide. Our aggressive gameplan was working, although Tristan and Mark did take things a bit too far just before the hour mark. Both Dagenham strikers were booked after getting too hands-on with Albion's centre-backs.

 

Washington was trying my patience once again, and when he headed a cross from Egueh over the bar in the 64th minute, I decided to take the misfiring American off. Robbie MacKenzie came on, but he couldn't get his name on the scoresheet either.

 

Meanwhile, West Brom continued to struggle, and a couple of their players would receive bookings later on. Left-back Rémi Jourdan was yellow-carded in the 73rd minute for tripping Scheepens. Patrick's work was done, and the Dutchman soon made away for John Moser. Five minutes later, Albion's substitute striker Stephen Walsh went to ground in our six-yard box after Moser beat him to a drilled cross from Anca. The referee didn't fall for it, if you'll pardon the pun, and Walsh was booked.

 

We continued to hold onto our lead, even when injury brought the impressive Jaafar's game to an end with four minutes remaining. Mind you, West Brom did go close to breaking our hearts in the closing stages on a couple of occasions. Dino Lord's 90th-minute half-volley was pushed behind by Whalley, who then saw Jordan Holder send another audacious effort inches over his bar in the dying moments of injury time. The final whistle blew shortly after that, and our awful run of form was finally over!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Brkic 25)

West Bromwich Albion - 0

Premier League, Attendance 16,969 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 14th, West Brom 15th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Scheepens (Moser), Darvill, Kurtovic, Mazzola, Brennan, Jaafar (Ryan), Fraser, Brkic, Egueh, Washington (MacKenzie). BOOKED: Egueh, Washington.

 

After that long-awaited win, we now knew that we couldn't finish any lower than 14th. Victory in our final game of the season would potentially see us rise as high as 11th. When it came to prize money, the difference between 11th and 14th was about £4million, so we would certainly be striving to do our best.

 

Our difficult second season in the Premier League - and our first at Rainham Road - culminated in us facing a Norwich City side who had barely avoided relegation. We had never beaten the Canaries before, but with the pressure completely off both sides, this was a great chance to right that wrong.

 

Having sat out our last four games, captain William Barnes returned to the fold for his 265th - and possibly last - league appearance in a Dagenham & Redbridge jersey. One thing that was certain was that this would be attacking midfielder Stipo Brkic's final bow for the Daggers, after 94 appearances in three years.

 

17 May 2036: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Norwich City

We made an encouraging start and put Norwich on the back foot quickly. American striker Mark Washington could've done better with a second-minute free-kick that came back off the City wall, but we would soon get closer to opening the scoring.

 

We unsuccessfully protested for a penalty after 14 minutes, when Canaries defender Rubén Palma outmuscled Washington and nodded Patrick Scheepens' cross behind. Daggers defender George Darvill was particularly vocal in his disgust that the spot-kick was not given, but he would have a reason to celebrate in the 26th minute. George got through a crowded penalty area and stabbed in Matthew Fraser's corner for his first goal of the season - in the FINAL game of the season!

 

Norwich had gone close to opening the scoring just three minutes earlier, when Dagenham goalkeeper Kieran Whalley was forced to tip behind Dino Kelava's swerving effort from distance. That was a potential turning point, as was a narrow miss from Brkic that could've doubled our lead after 28 minutes. By the 33rd minute, though, the man who'd given us a narrow advantage had lost it.

 

A long ball from Norwich right-back Miguel Rodas caught Whalley completely off guard, and Kieran could only tip it towards his own goal. Darvill tried to save his skin by heading the ball away, but Canaries midfielder Darren Croft reacted quickly and half-volleyed in a soft equaliser. "Are you having a laugh, you two?" I yelled at Kieran and George afterwards. "This might be the last game of the season, but don't turn it into a pantomime as well!"

 

Thankfully, the lads recomposed themselves and were soon looking to restore our lead. Tristan missed a couple of opportunities for us, and Washington had a promising free-kick saved by Norwich goalie Stuart Burns in the 40th minute. By half-time, we were looking good to finish off our season with at least a draw.

 

A goal for William Barnes in his likely Daggers farewell would've been a fitting end to his time with us. Sadly, the skipper's 50th-minute half-volley flew off target, and he would gift Norwich a 2-1 lead two minutes later in what had recently become typical Barnesy style. Will had a sloppy pass intercepted by Norwich midfielder Mick Roberts, who found fellow substitute Nuno before the ball was lobbed ahead of Croatia striker Kelava. A mistimed jump from his international colleague Tomo Kurtovic allowed Kelava to burst clean through and drill the ball home.

 

We once again found ourselves trailing despite dominating the match in most departments. We certainly had more chances to score than our opponents, and our next opportunity came from Egueh in the 61st minute. It took an excellent reflex save from Burns to keep Tristan off the scoresheet. Unfortunately, the 20-year-old wouldn't be able to add to his goal tally before Joel Honeyball replaced him for the closing stages.

 

Joel had only just come on when he raced past the Canaries' holding midfielder Aldin Hodzic and crossed low towards Brkic. Stipo unleashed a sensational half-volley, and the departing Dane had drawn us level with 10 minutes remaining!

 

2-2 was how it stayed, though not before Washington tried to finish the season with a flourish. A poor miss from long-range meant that our leading scorer ended his first Premier League season on 11 goals, and we signed off with a rather disappointing draw.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Darvill 26, Brkic 80)

Norwich City - 2 (Croft 33, Kelava 52)

Premier League, Attendance 17,127 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 13th, Norwich 15th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Scheepens, Kurtovic, Darvill, Djuzel (Gridelli), Brennan (Allen), Fraser, Barnes, Brkic, Egueh (Honeyball), Washington.

 

Although that late equaliser from Brkic saw us overtake Wolverhampton Wanderers in the table, 13th place was still a disappointing finish in my book. It was one place lower than where we had finished 12 months earlier, and we'd racked up six fewer points in the process.

 

I couldn't wait to leave Dagenham behind for a while and go off on my holidays. Before then, though, I had to think about why we took a step back this season, and ponder how we could take at least two steps forward next time.

[CFuller]

MAY 2036 (continued)

I met with chairman Neil Booth and the rest of the Dagenham & Redbridge board at the end of what had been a rather turbulent second season in the Premier League. Mr Booth had plenty of questions to ask, and I had to reassure him with some answers.

 

"Consolidation was our main aim for this season. Why didn't we improve on our 12th-place finish from 12 months ago?"

 

Finishing 13th was not really an underachievement for a club of our stature. Only Rochdale, whose ascent to the top flight had been aided by a very wealthy Slovakian, had a lower average attendance than us in the Premier League this season. That being said, I was still disappointed that we didn't build on our impressive first season up, and so was Mr Booth.

 

I felt that one of the biggest reasons behind us finishing lower this season was that some teams had figured out our game plans and were exploiting our weaknesses very efficiently. Whenever we tried to play possession football, the opposition would often hassle us and force us into making mistakes. In other words, we needed to be more resilient under the increased pressure.

 

"We went up with Derby County two seasons ago. They've now won the FA Cup and qualified for the UEFA Europa League. What are they doing right that we're not doing?"

 

Good question, Neil. It certainly helped Derby that I lent them our Welsh winger Shaun Powell, who was one of their key players as they famously defeated Chelsea to lift their first major trophy in over six decades. Indeed, John Sullivan generally recruited his players very wisely. He snapped up Steve Heaton on a free transfer after the striker's contract at Leeds United expired, and Heaton repaid him by scoring 30 goals in all competitions.

 

Then, in January, Sullivan signed young Chile midfielder Javier de Gregorio from Banat Zrenjanin for £7.75million. I'd had de Gregorio on my shortlist after my Eastern European scout spotted him playing in the Serbian top flight, but I had too many doubts about his game to meet Banat's asking price. Derby did meet Banat's valuation, and our loss was their gain, as de Gregorio racked up seven assists in his first 17 PL games.

 

County did, however, have some massive advantages over us. They already had state-of-the-art training facilities, which we most certainly didn't have. They were also, historically, a far bigger club than us, thanks largely to the two league championships they won way back in the 1970s. Remember, Dagenham & Redbridge didn't even exist until 1992.

 

Is it any wonder that ambitious players prefer to join Derby over Dagenham, as was the case when I missed out on signing Bosnian centre-back Vedran Pasic from relegated Everton last summer? Granted, I later went on to steal Tomo Kurtovic from under Hibernian's noses, and Tomo turned out to be a magnificent signing, but he wasn't my first choice.

 

Mr Booth acknowledged my concerns about the state of our training facilities, in comparison to those of our contemporaries. Even though our new £5million training complex had only opened this year, it still wasn't up to the high standards of most top-level teams. The chairman responded by pledging to invest another £2.7million in our facilities over the coming months.

 

"Why have the goals dried up?"

 

Now this was very alarming. Only the bottom two teams - Reading and Aston Villa - had scored fewer PL goals than our 39, which barely equated to one goal per game. Scoring wasn't so much of a problem last time around, but why now?

 

In the first half of this PL season, our new record signing Mark Washington had 9 league goals and 4 assists to his name - not a terrible record by any means. From New Year's Day onward, though, Mark's form fell off a cliff. By the end of the campaign, he had only racked up 11 goals and 7 assists in total.

 

Our next highest PL scorer was another summer recruit - Billy Stevenson, who found the net on seven occasions from midfield. In terms of strikers, Robbie MacKenzie got six goals, and the very promising Tristan Egueh got four... but they each scored hat-tricks during the autumn. To put it another way, Tristan only netted in TWO league games all season.

 

It was clear, then, that we were relying too heavily on Washington... and it was also clear that he had buckled under the weight of expectation later in the campaign. As prodigious as Egueh was, we needed another established top-flight striker to share much of the scoring burden with Washington. More specifically, we needed a strong, technically-gifted, deep-lying 'number 10' to complement our pacey and potentially lethal 'number 9'.

 

"Why are you still playing some long-serving players from our lower-league days when you could easily bring in much better replacements?"

 

When Mr Booth asked me that final question, I could sense that he was specifically referring to Matthew Fraser, who was in his 10th season at Dagenham, and William Barnes, who was in his 9th. I could see where he was coming from. There isn't much room for sentiment in the Premier League.

 

I'll freely admit that, while Barnes was still an excellent leader, he wasn't physically or technically capable of playing regularly in the top flight. I realised this about halfway through the season, when Will started making game-costing errors, but I kept faith in him until it was too late to keep us in the hunt for European qualification.

 

Barnesy was now on the transfer list, and I would be very happy to sell him if we received a good offer from elsewhere. £2million seemed like a fair asking price in my eyes.

 

Fraser hadn't been quite as disappointing as Barnes, but injuries seriously hampered his ability to perform at such a high level on a consistent basis. I'll probably keep Matthew around for one more season - maybe even two - as a backup option, and then I'll look to move him on.

 

The board could expect me to seriously strengthen our midfield over the summer. I also intended to bring in a new left-back, a deep-lying forward, and possibly a few more high-quality players in other areas.

 

One area where I thought we had plenty of strong options was at centre-back. George Darvill had been invaluable to us once again, and his excellent performances in May would see him pick up the Premier League Player of the Month award for the first time in his career.

 

George wasn't the only Dagger with a shiny new award in his cabinet by the time this month was over. Courtesy of his consistently impressive displays while on loan at Blackburn Rovers earlier in the season, 18-year-old Argentine defender Vicente Gridelli was named as the Championship's Apprentice of the Year.

 

The Championship's Young Player of the Year was also one of our own. Although Dave Hutchinson's valiant attempts to save Leeds United from relegation had ended in failure, he still set the division alight with some tireless midfield performances. He can expect to play a significant role with the Daggers first-team next season.

 

Hutch returned from his loan spell in high spirits, but he wasn't quite as ecstatic as Mariusz Tylak and Ross Pearson were. Goalkeeper Tylak and right-back Pearson were part of the Ipswich Town side that won the Championship Play-Off Final, thus putting the Tractor Boys back in the Premier League after an absence of over three decades.

 

How did our other loanees fare? As I previously mentioned, Powell was magnificent for Derby, providing our PL rivals with four goals and 11 assists. Jameel Bailey (Charlton Athletic) and Neil McCann (Bradford City) kept their sides in the Championship, while Nigel Atta and Peguy Kasongo did likewise for Ceské Budejovice in the Czech top flight.

 

Less positively, teenage striker Elliot Cook was seriously injured very early in his spell at Plymouth Argyle, and midfielder Tom Virgo was used almost exclusively as a substitute by Leighton Town in League One.

 

Meanwhile, there were new and improved contracts for several players. First-choice goalkeeper Kieran Whalley would stay on for at least another four years, as would the very exciting Icelandic midfielder Engilbert Sverrisson. Promising striker Toby Faithfull agreed a new long-term deal as well, and 17-year-old defensive midfielder Lee Allen signed his first pro contract after breaking into the senior team towards the end of the season.

 

I also set about bolstering the club's staff ahead of next season. After spending nine years as our Head of Youth Development, Curtis Langton was relieved of his duties. He was replaced by 50-year-old former Cameroon defender George Elokobi, who had previously done a fine job of developing Reading's young prospects.

 

Also losing his job after nine years was Lewis Proudfoot, who'd been our chief tactics coach. His duties would now be carried out by 37-year-old Daniel Poustka - a former Czech Republic midfielder who had spent many years playing in the Premier League for West Bromwich Albion and later Watford.

 

As well as Poustka, I brought in a couple of additional first-team coaches. The first of them was former Dagenham left-back Matt Warren, who made 172 league appearances for us between 2025 and 2031. Matt later went on to start a coaching career with Hull City, and after four years at the KC Stadium, I persuaded him to come back 'home'.

 

Our other new coach was 53-year-old Henry Cleminson, who joined the Daggers set-up after spending a very long time working with West Bromwich Albion's youth team. Cleminson was a British lightweight champion in the martial art of Muay Thai when he was younger, so none of our players will want to mess with him!

 

My backroom has now been refreshed, and I'll soon be doing likewise to my squad. A Dagenham & Redbridge revolution is about to begin.

[CFuller]

Premier League Table (End of 2035/2036)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    C/CL  Man Utd                38    28    8     2     101   27    +74   92
2.    CL    Arsenal                38    22    11    5     65    28    +37   77
3.    CL    Liverpool              38    21    9     8     68    45    +23   72
4.    CL    Man City               38    20    9     9     79    42    +37   69
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.    EL    West Ham               38    19    11    8     57    30    +27   68
6.    EL    Fulham                 38    19    7     12    65    48    +17   64
7.          Southampton            38    18    8     12    53    47    +6    62
8.    EL    Derby                  38    18    6     14    70    53    +17   60
9.          Chelsea                38    16    10    12    56    39    +17   58
10.         Burnley                38    16    9     13    56    53    +3    57
11.         Tottenham              38    13    10    15    42    68    -26   49
12.         Rochdale               38    12    11    15    43    40    +3    47
13.         Dag & Red              38    13    7     18    39    54    -15   46
14.         Wolves                 38    10    15    13    49    63    -14   45
15.         Norwich                38    8     15    15    48    71    -23   39
16.         West Brom              38    10    7     21    45    67    -22   37
17.         Nottm Forest           38    8     9     21    56    83    -27   33
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
18.   R     Sheff Utd              38    8     8     22    42    70    -28   32
19.   R     Reading                38    6     4     28    32    83    -51   22
20.   R     Aston Villa            38    4     8     26    38    93    -55   20

 

[CFuller]

Dagenham & Redbridge Player Statistics (2035/2036)

(Includes stats from all first-team matches & 5 Essex Senior Cup matches)

 

GOALKEEPERS               APPS    CON  CLN  MOM  P%   TR   ST%  Y    R    AV RAT
Courtney Gallagher        1       0    1    0    81%  -    -    0    0    7.00
Denzel Gallen             6       10   1    0    69%  -    -    0    0    6.80
Kayo Rowe                 4       7    0    0    71%  -    -    0    0    6.95
Mariusz Tylak             2       4    0    0    74%  -    -    0    0    6.95
Kieran Whalley            33      46   11   0    71%  -    -    0    0    6.96
OUTFIELD PLAYERS          APPS    GLS  AST  MOM  P%   TR   ST%  Y    R    AV RAT
Lee Allen                 6 (3)   0    0    0    73%  4.85 100% 0    0    6.83
Roy Anderson              3       0    1    0    71%  1.67 0%   0    0    7.37
Jameel Bailey             1 (1)   0    0    0    59%  1.33 -    0    0    6.80
William Barnes            23 (7)  0    1    0    82%  7.65 46%  7    0    6.90
Seb Brennan               16 (8)  0    1    0    82%  8.93 28%  5    0    7.12
Stipo Brkic               15 (10) 2    3    0    81%  3.37 35%  2    0    7.18
Bradley Charles           1       0    0    0    63%  -    100% 0    0    7.00
Elliot Cook               1 (1)   0    1    0    71%  2.67 -    1    0    7.15
George Darvill            33      1    1    9    74%  2.95 63%  1    0    7.66
Ante Djuzel               14 (2)  0    0    0    80%  3.35 0%   2    0    6.63
Tristan Egueh             17 (8)  7    3    2    75%  2.39 53%  4    0    7.04
Toby Faithfull            2 (3)   4    1    1    79%  2.66 50%  0    0    7.22
Oumar Fofana              25 (5)  3    1    2    84%  8.08 39%  5    0    7.08
Matthew Fraser            22 (3)  0    5    0    83%  5.28 25%  2    0    7.04
Vicente Gridelli          2 (2)   0    0    0    80%  1.33 100% 0    0    7.20
Paul Habu                 2       0    0    0    70%  -    0%   0    0    6.60
Keith Hamilton            1       0    0    0    69%  0.00 -    0    0    6.90
Liam Hamsher              1       0    0    0    69%  1.00 -    0    0    7.00
Joel Honeyball            4 (10)  1    3    0    72%  2.39 33%  0    0    6.69
Jazzi Howley              0 (1)   0    0    0    72%  1.20 -    0    0    6.70
Djibril Ibrahim           1       0    0    0    82%  -    0%   0    0    6.90
Hamzah Jaafar             12 (4)  2    0    0    74%  3.39 50%  0    0    6.99
Dan Judge                 0 (4)   0    0    0    80%  2.41 33%  0    0    6.88
Albert Khumalo            21      0    2    0    74%  5.85 25%  3    0    7.17
Greg Killick              16 (5)  0    2    0    79%  6.57 25%  5    0    7.02
Jonas Kjaerulff           1 (2)   0    0    0    72%  3.14 0%   0    0    6.53
Tomo Kurtovic             31 (3)  2    0    3    73%  3.74 50%  0    0    7.45
Rae Liversedge            0 (1)   0    1    0    83%  0.00 0%   0    0    7.00
Thomas Lye                3       0    0    0    72%  2.00 0%   0    0    7.00
Robbie MacKenzie          25 (3)  6    3    2    69%  2.82 44%  2    0    7.18
Rocco Mazzola             27 (1)  0    1    0    76%  5.46 -    2    0    6.98
Rob McLoughlin            5 (5)   1    1    0    75%  3.57 11%  0    0    6.89
Jefferson Moran           2       0    0    0    66%  3.00 100% 0    0    6.85
John Moser                13 (5)  0    2    0    77%  3.79 50%  1    0    6.96
Evans Okyere              2 (1)   0    0    0    77%  3.88 50%  0    0    7.07
Ross Pearson              14      0    2    2    72%  3.84 75%  1    0    6.86
Velimir Radosavljevic     27 (3)  2    0    1    69%  3.27 56%  1    0    7.54
Daryl Ryan II             1 (2)   0    0    0    50%  3.33 0%   0    0    6.90
Patrick Scheepens         7 (1)   0    1    0    76%  6.23 -    0    0    6.86
Wayne Seburn              0 (1)   0    0    0    71%  0.00 0%   1    0    7.00
Christophe Smith          0 (3)   1    0    0    74%  4.29 40%  0    0    6.60
Billy Stevenson           20 (7)  8    4    3    80%  4.00 51%  1    0    7.36
Engilbert Sverrisson      11 (6)  4    3    1    76%  3.54 61%  0    0    7.35
Axel Svonne               2 (1)   0    1    0    75%  0.46 100% 0    0    7.00
Martin Thompson           7 (6)   0    1    0    85%  4.52 57%  0    0    6.93
Mark Washington           36 (3)  12   9    2    70%  2.02 42%  2    0    7.03

APPS - Appearances (Substitute apps), GLS - Goals, AST - Assists,
CON - Goals conceded, CLN - Clean sheets, MOM - Man of the Match awards,
P% - Pass completion %, TR - Tackles per 90 mins, ST - Shots on target %,
Y - Yellow cards, R - Red cards, AV RAT - Average match rating

 

[CFuller]

JUNE 2036

It's official - I am now the longest-serving manager in English professional football. There were two Football League bosses who'd started their jobs before me, but they both moved on at the end of this season.

 

Simon Weaver had been in charge of AFC Wimbledon for 16-and-a-half years, but he was sacked after the Dons failed to avoid relegation in their maiden season as a League One club. Meanwhile, Carl McAuley retired from his role as Dartford manager after spending an impressive 22 years at Princes Park.

 

When you've been in the same job for such a long time, you need to keep pushing forward and not stay still. That was perhaps why Weaver, whom I had faced numerous times during my reigns at Romford and later at Dagenham & Redbridge, came a cropper. Having taken the Daggers from non-league to Premier League, I don't think that I will suffer the same fate, but at the same time, I can't afford to be complacent.

 

Dagenham had now consolidated their place in the top division. For our third season up, my aim was to crack the top 10 - and potentially launch a serious challenge for European qualification.

 

To meet my targets, I would need a sizeable transfer budget, and plenty of room to manoeuvre on wages. The chairman fulfilled my wishes, giving me £37million to spend on new players, as well as increasing my weekly player wage budget by about £100,000 - to £385,000 per week.

 

Portuguese attacking midfielder Orlando Salvador was already 'in the van', as the 19-year-old completed his pre-arranged free transfer from Braga. At least four more players would join him over the summer.

 

Like Shaggy Rogers, I'm a sucker for a 'great Dane' - but my latest recruit from the land of bacon, LEGO and dark Nordic crime fiction wasn't the cowardly type at all. Indeed, Kenneth Jorgensen had a reputation as one of the bravest defensive midfielders in European football.

 

I'd been following the 23-year-old Denmark international closely since the start of this year. A player with Jorgensen's athleticism, intelligence, and laser-accurate passing would be an invaluable asset to us, so I made it my business to try and get him in as quickly as possible.

 

Mind you, Pescara - the same club we'd bought Patrick Scheepens from just hours before the January transfer window closed - wouldn't let Kenny go on the cheap. It would take a Daggers-record offer of £9million (£4million up front, £4million over the next 12 months, and £1million after 50 league appearances) to prise him away from the Delfini.

 

If finding the ideal holding midfielder for my refreshed team was a doddle, identifying our new left-back was rather trickier. My primary target was Ipswich Town's Tommy Watters, but the Tractor Boys - newly promoted to the Premier League - demanded a king's ransom for the 23-year-old. I then agreed a fee with Arsenal for their Spanish left-back Manu Torbellino, but he rejected our contract offer and joined our local rivals West Ham United instead.

 

I would have better luck north of the border. 31-year-old Colin Fox had 89 Scotland caps to his name and was an integral part of the Rangers team that convincingly won the Scottish Premier League. Here was a guy who thrived under pressure and still had plenty of years at the top left in him.

 

Rangers were originally reluctant to sell Fox, but they eventually relented and accepted a bid of £6.75million. Contract talks went rather smoothly, and it wasn't long before Colin - who spent over a decade at Liverpool earlier in his career - was revealed as the next piece of my Dagenham & Redbridge jigsaw.

 

Salvador, Jorgensen and Fox had all been snapped up with plenty of time to spare before pre-season - but there was still no sign of a new striker. Many hours were spent fruitlessly scouring Europe for someone who'd fit into my plans, but nothing caught my eye. Then I was alerted to someone who was scoring goals aplenty in the United States.

 

On the face of it, Elliot Hernández was just the striker I was looking for. He was a physically-imposing 28-year-old deep-lying forward whose scoring record in Major League Soccer was a joy to behold. After popping over to Washington DC to take a proper look at Hernández, I was convinced enough to buy him off DC United for £6million.

 

Elliot's story was an interesting one. Born and bred in Pasadena, California, he began his soccer career at Los Angeles Galaxy, but was released when he was 18. He then moved 'across the pond' to Europe and signed for French second-tier club Lorient, but his spell there was a brief and unhappy one.

 

Hernández moved on again in 2027, whilst still a teenager, after being bought by Belgian Pro League club Charleroi. He found his calling at Charleroi, for whom he scored 63 league goals in six years. He also took up Belgian citizenship and went on to represent Belgium in a couple of international friendlies.

 

Hernández returned to America in the summer of 2033, becoming a vital member of the DC United team that would go on to lift the MLS Cup a year later. Now, after netting 43 goals in 79 league matches for United, he was about to begin a new chapter with the Daggers. £6million might be a lot to pay for a striker who's never previously played in an elite European league (sorry, Belgium), but I believe that this late-bloomer will be worth the money.

 

I also brought in a couple of raw youngsters as long-term signings, including my first German recruit at Dagenham. 17-year-old holding midfielder André Gross had been released by Hamburg, but my scouts convinced me that there was enough about Gross to at least give him a chance of making it in English football.

 

I also snapped up a Bulgaria Under-19s international by the name of Milen Danchev. The speedy 15-year-old right-winger was signed from Slavia Sofia for approximately £350,000 in compensation.

 

Those were the early 'ins' at Rainham Road this summer. I'll reveal the 'outs' a bit later, but first, I've got some international news to share with you.

 

England was hosting the senior UEFA European Championship, and we had no fewer than three representatives there. New signing Jorgensen was part of Denmark's squad, while centre-backs Tomo Kurtovic and Velimir Radosavljevic were turning out for Croatia and Serbia respectively.

 

There was also a European Under-21s Championship going on in Sweden. Daggers youth graduates George Darvill, Tristan Egueh and Dave Hutchinson were all in the England squad, as was loanee goalkeeper Denzel Gallen. The Three Lions would go on to lift the trophy after beating Russia 3-1 in the Final, and Gallen's consistently strong performances would see him named in the competition's Best XI.

 

After that tournament was over, I successfully persuaded West Ham United to let us take 19-year-old Gallen on loan again - this time for a full season. Denzel conceded 10 goals in six games during his earlier spell with us, but he's clearly a magnificent young keeper who'll surely only get better over the next 12 months.

 

Meanwhile, reserve midfielder Daryl Ryan II made his Under-21s debut with the Republic of Ireland. Daryl was also named in Ireland's Under-19s squad for the upcoming European Championship, which would be hosted in Norway in July.

 

There was also a proud moment for Mark Washington, who scored his first international goal for the United States in a convincing 4-0 FIFA World Cup qualifying win over Cuba.

 

Meanwhile, the Dagenham & Redbridge supporters' club unveiled their Team of the Year for the 2035/2036 campaign. This season's Best XI featured Kieran Whalley, Albert Khumalo, George Darvill, Velimir Radosavljevic, Rocco Mazzola, Oumar Fofana, William Barnes, Matthew Fraser, Billy Stevenson, Robbie MacKenzie, and Mark Washington.

 

I wasn't too surprised to see those eleven players chosen, and the fans' choice for Player of the Year was even more predictable. Local hero George Darvill topped the annual poll for the third time in four years, and the second time in succession. 23-year-old George has now made over 200 league appearances for the club and is already considered to be amongst the greatest players to have ever pulled on a Daggers jersey.

 

You'll also notice that Albert Khumalo made it into our Best XI, despite leaving for Rochdale at the end of January. I can tell you that at least THREE other players who were named in our supporters' select squad will not be playing for the Daggers next season.

[CFuller]

JUNE 2036 (continued)

All revolutions have victims. My decision to spend big in the summer would inevitably lead to us parting ways with some fine players, a few of whom would be very dearly missed at Dagenham & Redbridge.

 

Take William Barnes, for example. William joined us nine years ago, when he was a naive teenager recently released by Southampton, and we were just about to enter League One. Over the years, we saw the midfielder grow up at what was then Victoria Road, and he eventually succeeded the legendary Mark West as Dagenham captain in 2032.

 

Barnesy had his fair share of problems with discipline and injuries, but he still made 265 league appearances for us, scoring 11 goals and making 30 assists. Few players have been more influential in our rise from the lower leagues to the big time than he has.

 

After giving my skipper two seasons in the Premier League, though, I'd come to realise that he was seriously struggling with the step up from the Championship. The 27-year-old agreed that he had to drop back down for the good of his career, and so he was made available for transfer.

 

We'd had plenty of transfer dealings with Corby Town in the past, so it didn't surprise me that they were the first club to make an offer for Barnes after a solid first season in the Championship. I accepted Corby's offer for £2million, and Will was soon on his way to Northamptonshire to agree personal terms.

 

The sale of William Barnes to Corby was confirmed early in June, much to the horror of many Dagenham fans who adored him so much. There was a lot of angry reaction to our captain's departure online, but the player himself wasn't complaining - after all, he was now earning more at his new club than he was at Rainham Road!

 

I prepared myself for another supporter backlash a few days later, when I sold another midfielder. Seb Brennan was more of an unsung hero than Barnes, regularly producing solid if not spectacular displays from a holding role or - occasionally - wing-back. The south Londoner spent two years with us and made 45 Premier League appearances.

 

Brennan's next destination was Celtic, who bought him off us for £3.5million. For us, that was a cool £2million profit on a player we had signed a couple of summers earlier from, erm, Rangers. Seb sure is going to be a popular fella in Glasgow when the next Old Firm Derby comes around...

 

Yet another midfielder heading out of Dagenham was Oumar Fofana. The 25-year-old Malian ball-winner joined us a year ago, and he did have his moments, most notably when scoring winning goals at Arsenal and West Bromwich Albion. That said, I didn't feel Oumar was consistent enough to be a Premier League regular, and so I accepted Saint-Étienne's £3million offer to take him from us.

 

Based on the transfer fee, left-back Rocco Mazzola's £4million move to Rochdale was our biggest sale this summer. The strong Italian had been with us for five years and eventually broke through as a regular starter in the season just gone. Why, then, did I feel the need to sell Rocco?

 

There were a few things at play here. Firstly, Colin Fox had just arrived from Rangers to be our new regular left-back for at least the next couple of years. Secondly, I still had 21-year-old Ante Djuzel earmarked as our long-term starter in that role, despite his very rocky form of late. Thirdly, Rocco's contract was due to expire in just 12 months, and I didn't feel that he warranted a new deal. That's why I took the money for Mazzola.

 

Rocco was reunited with former colleague Albert Khumalo at Spotland, and a third Daggers defender would soon join them there. Austrian centre-half Hamzah Jaafar left us after two years as a dependable backup option and moved to Dale upon the expiry of his contract.

 

Reserve defender Jefferson Moran also went elsewhere, joining League One side Cambridge United on a free transfer after it became apparent that he wasn't going to make the grade with us.

 

Stipo Brkic's time with us was also up. The Danish midfield playmaker had three wonderful years with us, during which he played in 94 league matches, scored 11 goals, and made 20 assists. The most famous of Brkic's goals was - without doubt - the winning one in the 2034 Championship Play-Off Final against Blackburn Rovers.

 

I'm not lying when I say that Stipo has genuinely been one of my favourite ever players to manage at Dagenham & Redbridge. I will miss him dearly, and so - I'm sure - will many of our supporters. He will be very welcome to rejoin us in a non-playing capacity at some point in the future, but for the time being, it's a case of, "So long, Stipo."

 

Nine other players would be released during the off-season. Centre-backs Adrian Bailey and Paul Habu had come to the end of their contracts, as had winger Nigel Atta, while it was mutually agreed that midfielder Tom Virgo's deal with us would be terminated a year early. Finally, the youth-team quintet of Jazzi Howley, Dan Judge, Rae Liversedge, Thomas Lye and Evans Okyere were all told to look for new clubs.

 

With my squad now rejuvenated and (almost) ready to go again, we could now return from our holidays and prepare for our third Premier League season. Our opening match of the campaign would be at home to newly-promoted Ipswich Town on 16 August, and we would then travel to Chelsea on 23 August.

 

Our local derbies against West Ham United will be played at the Olympic Stadium on 25 November, and at Rainham Road on 18 April. Another noteworthy fixture is our last one, as we will conclude the season at a newly-expanded Old Trafford against the current champions Manchester United on 16 May.

 

Since coming up into the top flight, we've always found the challenges of the two Manchester clubs to be especially overwhelming. Will next season be the one in which we finally manage to bloody the giants' noses? Can the little mouse of Dagenham & Redbridge make a big roar in the Premier League?

[CFuller]

Romford watch: 2035/2036

After narrowly avoiding relegation, Romford remained in the Conference Premier for the second straight season. Manager Dominic Shimmin's task now was to consolidate the Boro's status at this level.

 

Conference Premier: 13th

'Consolidation' looked some way away when Romford started off with a couple of 2-0 defeats - away to Staines Town, and then at home to Southport. It took them four attempts to win a game, eventually defeating Swindon Town 2-1. Another victory would soon follow against Harrogate Town, but two more back-to-back losses put the Boro back in the relegation zone. However, they then picked up seven points from their next three games and, by late September, they were in 12th place. That mini-surge coincided with chairman John Walker's decision to sell the club to a Belgian consortium led by Quentin Vranken.

 

Romford entered the autumn period with some more indifferent form before gradually picking up again. Their form would continue to fluctuate, and come the midway point in November, another relegation battle was looming large. That was until the Boro finished 2035 by winning four of their final six games, with just the one defeat at Southport. Although they would kick off the New Year with a 1-0 home loss to eventual champions Yeovil Town, thoughts were now turning towards a late-season play-off charge, rather than a scrap for survival.

 

Following their New Year's Day defeat to Yeovil, Romford went on a seven-match run that saw them win four, draw two, and lose one. They headed into the final 10 games of the season in 8th place, and with every chance of making the play-offs in just their second season up. Alas, those dreams would quickly be dashed, as the Boro's defence buckled in the final straight. There would be no more wins for Romford this season - just five draws and the same numbers of defeats. They would finish 15 points off the play-offs and just outside the top half, but make no mistake - had Shimmin been offered a mid-table finish when the season began, he would've taken it!

 

FA Cup: Round 1

Qualifying Round 4 of the FA Cup saw Romford take revenge on Eastbourne Borough - the side who had ended their dream run at the FA Trophy a season earlier. However, victory in Sussex would be followed by defeat at home to League Two opposition, as Ashford Town narrowly beat the Boro 2-1 in Round 1.

 

FA Trophy: Round 2

There was to be no repeat of last season's run to the Semi Final. Romford started solidly enough by putting three unanswered goals past Staines, but Canvey Island proved much trickier opponents in Round 2. The Boro were held to a 1-1 draw at Ship Lane, and the Seagulls then trounced them 4-0 in the replay at Park Lane.

 

Essex Senior Cup: Quarter Final

Romford kicked off their Essex Senior Cup campaign in Round 3, with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Hullbridge Sports. Southend Manor also took some stopping in the next stage before going down 3-1. Next up for the Boro in the Quarter Finals were Canvey Island, who went on to knock them out of another cup competition with a 3-1 victory.

 

Best Players

Player/assistant manager Stewart Thomson led the way on goals again, as he found the net 18 times - one more than in last season. The long-serving Gareth Coe wasn't too far behind him on 11 goals, while mid-season signing Darren Cunningham chipped in with seven. The most Boro assists came from left-winger Carl Callander, who set up 10 goals, while fellow midfielders Billy Traynor and Dion Hicks also enjoyed productive campaigns.

 

Defensively, Romford's best performer was perhaps their goalkeeper Jack Dyer. The 25-year-old West Midlander was so much better compared to last season, keeping 13 clean sheets and letting in only 37 goals in 36 league appearances. He needed to be on form, as most of his defenders struggled for consistency. Even stalwarts such as left-back Tom Worthington, who has now been capped by St Vincent & The Grenadines, and centre-half Ruben Coombes looked far too shaky for the Boro's own good.

 

The Future

Romford are now under Belgian ownership, and the new hierarchy have already announced ambitious plans for the club. The Boro's training facilities have been upgraded, and manager Shimmin is expected to be given a decent amount of money to improve the squad with. Can he spend it wisely and keep the forward momentum?

[CFuller]

2035/2036 season round-up: Part 1

Premier League

Manchester United may have temporarily moved away from Old Trafford, but they still proved to be unstoppable. Alexander Mejía's side retained their Premier League crown by a whopping 15 points, with their only defeats coming in away fixtures against mid-table Burnley and landlords Manchester City. Strikers Moses Penfold and Sean Jordan tore the league apart, scoring 61 of the Red Devils' 101 goals! Mejía also gave huge credit to his defenders, and captain José Luis especially, for helping United to a PL-record goal difference of +74.

 

League Cup winners Arsenal finished in 2nd place after their talisman Clive Johnson, now aged 34, made a very welcome return to form. Liverpool climbed into the top three for the first time in nine seasons, while Manchester City narrowly pipped West Ham United to 4th. City maintained their outstanding record of 25 consecutive top-four finishes, and they also won a sixth UEFA Champions League title - a new record for an English club.

 

Dmitrijs Morozs' turbulent reign at Fulham ended last summer, and the Cottagers began life under new owner Arthur Hoddle by coming 6th and qualifying for next season's UEFA Europa League. Joining them and West Ham in Europe's second-tier competition will be FA Cup winners Derby County, who were playing in League Two just a decade ago! Chelsea lost in both domestic cup finals, and 9th place was their worst PL finish in exactly 40 years.

 

All three promoted teams fell by the wayside after a single season up. Aston Villa's yo-yoing over the last decade continued as they shipped 93 goals and finished bottom, while Reading fared little better. Sheffield United did at least put up a fight, but despite a late slump from Nottingham Forest, the Blades fell short on the final day and finished just one point adrift of safety.

 

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    C/CL  Man Utd                38    28    8     2     101   27    +74   92
2.    CL    Arsenal                38    22    11    5     65    28    +37   77
3.    CL    Liverpool              38    21    9     8     68    45    +23   72
4.    CL    Man City               38    20    9     9     79    42    +37   69
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.    EL    West Ham               38    19    11    8     57    30    +27   68
6.    EL    Fulham                 38    19    7     12    65    48    +17   64
7.          Southampton            38    18    8     12    53    47    +6    62
8.    EL    Derby                  38    18    6     14    70    53    +17   60
9.          Chelsea                38    16    10    12    56    39    +17   58
10.         Burnley                38    16    9     13    56    53    +3    57
11.         Tottenham              38    13    10    15    42    68    -26   49
12.         Rochdale               38    12    11    15    43    40    +3    47
13.         Dag & Red              38    13    7     18    39    54    -15   46
14.         Wolves                 38    10    15    13    49    63    -14   45
15.         Norwich                38    8     15    15    48    71    -23   39
16.         West Brom              38    10    7     21    45    67    -22   37
17.         Nottm Forest           38    8     9     21    56    83    -27   33
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
18.   R     Sheff Utd              38    8     8     22    42    70    -28   32
19.   R     Reading                38    6     4     28    32    83    -51   22
20.   R     Aston Villa            38    4     8     26    38    93    -55   20

 

Championship

Inspired by Swiss hotshot Carmine Fabris, Brighton & Hove Albion earned a swift promotion back into the Premier League, as champions of the Championship. Blackburn Rovers also had a lethal frontman of their own, with 33 goals from Thierry Laurent helping them stave off Ipswich Town and take 2nd place on goal difference.

 

Ipswich made up for their disappointment by beating Sunderland and reaching the Play-Off Final. They would take on Stoke City at Wembley after the Potters saw off big-spenders Coventry City. Simon Hazel struck first for the Tractor Boys within seconds of kick-off, and another goal from Moses Duiker earned them a famous 2-0 win. Suffolk's leading lights were about to host top-flight football for the first time since 2001/2002!

 

Sleeping giants Everton and Newcastle United both missed out on the play-offs, finishing 7th and 11th respectively. Meanwhile, the rapidly-rising Corby Town came 16th at the end of their first Championship campaign. Corby haven't spent successive seasons in the same division since Polish multi-millionaire Grzegorz Trakul bought them out nine years ago, so maybe some stability will do the Steelmen even more good next term.

 

Cardiff City's Bluebirds were feeling very blue after languishing at the bottom of the Championship. Following them down into League One next season will be Doncaster Rovers, and Leeds United, whose final-day defeat to Ipswich Town ensured their relegation and kept Charlton Athletic up.

 

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    C     Brighton               46    31    3     12    99    54    +45   96
2.    P     Blackburn              46    27    8     11    92    56    +36   89
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.    P     Ipswich                46    27    8     11    72    49    +23   89
4.          Coventry               46    25    8     13    75    51    +24   83
5.          Stoke                  46    25    8     13    75    51    +24   83
6.          Sunderland             46    23    11    12    77    56    +21   80
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7.          Everton                46    19    18    9     72    44    +28   75
8.          Crewe                  46    21    10    15    65    46    +19   73
9.          Watford                46    20    11    15    67    57    +10   71
10.         Huddersfield           46    19    14    13    64    57    +7    71
11.         Newcastle              46    17    15    14    49    45    +4    66
12.         Plymouth               46    16    15    15    59    64    -5    63
13.         Sheff Wed              46    15    15    16    59    57    +2    60
14.         Luton                  46    15    13    18    58    63    -5    58
15.         Bolton                 46    14    16    16    61    71    -10   58
16.         Corby                  46    14    13    19    51    70    -19   55
17.         Bradford               46    12    16    18    53    63    -10   52
18.         Oxford                 46    15    7     24    68    92    -24   52
19.         Chesterfield           46    13    12    21    48    64    -16   51
20.         Notts County           46    12    13    21    50    75    -25   49
21.         Charlton               46    11    9     26    63    79    -16   42
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22.   R     Leeds                  46    11    9     26    48    81    -33   42
23.   R     Doncaster              46    9     7     30    40    77    -37   34
24.   R     Cardiff                46    6     11    29    45    88    -43   29

 

League One

Leicester City went through five straight seasons without finishing in the top six, but they finally got it right this time around. Indeed, the Foxes would win the League One title by a single point from surprise packages York City, who completed their decade-long rise from the Conference North to the Championship!

 

Exeter City had blown a great shot at automatic promotion, but they beat Wigan Athletic on penalties to reach the Play-Off Final against Crystal Palace. However, there was to be more agony for the Grecians. Palace, who themselves had needed to win a shoot-out against Kidderminster Harriers in the Semi Finals, took an 8th-minute lead through Toby Cook and never looked back. The Eagles were flying straight back into the second tier.

 

Middlesbrough's shocking decline continued as they finished rock-bottom and were relegated to League Two for the first time. AFC Wimbledon weren't good enough to stay up for longer than a solitary season, while south-coast rivals Portsmouth and AFC Bournemouth also dropped down.

 

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    C     Leicester              46    24    10    12    78    49    +29   82
2.    P     York                   46    24    9     13    82    63    +19   81
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.          Exeter                 46    21    11    14    69    60    +9    74
4.          Kidderminster          46    21    10    15    69    59    +10   73
5.    P     Crystal Palace         46    20    11    15    67    48    +19   71
6.          Wigan                  46    19    13    14    62    56    +6    70
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7.          Hereford               46    17    15    14    60    55    +5    66
8.          Wrexham                46    19    8     19    62    56    +6    65
9.          Millwall               46    15    20    11    53    52    +1    65
10.         Peterborough           46    17    14    15    56    58    -2    65
11.         Stockport              46    17    13    16    60    57    +3    64
12.         Wycombe                46    18    10    18    55    52    +3    64
13.         Rotherham              46    18    10    18    62    61    +1    64
14.         Leighton               46    17    12    17    64    60    +4    63
15.         Colchester             46    16    14    16    60    67    -7    62
16.         Dartford               46    15    15    16    65    73    -8    60
17.         Northampton            46    13    20    13    47    52    -5    59
18.         Swansea                46    15    12    19    57    60    -3    57
19.         AFC Telford            46    14    13    19    53    59    -6    55
20.         Cambridge              46    15    10    21    50    67    -17   55
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
21.   R     Bournemouth            46    12    18    16    57    66    -9    54
22.   R     Portsmouth             46    13    10    23    47    66    -19   49
23.   R     AFC Wimbledon          46    11    11    24    56    78    -22   44
24.   R     Middlesbrough          46    8     17    21    40    57    -17   41

 

League Two

Hull City went unbeaten from New Year's Day onwards as they charged to the League Two title. They returned to League One at the first attempt, as did runners-up Bristol Rovers, while Scunthorpe United narrowly beat Shrewsbury Town and Chester to the other automatic promotion berth.

 

Shrewsbury and Chester both faltered in the Play-Off Semi Finals, losing their respective ties to Aldershot Town and Oldham Athletic. The Final at Wembley was a memorable one for Oldham, who won 3-0 after Zac Barber's early opener was followed by a couple of strikes from young Scottish striker Martin Gilhaney.

 

Few Football League historians can recall a team having a less potent attack than Forest Green Rovers. FGR found the net just 23 times and were relegated alongside Morecambe. Newly-promoted FC Halifax Town very nearly went down after going into freefall late on, but they saved themselves with a final-day win at Bristol Rovers.

 

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    C     Hull                   46    25    14    7     79    39    +40   89
2.    P     Bristol Rovers         46    24    12    10    74    48    +26   84
3.    P     Scunthorpe             46    22    15    9     78    52    +26   81
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.          Shrewsbury             46    24    9     13    71    51    +20   81
5.          Chester                46    23    12    11    62    47    +15   81
6.    P     Oldham                 46    20    15    11    63    45    +18   75
7.          Aldershot              46    17    18    11    64    52    +12   69
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8.          Kingstonian            46    20    8     18    74    63    +11   68
9.          Barnsley               46    17    15    14    48    49    -1    66
10.         Bristol City           46    17    13    16    47    46    +1    64
11.         Fleetwood              46    17    12    17    57    55    +2    63
12.         Cheltenham             46    15    16    15    59    57    +2    61
13.         Birmingham             46    14    16    16    52    59    -7    58
14.         Preston                46    14    16    16    45    54    -9    58
15.         Ashford Town           46    15    12    19    58    64    -6    57
16.         Port Vale              46    17    6     23    48    62    -14   57
17.         Walsall                46    14    14    18    47    57    -10   56
18.         Southend               46    13    16    17    50    51    -1    55
19.         Grimsby                46    12    14    20    47    63    -16   50
20.         Gillingham             46    12    14    20    43    62    -19   50
21.         QPR                    46    11    16    19    52    63    -11   49
22.         FC Halifax             46    10    15    21    50    69    -19   45
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
23.   R     Morecambe              46    11    11    24    41    63    -22   44
24.   R     Forest Green           46    6     15    25    23    61    -38   33

 

Conference Premier

After a 25-year managerial career, Paul Dickov took on one final challenge - to take Yeovil Town back into the Football League. He completed it with aplomb, as Yeovil coasted to the Conference Premier title by 12 points.

 

The Play-Off Semi Finals saw narrow wins for Harrogate Town, who edged out Hartlepool United by a single goal, and Southport, who pipped runners-up Gateshead on penalties. When it came to the Final, a solitary 62nd-minute strike from Chad Fryatt proved priceless for Southport, who finally secured their first promotion to League Two!

 

It was very tight at the bottom of this division, with 12 points separating the bottom 10. In the end, it was FC United of Manchester, Mossley, Bury and Stevenage who dropped into the regional Conferences.

 

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    C     Yeovil                 46    29    9     8     86    41    +45   96
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.          Gateshead              46    24    12    10    75    41    +34   84
3.          Harrogate              46    23    14    9     59    35    +24   83
4.          Hartlepool             46    21    15    10    61    40    +21   78
5.    P     Southport              46    20    14    12    67    47    +20   74
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.          Barnet                 46    20    11    15    55    54    +1    71
7.          Maidstone              46    19    13    14    61    61    0     70
8.          Boston Utd             46    18    14    14    57    50    +7    68
9.          Eastbourne Boro        46    17    17    12    62    58    +4    68
10.         Mansfield              46    17    15    14    59    48    +11   66
11.         St Albans              46    14    21    11    72    61    +11   63
12.         Darlington             46    17    11    18    62    62    0     62
13.         Romford                46    15    14    17    48    54    -6    59
14.         Swindon                46    14    14    18    42    50    -8    56
15.         Leyton Orient          46    14    13    19    48    54    -6    55
16.         Woking                 46    12    19    15    57    65    -8    55
17.         Blackpool              46    15    10    21    53    67    -14   55
18.         Barrow                 46    14    12    20    48    54    -6    54
19.         Staines                46    14    10    22    47    54    -7    52
20.         Lincoln                46    12    14    20    51    66    -15   50
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
21.   R     Stevenage              46    12    11    23    48    70    -22   47
22.   R     Bury                   46    12    10    24    34    59    -25   46
23.   R     Mossley                46    12    10    24    44    76    -32   46
24.   R     FC United              46    12    7     27    40    69    -29   43

 

Conference North

Promoted: Tranmere Rovers (1st, 94 pts), Matlock Town (2nd, 82 pts).

Also in Play-Offs: Tamworth (3rd, 80 pts), Marine (4th, 74 pts), Altrincham (5th, 63 pts).

Relegated: Cambridge Regional College (20th, 43 pts), Royston Town (21st, 42 pts), Burscough (22nd, 34 pts).

 

Conference South

Promoted: Horsham (1st, 76 pts), Torquay United (2nd, 74 pts).

Also in Play-Offs: Slough Town (3rd, 73 pts), Crawley Town (4th, 67 pts), Hitchin Town (5th, 64 pts).

Relegated: Milton Keynes Dons (20th, 47 pts), Bishop's Stortford (21st, 44 pts), Poole Town (22nd, 39 pts).

 

Regional Premier Divisions

Promoted from Northern Premier League Premier: Stalybridge Celtic (1st), Ilkeston (3rd).

Promoted from Isthmian League Premier: Cambridge City (1st), Boreham Wood (3rd).

Promoted from Southern League Premier: Bath City (1st), Yate Town (5th).

[CFuller]

2035/2036 season round-up: Part 2

Major Transfers

• Holders Manchester United's big summer signing was Braga striker Luís Soares, who cost £14.75million. Unsurprisingly, with Sean Jordan and Moses Penfold in such blistering form, Portugal international Soares found it nigh on difficult to make his mark. He made 14 Premier League appearances, all but two of which were from the bench, and scored five times.
• Chelsea bought Barcelona striker Javier Montenegro in the summer for £12.5million in the summer. The 23-year-old Argentinean was used only once in the PL, scoring in a late-season win over Sheffield United, and was then sold to Liverpool a year later for a £2million profit! The Blues also signed Manchester United forward Sam Hohn for £9.25million but only got six goals in 29 league games.
• Liverpool made some savvy improvements to their backline over the summer. Napoli left-back Erick Rodriguez and Lyon centre-half Christian Kauffmann were snapped up for a combined £26.5million, and both played key parts in guiding the Reds to a top-three finish. Rather amusingly, Liverpool also brought in striker Josh Bowerman from arch-rivals Everton for £3.2million, though they didn't give him much game time.
• Norwich City spent their highest ever transfer fee of £13.75million on West Bromwich Albion's defensive midfielder Aldin Hodzic. The Bosnian was a decent if underwhelming purchase... but he wasn't the biggest transfer dud in the PL this summer. That honour perhaps went to West Ham United's 23-year-old winger Robert Dekker, who failed to make a significant impact following his £12million arrival from Arsenal.
• Manchester City brought in Paris Saint-Germain's Brazil defender Vinicius for £11.5million in July, but their most significant signing this season didn't come until January. The Citizens went to Barcelona to recruit 28-year-old goalkeeper Sergio González for £7.25million. The commanding Paraguayan is set to take the number 1 jersey from Andy Boyes, who'll leave City this summer after 478 PL appearances in 13 seasons.
• Eyebrows were raised when Paris Saint-Germain threw £36.5million at Sampdoria to sign right-winger Tufan Deniz Ozen. The 25-year-old Dutchman didn't exactly silence the doubters, notching up only four goals and four assists in his debut Ligue 1 campaign. Another massive-money signing was that of young Argentine left-back Marcelo Villar, who went from Atlético Madrid to Barcelona for £20million.

 

Managerial Movements

• Eugene Seleznyov's first full season at Tottenham Hotspur was cut short in November, when a terrible start left Spurs hovering just above the relegation zone. Steven Davis came in and led Tottenham to mid-table safety, while Heart of Midlothian boss Will Grigg took Davis' old job at the ultimately-doomed Aston Villa. As for Seleznyov, the Ukrainian returned to Serie A and ended up in another relegation battle with Spezia.
• Two other Midlands clubs changed managers midway through the season. Former Bordeaux chief Tom Schaap succeeded the hopeless Filip Skvorc at West Bromwich Albion, whose bitter rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers replaced Ben Turner with Brighton & Hove Albion's renowned coach Josh Carson.
• After Gerry Taggart retired during the summer, Nottingham Forest brought in another veteran in Malky Mackay. However, the Glaswegian would be sacked less than a year later after Forest narrowly escaped relegation. The next manager at the City Ground will be Ross Barkley, who won the Scottish Premier League with Rangers. There will also be new leadership at the helms of relegated duo Reading and Sheffield United after they sacked James Chester and Zema Abbey respectively.
• An even shorter-lived manager than either Mackay or Seleznyov was Anthony Furlonge, who left Norwich City after less than six months. Furlonge couldn't cope with the pressures of top-flight management, and so James Wallace came in from Inverness Caledonian Thistle to guide the Canaries away from danger.
• AC Milan's fortunes were completely transformed by a change of manager. They were 15th in Serie A when they sacked Olivier Vannucci and hired Gianni Bruno - the man who won the UEFA Champions League with Lyon in 2034. Bruno oversaw an incredible unbeaten run that saw the Rossoneri climb all the way to the very top, although they slipped up in the final straight and ceded the scudetto to holders Juventus.
• Schalke 04 were at risk of missing out on Champions League qualification when they sacked Matthia Henn in late February. They replaced him with Aleksandar Bjelica - a Dutch-born Serbian who had coached Heerenveen for the best part of seven seasons. 42-year-old Bjelica managed to restabilise Die Konigsblauen and secure them a 3rd-place finish, fractionally ahead of Borussia Moenchengladbach, in the Bundesliga.

 

Other Major Stories

• After knocking out surprise contenders Anji Ramenskoye in the UEFA Champions League Semi Finals, Manchester City returned to Russia to contest the Final against Real Madrid. It was to be a memorable night in Moscow for City, and particularly for the retiring Martin Klonz, who secured the decisive goals in the 6th and 86th minutes. 34-year-old Klonz - who finished his career as the club's second-highest league scorer after Glauco Dotto - was overcome with emotion as he lifted the Citizens' sixth European Cup.
• Brussels staged the UEFA Europa League Final, where Belgian Pro League champions Anderlecht fittingly won their first European trophy for 53 years after beating Sevilla 2-0. Brazilian duo Ferreira (a right-winger) and Vicente (a centre-back) scored the goals either side of a penalty miss from Sevilla midfielder Célio, who is also from Brazil!
• Lyon led Ligue 1 for much of the season, but there was to be no title for them at the end. Instead, it was Marseille who beat out Paris Saint-Germain on goal difference and lifted their first French championship for 26 years. Ruben Leblanc's 31 goals for Monaco was the most by a single player in a Ligue 1 campaign since 1977/1978, but Les Monegasques could only finish 6th.
• This Greek Super League season brought up a couple of interesting stories, particularly in Thessaloniki. Aris Salonika had had six successive 4th-place finishes before they finally got it right, pipping Olympiacos to their first league title since 1946! Even more incredibly, Aris' city rivals Iraklis Salonika - who won the league last year - were relegated! Another lengthy title drought ended in Russia, where Alania Vladikavkaz claimed their second Premier League crown, 41 years after their first.
• Klonz was followed into retirement by his former Manchester City colleague Chad Gauss after the Canadian centre-half endured a relegation campaign with Aston Villa. Barcelona defender Marcel Schaap and Lille striker Gastón Menéndez, who scored over 300 goals during his time with PSG, also hung up their boots. Meanwhile, Empoli's Michele Serena announced that he was retiring from management.
• The Premier League saw a couple of very impressive scoring feats this season. Moses Penfold's 33-goal haul for champions Manchester United was the joint-highest personal tally in a single PL season this century. Meanwhile, Derby County's Steve Heaton etched his name into the history books by scoring the league's first DOUBLE hat-trick! His six-goal haul came in an 8-2 away win against Nottingham Forest on 23 April.

 

Cup Winners

FA Cup: Derby County 1-0 Chelsea.

League Cup: Arsenal 1-0 Chelsea.

Community Shield: Manchester City 2-1 Manchester United.

Football League Trophy: Exeter City 3-2 York City (aet).

 

UEFA Champions League: Manchester City 2-0 Real Madrid - at Luzhniki, Moscow.

UEFA Europa League: Anderlecht 2-0 Sevilla - at Stade Roi Baudouin, Brussels.

UEFA Super Cup: Porto 3-0 FC Utrecht - at Estádio D Afonso Henriques, Guimaraes.

FIFA Club World Championship: Porto 3-0 River Plate - at BMO Field, Toronto.

 

Major European Leagues

Dutch Eredivisie: Feyenoord (1st), Ajax (2nd), PSV (3rd).

French Ligue 1: Marseille (1st), Paris Saint-Germain (2nd), Lyon (3rd).

German Bundesliga: Bayern Munich (1st), Borussia Dortmund (2nd), Schalke 04 (3rd).

Italian Serie A: Juventus (1st), AC Milan (2nd), Napoli (3rd).

Portuguese Primeira Liga: Porto (1st), Sporting CP (2nd), Benfica (3rd).

Russian Premier League: Alania Vladikavkaz (1st), FC Krasnodar (2nd), Anji Ramenskoye (3rd).

Scottish Premier League: Rangers (1st), Hibernian (2nd), Celtic (3rd).

Spanish La Liga: Real Madrid (1st), Real Betis (2nd), Barcelona (3rd).

 

Award Winners

PFA Player of the Year: Sean Jordan (Manchester United).

PFA Young Player of the Year: Nathan Guppy (West Ham United).

FWA Footballer of the Year: Moses Penfold (Manchester United).

Premier League Manager of the Season: Alexander Mejía (Manchester United).

PFA Premier League Team of the Year:

• Shaun Murat (Arsenal and Canada)
• Matheo Honoré (Manchester United and France)
• Christopher Khan (Chelsea and England)
• Nathan Guppy (West Ham United and England)
• Steffen Stampe (Manchester United and Denmark)
• Dudu Ashkenazi (Manchester United and Israel)
• Leszek Michniewicz (Manchester United and Germany)
• Liam Wood (Arsenal and England)
• Maurice Hockley (Southampton and England)
• Sean Jordan (Manchester United and United States)
• Moses Penfold (Manchester United and England)

 

FIFA Ballon d'Or: Rafael Pinau (Lyon).

World Soccer World Player of the Year: Andrzej Wolanski (Real Betis).

European Golden Shoe: Moses Penfold (Manchester United).

UEFA Best Player in Europe: Adrián Gil (Bayern Munich).

FIFA/FIFPro World XI:

• Ander Bengoetxea (Paris Saint-Germain and Spain)
• Cristian Soriano (Paris Saint-Germain and Argentina)
• Christopher Khan (Chelsea and England)
• José Luis (Manchester United and Spain)
• Joao Carlos (Empoli and Brazil)
• Scott Winterburn (Hibernian and England)
• Matteo Caurla (Paris Saint-Germain and Italy)
• Dudu Ashkenazi (Manchester United and Israel)
• Andrzej Wolanski (Real Betis and Germany)
• Adrián Gil (Bayern Munich and Argentina)
• Mario (Paris Saint-Germain and Spain)

[mark wilson27]

Bloody hell Matlock Town in the Conference Premier. Hopefully we can stay up there

[displaced_seagull]

Continues to be superb . Intrigued by Horsham in the Conference Prem, are they still at Queen Street in this version? (IRL they are now sharing at Lancing after Horsham YMCA kicked them out of Gorings Mead, whilst awaiting planning permission for a new ground) 

[CFuller]

Just a heads-up - there'll be no new updates to this story next week. I need to catch up on "Bygmester Fuller" before I can move forward with this. Normal service is likely to resume on Monday week.

10 hours ago, mark wilson27 said:

Bloody hell Matlock Town in the Conference Premier. Hopefully we can stay up there

This isn't Matlock's first time in the Conference Premier. They first made it up to the top tier of non-league football in 2030, but were relegated four years later. As for what'll happen next now they've returned... stay tuned. 

9 hours ago, displaced_seagull said:

Continues to be superb . Intrigued by Horsham in the Conference Prem, are they still at Queen Street in this version? (IRL they are now sharing at Lancing after Horsham YMCA kicked them out of Gorings Mead, whilst awaiting planning permission for a new ground) 

Horsham have indeed made it to the Conference Premier for the first time. That's not a bad achievement, considering they've only spent four years in the Conference South (never finishing any lower than 8th). I suspect they might do quite well up there.

Horsham actually started this save at Gorings Mead, but they moved into a new stadium - imaginatively named 'Horsham Stadium' - in 2014. Any ideas as to how I could perhaps rename it, on the off chance that Dagenham & Redbridge end up playing Horsham at some point in the save?

[CFuller]

UEFA European Championship review: England 2036

Qualification

Germany once again qualified for a major tournament in convincing fashion, winning all eight of their group games while conceding only six goals in the process. Portugal were the only other unbeaten team during the qualifiers, while Italy and Spain coasted through with seven wins and one loss apiece. 2024 champions Czech Republic came 2nd in Spain's group, with Mladá Boleslav striker Vlastimil Matousek scoring 15 goals for them.

 

Israel and Turkey were the joint-top scorers alongside Spain, although both had to settle for 2nd place in their groups. At least they qualified automatically, unlike Romania, who barely scraped past Macedonia on away goals in the play-offs. Albania and Montenegro were also eliminated in the play-offs, but the likes of Bulgaria, Latvia and Sweden - all of whom qualified four years ago - missed out altogether.

 

Cyprus made history by qualifying for their first ever major tournament. They would be the only debutants at England 2036, although Belarus and Bosnia & Herzegovina each made it through after missing the previous two European finals. Indeed, those three teams plus Romania were the only alterations to the line-up for the 2032 event.

 

QUALIFIERS: Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, England (hosts & holders), France, Georgia, Germany, Holland, Israel, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine.

 

Group Stage

All four teams in Group A won once and lost once in their opening two fixtures, so there was everything to play for in the final round. Portugal thrashed Serbia 5-0 to progress, although they missed out on top spot after Germany - who'd beaten them earlier on - defeated Ukraine 2-0. There were no such nerves for hosts and holders England in Group B. The free-scoring Three Lions recorded a clean sweep of wins and went through alongside Holland.

 

Group C was surprisingly won by Turkey, who looked very solid at the back. Czech Republic looked set to finish behind them in 2nd, but a 94th-minute equaliser from José Ramón Álvarez saw Spain overtake them right at the death! Group D was also a tight one, with unbeaten Israel finishing in first place and Russia - now managed by former Serie A club-hopper Leonid Slutskiy - also qualifying automatically for the knockout stages.

 

Nobody expected Italy to completely blitz everyone in Group E. The Azzurri did just that, racking up 5-0 wins over Belgium and Croatia either side of a 7-1 demolition of Cyprus in which Moreno Pinardi scored five goals! Belgium won their other two fixtures by a single goal to reach Round 2. Meanwhile, Bosnia & Herzegovina recorded a famous 2-1 win over France en route to topping Group F. Les Bleus went through as well, although they needed a late winner from West Ham United's Jérémy Jossic against Switzerland to secure their spot in the next phase.

 

Switzerland were the best of the third-placed teams and remained in the competition, as did Czech Republic, Denmark and Croatia. However, it was the end of the road for both Ukraine and Austria.

 

GROUP A: Germany* (1st, 6 pts), Portugal* (2nd, 6 pts), Ukraine (3rd, 3 pts), Serbia (4th, 3 pts).

GROUP B: England* (1st, 9 pts), Holland* (2nd, 6 pts), Austria (3rd, 3 pts), Belarus (4th, 0 pts).

GROUP C: Turkey* (1st, 7 pts), Spain* (2nd, 5 pts), Czech Republic* (3rd, 4 pts), Slovakia (4th, 0 pts).

GROUP D: Israel* (1st, 7 pts), Russia* (2nd, 6 pts), Denmark* (3rd, 3 pts), Romania (4th, 1 pt).

GROUP E: Italy* (1st, 9 pts), Belgium* (2nd, 6 pts), Croatia* (3rd, 3 pts), Cyprus (4th, 0 pts).

GROUP F: Bosnia & Herzegovina* (1st, 7 pts), France* (2nd, 6 pts), Switzerland* (3rd, 4 pts), Georgia (4th, 0 pts).

* through to Round 2

 

Round 2

The knockout stage began with a five-goal thriller between Holland and Germany. These two great rivals looked set to go to extra-time until Holland right-back Dennis Cox's crunching foul on Rolf Schmadtke gifted the Mannschaft a late penalty, which Erdinc Gundogdu converted for a 3-2 win. A spot-kick would also decide Italy vs France, which finished 1-1 after 90 minutes. France forward Alan Giacomaso was brought down in the Italian area in the 118th minute, and an emphatic penalty from compatriot Landry Camara halted the Azzurri's charge.

 

England's Moses Penfold continued his run of scoring in every game at Euro 2036 by getting two goals against Denmark. Dave Weaver also notched up a brace in a 4-1 victory for the hosts, whose only blip came when Per Nielsen struck for the Danes on 70 minutes. The Three Lions went through to a Quarter Final against Bosnia & Herzegovina, who ground out a 1-0 win over Czech Republic after Palermo's Adis Ihtijarevic struck late on.

 

Porto forward Rui was the man of the hour when Portugal saw off Belgium 4-1. The 25-year-old found the net twice, with left-winger Plínio and substitute Ewerton also getting onto the scoresheet for the Seleccao. In contrast, the encounter between Turkey and Croatia would see just one goal. The decisive moment didn't come until the 88th minute, when Croatian captain Julian Milenkovic's pass was drilled home by Zdravko Toplak.

 

Yet another tight affair in Round 2 saw Israel scrape through at the expense of Switzerland. A 78th-minute finish from Nir Badash brought back memories of 2028 for the Blue and Whites and left their opponents heartbroken. Spain then completed the Quarter Final line-up by crushing Russia 4-0. Mario scored all four goals for La Furia Roja, although credit was also due to AC Milan right-winger Toni, who set up the first two before his tournament was sadly cut short by a broken ankle.

 

RESULTS: Germany 3-2 Holland, France 2-1 Italy (aet), England 4-1 Denmark, Bosnia & Herzegovina 1-0 Czech Republic, Portugal 4-1 Belgium, Croatia 1-0 Turkey, Israel 1-0 Switzerland, Spain 4-0 Russia.

 

Quarter Finals

Bosnia & Herzegovina's first major Quarter Final saw them take on England at Old Trafford. Although Alejandro Corioni had a great game in defence for the Zmajevi, Bosnia's resistance was broken after 56 minutes. Manchester United striker Penfold scored at his home ground to prolong his hot streak and send the Three Lions into the last four. Also reaching the Semi Finals were France, who beat Germany 2-0 with goals from Ruben Leblanc and Giacomaso. Their opponents never recovered from losing captain Frank Kunz to a red card in the 66th minute.

 

Portugal's 24-year wait to reach a European Championship Semi Final ended when they saw off Croatia 2-0. West Bromwich Albion midfielder José Veloso set up both goals for Rui in the 11th and 19th minutes of what was otherwise a pretty close contest. Things were also tight when Ido Haliva's double saw Israel recover from 2-0 down against Spain. However, the Blue and Whites then had midfielder Maximiliano Azulay sent off three minutes from time, and a stunning injury-time strike from Real Madrid's Ramiro Álvaro earned Spain a dramatic 3-2 win.

 

RESULTS: England 1-0 Bosnia & Herzegovina, France 2-0 Germany, Portugal 2-0 Croatia, Spain 3-2 Israel.

 

Semi Finals

Spain would leave it very late again when they faced France in the first Semi Final at Old Trafford in Manchester. Les Bleus went ahead in the 50th minute through Monaco's goal machine Leblanc, but another French-based striker would soon draw Spain level. La Furia Roja's captain Mario, who played for Paris Saint-Germain at club level, equalised in the 61st minute, and then won the game with a sublime solo effort in the 89th. This was Javi Castellano's fourth major tournament as Spain's head coach, and he was into his second Final!

 

The Emirates Stadium in London staged the second Semi Final, which saw England go ahead after just six minutes via Maurice Hockley. Although Rui levelled for Portugal five minutes later, the Seleccao would soon be overwhelmed by the hosts. On 20 minutes, England skipper Clive Johnson's flick-on set up yet another goal for the unstoppable Penfold, who then secured a 3-1 victory with a clinical header late in the second half. That made it NINE goals in these finals for the 29-year-old, who was now on the verge of firing his country to yet more glory.

 

RESULTS: Spain 2-1 France, England 3-1 Portugal.

 

Final

Spain faced England in a repeat of the 2030 FIFA World Cup Final - but it was Sylvain Marveaux's Three Lions who had the home advantage this time, at London's Wembley Stadium. England captain Johnson had two early efforts saved by Ander Bengoetxea, but he was forced off injured in the 43rd minute of a scrappy game. His replacement was Liverpool hotshot Weaver, who would volley the hosts in front on the stroke of half-time after a sloppy defensive clearance from Spain right-back Ricardo. Would that be the decisive moment?

 

Although La Furia Roja made a bright start to the second period, the ball ended up in their net again after 57 minutes. Fortunately for them, Romaric Mawéné's looping cross-shot over Bengoetxea was ruled out after Penfold was accused of obstructing the Spanish goalkeeper. Penfold wouldn't keep up his record of scoring in every game of these finals, but he wouldn't need to. Despite a brave defensive display from Spain, and centre-half Rafael Aullón especially, that one goal from Weaver was enough to retain the European Championship for England!

 

For the second consecutive tournament, Johnson had the honour of lifting the Henri Delaunay Trophy. The 34-year-old Arsenal forward had now scored 142 goals in 160 internationals, and although he refused to confirm if he was retiring, this was likely to be his last major tournament with England. As for head coach Marveaux, the 50-year-old Frenchman had enjoyed a triumphant start to his reign and would now set his sights on regaining the FIFA World Cup title in Australia two years hence.

 

RESULT: England 1-0 Spain.

 

Award Winners

Best Player: Rui (Portugal).

Golden Boot: Moses Penfold (England, 9 goals).

Best Goal: Per Nielsen (Denmark, vs Romania - Group Stage).

Dream Team:

• Gavin Stopforth (England and Liverpool)
• Matheo Honoré (France and Manchester United)
• Leszek Michniewicz (Germany and Manchester United)
• Nathan Guppy (England and West Ham United)
• Zbigniew Szwarga (France and Barcelona)
• Marcus Cowley (England and Manchester United)
• José Veloso (Portugal and West Bromwich Albion)
• Gilles Causse (France and Barcelona)
• Rui (Portugal and Porto)
• Mario (Spain and Paris Saint-Germain)
• Moses Penfold (England and Manchester United)

[displaced_seagull]

1 hour ago, CFuller said:

Horsham have indeed made it to the Conference Premier for the first time. That's not a bad achievement, considering they've only spent four years in the Conference South (never finishing any lower than 8th). I suspect they might do quite well up there.

Horsham actually started this save at Gorings Mead, but they moved into a new stadium - imaginatively named 'Horsham Stadium' - in 2014. Any ideas as to how I could perhaps rename it, on the off chance that Dagenham & Redbridge end up playing Horsham at some point in the save?

The site appears to be called 'Hop Oast' though 'Worthing Road' also comes up in news reports!

[CFuller]

JULY 2036

We were two years into our Premier League adventure, but the third season was where we really had to kick on. After back-to-back mid-table finishes, our target now was to break into the top half.

 

Last time out, we had shown plenty of promising signs that we were almost ready to challenge for that top 10 finish, and maybe even qualification for Europe. Sadly, it all went horribly wrong towards the end as the goals dried up and our self-belief ebbed away. We would end up in 13th - one place below where we had finished in our maiden PL campaign.

 

There would be major changes over the summer as I added some more quality to our squad. Among the new recruits was holding midfielder Kenneth Jorgensen - a club-record £9million purchase from Pescara. Kenny was joined by left-back Colin Fox, playmaker Orlando Salvador, and Elliot Hernández, who would give last season's top scorer Mark Washington some much-needed company up front.

 

I also decided to experiment with using wingers again, at least on a semi-regular basis. That meant Wales right-winger Shaun Powell returned to the Daggers first-team after spending the previous two seasons out on loan. Powell's contract was due to expire in 12 months, so this was probably his final chance to prove himself with us.

 

While we already had Shaun as our main right-wing option, we didn't have any natural left-wingers in the squad. I scoured the market for one early in pre-season and eventually came across 22-year-old Dario Curnis, who agreed to join us on a season-long loan from AC Milan.

 

A former Italy Under-21s international, Curnis came through Milan's youth set-up but had never actually played for their first-team. Instead, Dario had spent the past six seasons being loaned out to six different clubs in four countries. The speedy wideman had most recently plied his trade for Cádiz in Spain's Segunda División, though he also had some Serie A experience with Parma.

 

There was a significant clear-out at Rainham Road, with captain William Barnes amongst those who'd left. We had lost three players to mid-table rivals Rochdale, with reserve goalkeeper Mariusz Tylak following the already-departed Hamzah Jaafar and Rocco Mazzola to Spotland. Tylak had cost us £800,000 from Fredrikstad a couple of years earlier, but we would only recoup £300,000 in his sale to Dale.

 

Also leaving us early in July were a couple of hot prospects who went out on loan for the season. Striker Toby Faithfull hoped to start fulfilling his enormous potential at Newcastle United in the Championship, while defensive midfielder Lee Allen eyed up promotion from League One with Swansea City.

 

A refreshed Daggers squad returned to action in mid-July with a home friendly against Scottish Premier League giants Celtic. The Bhoys had been crowned champions of Scotland on 53 occasions, but not since 2030. Now managed by former Sheffield United and Watford boss Micah Richards, their squad contained two ex-Daggers in left-back Daniel O'Reilly and midfielder Seb Brennan.

 

This friendly doubled up as a sort of testimonial for our Glaswegian midfield maestro Matthew Fraser, who had now spent a decade at Dagenham. To mark the occasion, I gave 29-year-old Matthew the captaincy just for this game against the club where he had started his career.

 

12 July 2036: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Celtic

An excellent Daggers counter-attack could've resulted in Kenneth Jorgensen opening the scoring seven minutes into his debut. Alas, Kenny's vicious drive was caught by Celtic goalkeeper Goran Slijepcevic. That came in between a couple of awful misses from another Dagenham debutant - Orlando Salvador, who did force Slijepcevic into a save with his third attempt after 15 minutes. The Bhoys custodian would also be severely tested by a rare strike from left-back Ante Djuzel three minutes later.

 

We eventually took the lead after 25 minutes, thanks to a stunning free-kick from a much-loved Scotsman. However, it wasn't Matthew Fraser who sent the Rainham Road crowd wild, but Robbie MacKenzie, who curled a set-piece home right from the edge of Celtic's area.

 

We had a number of chances to bolster our lead late on through Salvador and Jorgensen, both of whom would also receive yellow cards for mistimed challenges. Celtic also tried to get back in the game through Slovakian winger Roman Ilko, who followed up an excellent run in the 37th minute with an awful strike. Young striker Rab Cramb went closer to giving the Bhoys the lead just before half-time, but we went into the break still 1-0 to the good.

 

I made major changes before the second half, bringing on four subs and switching from a 3-5-2 formation to a wider 4-2-3-1. Our wingers - in particular the pacey Shaun Powell on the right flank - would soon start to cause Celtic problems. When we did double our lead in the 57th minute, though, it came from our man on the left.

 

Daggers right-back Patrick Scheepens' deep cross was poorly intercepted by his Bhoys counterpart Niels Dennak, and Dario Curnis popped up to flick the ball across the goal line from a tight angle. The on-loan Italian had scored on his debut and put us in control of this match.

 

Dave Hutchinson and Mark Washington later missed opportunities to make it 3-0 to the Daggers. It was at that point that Celtic left-winger Val O'Regan started to come alive. His first attempt at goal on 70 minutes went wide, and his second three minutes later was saved by Kieran Whalley, but it would be a case of third time lucky for the Irishman. O'Regan collected an incisive pass from Thibaut Bourgeois and then drove it underneath Kieran's dive to halve our advantage with 15 minutes remaining.

 

Things would get very nervy late on, especially when a spate of injuries resulted in nearly SEVEN minutes of injury time! Powell came off with a knock, as did Celtic's right-sided duo of Dennak and Mariusz Szeliga, before the full-time whistle finally blew on a hard-fought win for the Daggers.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (MacKenzie 25, Curnis 57)

Celtic - 1 (O'Regan 75)

Friendly, Attendance 12,504

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Gallen (Whalley), Radosavljevic (Moser), Darvill (Bailey), Kurtovic (Powell (Hernández)), Pearson (Scheepens), Djuzel (Fox), Jorgensen (Hutchinson), Fraser (McCann), Salvador (Sverrisson), MacKenzie (Curnis), Washington (Kjaerulff). BOOKED: Salvador, Jorgensen, Scheepens.

 

That was a great way to start pre-season, but things would soon take a dark turn. On-loan goalkeeper Denzel Gallen ruptured his Achilles tendon in preparation for our next game, and he was likely to be out for three months.

 

Denzel's injury put our first-choice goalie Kieran Whalley under real pressure to perform when we went on a mini-tour of Holland - or, more accurately, the Netherlands. We began in the northern province of Friesland, with a match against Eredivisie stalwarts Heerenveen, who'd been an upper-mid-table outfit for the past five years.

 

15 July 2036: Heerenveen vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Each team had a chance to take an early lead through their widemen. Dagenham right-winger Shaun Powell drove a shot over the Heerenveen crossbar in the 9th minute, two minutes before the hosts' left-winger Luis Jaramillo had a blistering free-kick palmed behind by Kieran Whalley.

 

That was followed by a couple of missed sitters from our young poacher Tristan Egueh. The first, after 16 minutes, was a particularly glaring one, as Tristan coasted past centre-back Lennart Schulz before pulling his shot off target. Egueh would make a more positive impact in the 25th minute. After Heerenveen failed to deal with Shaun's corner, Tristan flicked the ball on to Martin Thompson, who volleyed in his first senior goal for the Daggers!

 

De Superfriezen could not reply before half-time, with Curacao striker Johnsen Martha dragging wide their best chance to level in the 31st minute. Indeed, the Dutchmen were almost undone again in the 42nd minute by one of their compatriots. Patrick Scheepens crossed from the right touchline to Egueh, who outjumped Heerenveen's Bulgarian centre-half Boris Andreev and headed in what he thought was the equaliser. Sadly, Tristan was just offside, and our lead remained at 1-0.

 

Heerenveen got a bit dirty early in the second half, when they conceded several fouls and picked up a couple of bookings. If their intention was to shake us off our stride, though, they certainly succeeded.

 

Our substitute left-winger Joel Honeyball headed the ball away to the hosts in the 67th minute. We wouldn't touch the ball again until Marlon Kok powered Jaramillo's diving header into our net moments later.

 

Joel had arguably played a big role in Heerenveen drawing level, and he almost gifted them the advantage a couple of minutes after that. Superfriezen captain Dennis Bouwman blocked a Honeyball cross and scrambled it upfield to start a counter-attack. I feared the worst when striker Edgar van der Veen raced past Daggers full-back Vicente Gridelli and into the area, but the 16-year-old sent his shot wide.

 

Honeyball was subbed before he could inflict any more friendly fire, and I made another big attacking change with 11 minutes to go, when Mark Washington replaced Egueh. Washington was four minutes into his cameo when he met a Billy Stevenson pass with a lethal strike that easily beat goalkeeper Pim Schaafsma!

 

We were back in front, and two minutes into injury time, Mark and Billy linked up again to wrap up the win. Stevenson's deft lob found Washington, who advanced towards goal before floating the ball sweetly into the top corner!

 

Heerenveen - 1 (Kok 67)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (M Thompson 25, Washington 83,90)

Friendly, Attendance 9,130

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley (Rowe), Scheepens (Gridelli), Moser (Darvill), Kurtovic (Radosavljevic), Djuzel (Fox), Killick (Jorgensen), M Thompson (McCann), Powell (Danchev), Sverrisson (Stevenson), Curnis (Honeyball (Hernández)), Egueh (Washington).

 

Danish starlet Jonas Kjaerulff hadn't joined us on our Dutch tour... because he was heading off to Spain instead. The 17-year-old striker turned down offers from Sheffield United and Sunderland in favour of starting a year-long loan spell at Xerez, who've now been in La Liga for five straight seasons. It'll be very interesting to see if Kjaerulff can handle the pressures of playing regular top-flight football at such a tender age.

 

Meanwhile, the Daggers travelled to the eastern Dutch city of Almelo to take on the local team - Heracles Almelo. Like Heerenveen, Heracles had spent a very long time in the Eredivisie, though they were more used to finishing in the bottom half than the top.

 

19 July 2036: Heracles Almelo vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Heracles goalkeeper Hamilton Cortazar faced a couple of dangerous attacks from us early on. He tipped behind a header from Elliot Hernández in the second minute before palming away a Mark Washington free-kick four minutes later.

 

Heraclieden created their first attempt at goal in the 10th minute, but Sven Peeters' header bounced miles wide. The hosts also won a couple of corners midway through the half, though they wouldn't seriously threaten us until the 36th minute. Attacking midfielder Armand Swart looked set to find the net until Daggers keeper Kayo Rowe produced a superb fingertip save.

 

Kayo's counterpart Cortazar then saved a powerful shot from Hernández after 42 minutes. That missed opportunity concluded a first period in which we had looked surprisingly lethargic, particularly on the wings, where Dario Curnis and Shaun Powell had struggled to make their mark.

 

Switching to a narrow diamond didn't do us much good early in the second period. Washington and Hernández continued to flounder up front, and it wasn't long before Mark made way for Joel Honeyball. Joel's first shot at goal, in the 69th minute, was a dismal one from just outside the Heracles area. Four minutes later, playmaker Orlando Salvador pitifully missed the target from a long way out.

 

This match looked like heading in only one direction - towards a goalless draw. Then, with just under nine minutes left in normal time, Martin Thompson picked out Honeyball with a fantastic long-range pass to the left flank. Joel eased past Almelo's right-back Jorg Rau and cut the ball across to Robbie MacKenzie, who tucked in a simple close-range finish!

 

We were finally ahead, and we never looked like surrendering our lead thereafter. Tomo Kurtovic could've doubled our advantage in the 84th minute, but he headed wide a left-wing cross from Honeyball, who would come off just before the end with a knock.

 

Heracles Almelo - 0

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (MacKenzie 82)

Friendly, Attendance 6,119

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Rowe (Whalley), Scheepens (Pearson), Darvill (Bailey), Hutchinson (Kurtovic), Fox (Hamilton), Fraser (M Thompson), McCann (Stevenson), Powell (Salvador), Hernández (MacKenzie), Curnis (Killick), Washington (Honeyball (Egueh)). BOOKED: Fraser.

 

That made it three wins in a row, although to be fair, we hadn't been severely tested yet this pre-season. The jury was still out on the new-look Daggers.

[CFuller]

JULY 2036 (continued)

As we approached the midway point in our pre-season campaign, I announced our ninth signing of the summer. Left-winger Mirko Saric was a rising star in the Dinamo Zagreb ranks who, at the tender age of 17, had already been capped by Croatia Under-21s. We bought Mirko off Dinamo for an initial £1million, with an additional £750,000 to be paid out once he makes 30 league appearances for the Daggers.

 

Our next friendly saw us cross the border from Holland to Germany, where we faced the challenge of VfL Osnabruck. Die Lila-Weissen - or the Lily Whites - finished 7th in the 3. Liga last season.

 

22 July 2036: VfL Osnabruck vs Dagenham & Redbridge

The gap in quality was clear to see from the very start. Dagenham attacking midfielder Billy Stevenson stunned the hosts after just 19 seconds, as he dribbled at the defence and then found the top corner with a sweet strike!

 

By the fifth minute, we were TWO goals to the good! Robbie MacKenzie flicked a left-wing cross from Tristan Egueh towards goal, and Osnabruck's goalkeeping captain Max Brunner flapped at the header before turning it into his own net!

 

Brunner showed much greater composure over the next few minutes, when he prevented either Robbie or Tristan from increasing our lead to 3-0. Egueh could've scored with his next opportunity in the 9th minute, but he hit the post after latching onto a fantastic lobbed pass from Kenneth Jorgensen. We would not have to wait much longer for goal number 3. Stevenson took full advantage of a slow German defence by knocking the ball ahead of MacKenzie, whose tidy finish put us streets ahead after just 17 minutes.

 

Our fast-paced passing game was ripping Osnabruck to shreds, and it was thanks largely to Brunner that we didn't increase our advantage before half-time. The 35-year-old custodian, who'd spent most of his career in the Spanish lower leagues, blocked a vicious effort from MacKenzie in the 33rd minute and then prevented Stevenson from getting his second goal in injury time.

 

There were also a couple of narrow misses from our left-back Colin Fox, who was captaining the Daggers for the first time. Although Colin was booked late in the first half after bringing down Osnabruck striker Florian Leonhardt, he was putting forward a strong case to take the skipper's armband permanently.

 

We may have started the first half like a train, but Osnabruck began the second half even quicker! A mere 14 seconds after kick-off, Hungarian teenager Zoltán Koncz thundered in what looked like being simply a consolation goal for Die Lila-Weissen.

 

Ten minutes later, though, a surprise comeback was looking very possible. Carsten Grauer's free-kick into the Dagenham area found Xabier Etxebarria, and our reserve goalkeeper Courtney Gallagher had to acrobatically tip the Spanish centre-half's header behind. Courtney wouldn't be caught out, and neither would Brunner when Orlando Salvador attempted a long-range shot for the Daggers in the 59th minute.

 

Brunner would keep out another Salvador effort before he was replaced in the Osnabruck goal by Sabuhi Abbasov. The Azerbaijan international faced his first examination after 69 minutes. Orlando cleared a home corner and nodded the ball forward to Daggers striker Christophe Smith near the halfway line. Smith then dribbled unchallenged up the right flank and then cut the ball across to Salvador, who'd charged from box to box before volleying in our fourth goal!

 

After that, I gave 17-year-old right-back Colin Thompson his first senior appearance - and the chance to play alongside his elder brother Martin Thompson. Martin sustained a knock late in the game, though that didn't stop us from ripping Die Lila-Weissen apart. Salvador repaid Smith for his assist by setting up an easy finish for the Scotland Under-21s striker in the 87th minute.

 

Orlando would create another goal for Chris in injury-time, as Smith's late double wrapped up an emphatic 6-1 win. The town of Osnabruck in Lower Saxony had been thoroughly sacked!

 

VfL Osnabruck - 1 (Koncz 46)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 6 (Stevenson 1, Brunner og5, MacKenzie 17, Salvador 69, Smith 87,90)

Friendly, Attendance 4,397

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Rowe (Gallagher), Pearson (Gridelli), Moser (Hutchinson), Radosavljevic (C Thompson), Fox (Djuzel), Gross (Ryan), Killick (M Thompson), Jorgensen (Fraser), Stevenson (Salvador), MacKenzie (Kasongo (Cook)), Egueh (Smith). BOOKED: Fox.

 

It had been quite a while since we last scored SIX goals in a pre-season friendly. Indeed, we hadn't done it since we hit Dunstable Town for six in 2023 - at the start of my first full season with the Daggers!

 

We returned to England after completing that demolition job, and we hoped to continue our 100% start at the Kassam Stadium against Championship side Oxford United. Oxford's frontline was led by Reis Collins, who had an incredible record of scoring at least 20 goals in each of his previous 10 seasons with the U's!

 

Before that game, we received an offer from another Championship club - Leeds United - to take our new Bulgarian right-winger Milen Danchev on loan for six months. Milen hadn't even turned 16 yet, and he was nowhere near ready for regular competitive football, so I politely told Leeds to leave their hands off him for the time being.

 

26 July 2036: Oxford United vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Things got off to a disastrous start for us, as Oxford took a shock lead after just five minutes! United midfielder Eddie Hughes' bending centre into our six-yard box clipped Tomo Kurtovic and deflected behind our flummoxed goalie Kieran Whalley. Patrick Scheepens' attempted goal-line clearance came too late, and the U's were 1-0 up! Tomo looked embarrassed, but Kieran arguably should've done more to spare his colleague's blushes.

 

Mark Washington set about trying to repair the damage in the 13th minute, when he ran onto a fine lofted pass from Dario Curnis. Sadly, Mark was crowded out by Oxford's defenders and pulled his shot wide.

 

Washington would get another opportunity to level the scores on 28 minutes. Orlando Salvador played a Daggers free-kick short to Matthew Fraser, who picked out Shaun Powell on the edge of the United area. Shaun weighted the ball first-time to Mark, and the American drove in a lethal strike.

 

The U's could've regained their advantage a few minutes later, but middlemen Derek Young and Hughes and striker Reis Collins all had shots saved by Whalley. The referee then dished out three yellow cards, including one each to Fraser and Powell, before we ended the first half positively. With a bit more luck, Washington's header from a Curnis cross in the 40th minute might've deflected into the net instead of bouncing behind off the post.

 

Washington continued to cause the Oxford backline problems in the 52nd minute. Mark rounded U's centre-back Henry Smith to leave himself with just goalkeeper Shaun Molloy to beat, but it was the Irishman who prevailed. That was to be Washington's last scoring opportunity. He would be replaced with Christophe Smith midway through the half, though not before Collins and winger Ronnie Wyatt wasted chances to restore Oxford's advantage.

 

The U's would register more shots than us in this game, but they regularly let us off the hook with their profligacy. Any hope of a surprise home win was effectively extinguished when left-winger Filip Radovanovic was forced off injured shortly before the end of what proved to be a low-quality 1-1 draw. I wasn't too pleased with my team's performance, and I'd hazard a guess that my Oxford counterpart Barry Loughlan probably felt the same way.

 

Oxford United - 1 (Kurtovic og5)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Washington 28)

Friendly, Attendance 6,294

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley (Rowe), Scheepens (Moser), Darvill (Bailey), Kurtovic (Radosavljevic), Djuzel (Fox), Fraser (Jorgensen), McCann (Gross), Powell (Danchev), Salvador (Honeyball), Curnis (Saric), Washington (Smith). BOOKED: Fraser, Powell.

 

Kieran Whalley's calamitous error very early in that game had left me seriously concerned. My faith in Kieran was wavering, Denzel Gallen wouldn't be back until at least October, and Kayo Rowe wasn't ready for regular first-team action, so an experienced goalkeeper would be the next item on my shopping list.

 

After looking through the 'bargain bins' of the free agency list, I found myself a real doozy. Stephen Palacios was one of the greatest goalies of his generation, as he showed when he captained the United States to an unforgettable FIFA World Cup triumph in 2034. Palacios went on to win 152 caps for his country, and he also made 348 Premier League appearances for Tottenham Hotspur over the course of a decade.

 

Now aged 37, and with his physical fitness all but diminished, Steph was no longer the elite goalkeeper he used to be. Nevertheless, I felt that he could still serve us well for this season - at least as a backup option - and also pass on his wisdom to our younger keepers.

 

Palacios donned the Dagenham & Redbridge gloves for the first time when we went up to Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire for our next friendly. Feeder club Leighton Town had just finished 14th in their first season in League One, and they were now looking to continue pushing towards promotion to the Championship.

 

30 July 2036: Leighton Town vs Dagenham & Redbridge

We took the game to Leighton almost immediately, with attacking midfielder Billy Stevenson looking particularly lively in the opening stages. Though Billy's first shot in the third minute was blazed well off target, his next effort two minutes later did at least force Town goalkeeper Josh Milton into a save. Milton also kept out several more Dagenham attempts from the likes of Greg Killick and Elliot Hernández later on.

 

After a promising start, we then slipped back into bad habits. We would often end up shooting ambitiously from outside the penalty area, or running into a crowded Leighton defence whenever we did enter the box. The Reds launched their first counter-attack in the 31st minute, when Nicky Molland's effort was brilliantly blocked by Velimir Radosavljevic.

 

Leighton tried their luck again after 36 minutes. Bobby Cowan's free-kick delivery into our area evaded the leap of Velimir and found striker Jody Jones in acres of space. Not even a goalkeeper of Stephen Palacios' quality could deny Jones from close range. We now found ourselves 1-0 down against the men from League One.

 

To be fair, Palacios did well to prevent Leighton defender William McKay from making it 2-0 in the 38th minute. That said, I was far from a happy man come half-time.

 

A major half-time reshuffle did nothing to turn the game in our favour, as our substitutes flattered to deceive. A very promising attack saw Robbie MacKenzie flick Dave Hutchinson's right-wing cross inches past the post after 59 minutes, but that was about as good as it would get for us.

 

Four minutes later, Leighton's first-choice goalkeeper Micky Ormondroyd made a fantastic fingertip save from a vicious strike by our young Irish midfielder Daryl Ryan II. Daryl would have to wait for his first senior goal, as would Ross Pearson after Ormondroyd clutched the right-back's 68th-minute header. When Ormondroyd stopped another powerful effort from Ryan in the 78th minute, I could sense that this was perhaps not going to be our night.

 

By the full-time whistle, we'd had 22 shots at goal, including 12 that were on target. In a way, we were unfortunate to come across a Leighton defence that had played out of its skins from the first minute to the last. Having said that, we really should've had enough about us to break the Reds open and avoid what was - in my mind - a very disconcerting 1-0 defeat.

 

Leighton Town - 1 (Jones 36)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Friendly, Attendance 2,261

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Palacios (Gallagher), Gridelli (Darvill), Bailey (McCann), Radosavljevic (Kurtovic (Charles)), Scheepens (Pearson), Djuzel (Hamilton), Killick (Ryan), Hutchinson (Cook), Stevenson (Sverrisson), Hernández (MacKenzie), Honeyball (Egueh).

 

In truth, that had been coming for some time. Leighton had held us to a draw in each of our previous four meetings, and now they had finally got the better of us. I gave Reds manager Ian Wilson my warmest congratulations and then entered the dressing room to berate my underperforming stars.

 

Pre-season had started so well, but a couple of poor results against lower-league teams had brought us back to reality. We still looked very rough around the edges, and I now had real concerns about how the season proper would pan out.

[CFuller]

AUGUST 2036

Five more young Daggers were sent out on loan as we rolled into August. Left-winger Mirko Saric and striker Peguy Kasongo would each be spending the next six months in League One after completing their respective moves to Wigan Athletic and Peterborough United. Meanwhile, Courtney Gallagher - now our fifth-choice goalkeeper - was loaned to Cheltenham Town in League Two for the same amount of time.

 

Also going out on loan were centre-half Jameel Bailey and attacking midfielder Engilbert Sverrisson. They went over to the Czech Republic and joined our feeder club Ceské Budejovice for the full First League season.

 

After five consecutive away matches, we would conclude pre-season with a couple of tricky home games against strong continental opposition. First up were Portuguese big-boys Braga, who came 4th in the Primeira Liga last term. It would be an emotional afternoon for Dagenham's new attacking midfielder Orlando Salvador, who had joined us on a free transfer from 'Os Arcebispos' earlier this summer.

 

3 August 2036: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Braga

After a couple of early strikes from Dagenham frontmen Tristan Egueh and Mark Washington went wide, Braga launched their first attack in the 10th minute. André Lopes nodded an excellent ball to his strike partner Franco Virga just inside our area, but the young Italian could only half-volley it wide.

 

Things then got rather scrappy midway through the first half. Braga defender Avelino Alves was booked in the 21st minute after bringing down Washington. A minute later, a strong tackle from Daggers midfielder Greg Killick left Arcebispos winger Bryan Vincent with a dead leg. The on-loan Juventus teenager played on, but Braga would soon come under real pressure from us.

 

On 26 minutes, Egueh weighted a fantastic lob to Washington, whose header was caught by goalkeeper Igor Muta. We would go closer still to scoring in the 33rd minute, when Egueh set up a swerving strike from Neil McCann that clipped the post. Five minutes later, our holding midfielder Kenneth Jorgensen picked out a run from Washington. Mark took Kenneth's long ball past both Alves and Muta before cutting the ball into an open goal!

 

Our newly-built lead would be strengthened further in the 43rd minute, when we won a free-kick in a dangerous position. Orlando Salvador helped to send his old club 2-0 down when his set-piece delivery was nodded into the net by Braga right-back Braima Silva. Os Arcebispos were perhaps in need of some divine intervention before the second period.

 

We looked set to go 3-0 up in the 50th minute, when Egueh collected an incisive direct ball from Salvador and cut the ball across goal to Washington. Alas, Mark's half-volley went inches wide. Washington's next attempt, in the 55th minute, was a close-range header that Muta caught with ease.

 

Those missed opportunities would prove particularly significant five minutes later. One Silva might've doubled our lead earlier in proceedings, but another halved it when Portugal striker Manuel Silva tapped in a drilled centre from Virga.

 

Braga were back in the running... and by the 64th minute, they would be back level. Daggers keeper Kieran Whalley had another moment to forget when Manuel Silva intercepted his goal kick and volleyed it ahead of Virga, who went clean through and levelled the scores. I opted to sub Kieran almost straight away, but had the damage already been done?

 

Braga were beginning to look like the stronger team, so it came as welcome relief when we won a corner in the 70th minute. Washington's initial corner was cleared by the visitors' Greek centre-half Charis Karveloutsos, but he would set up another chance just moments later. Mark crossed the ball into the six-yard box, where his fellow American-born striker Elliot Hernández slid it home for 3-2! That was the Belgium international's first goal for Dagenham... but it wouldn't be the match-winner.

 

With 12 minutes remaining, Manuel Silva made a fool of our usually dependable centre-back George Darvill with some fancy footwork before playing in Virga. The 21-year-old former Empoli starlet placed his shot past Stephen Palacios, and it was 3-3. It appeared that the game had slipped away from us again.

 

Then, a little over two minutes from full-time, Dagenham left-winger Dario Curnis intercepted a pass from Manuel Silva deep in our half. A Daggers counter-attack got underway, and before long, our right-winger Shaun Powell had taken the ball into Braga's penalty area. Shaun's pass towards the six-yard box caused major panic amongst the Arcebispos defenders, and when Billy Stevenson tapped in the loose ball, we were leading once more!

 

Dave Hutchinson missed a chance to completely secure the win in injury time, but there would be no sign of a third comeback from our Portuguese visitors. We had beaten Braga in a thriller, by the odd goal in seven!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 4 (Washington 38, B Silva og43, Hernández 70, Stevenson 89)

Braga - 3 (M Silva 60, Virga 64,78)

Friendly, Attendance 11,631

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley (Palacios), Pearson (Gridelli), Moser (Darvill), Kurtovic (Radosavljevic), Fox (Djuzel), Jorgensen (Hutchinson), Killick (Hernández (Curnis)), McCann (Stevenson), Salvador (Fraser), Washington (MacKenzie), Egueh (Powell).

 

That was a rollercoaster of emotions, wasn't it? By the end of it, we had managed to record a famous victory over one of Portugal's biggest clubs.

 

Another massive test would lie ahead in our final friendly, which was at home to Sevilla. It had been nearly a decade since 'Los Nervionenses' had last qualified for the UEFA Champions League, but they remained one of the stronger teams in La Liga. Their manager was the much-travelled former Spain goalkeeper Víctor Valdés.

 

9 August 2036: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Sevilla

Compared to the mayhem of what had happened a week earlier against Braga, this match was a rather more pedestrian affair. After defending a couple of early Sevilla corners, it took us 16 minutes to launch our first assault on the Spanish giants. Billy Stevenson couldn't replicate his match-winning heroics from that last game, as he hit a wayward shot from 20 yards. Fellow midfielder Matthew Fraser also had a shot from outside the area a minute later, though did at least force goalkeeper Javi Aira into a save.

 

After 22 minutes, left-winger Dario Curnis attempted to cut the ball across to Tristan Egueh in Sevilla's box. Unfortunately, Sevillistas skipper Daniel Gomes managed to knock the centre away just before Tristan could tap it in. We carried on attacking for a while longer before Stevenson swerved another long-ranger just over. Gomes' Portuguese compatriot Marco Duarte twice went close to putting Sevilla ahead either side of that Daggers attack.

 

The visitors would test us a bit more as the half wore on, and they would finally go ahead on the stroke of half-time. Duarte played a killer pass to the highly-rated 20-year-old striker Iván Canedo, who slotted the ball beyond Stephen Palacios at his near post.

 

The early stages of the second half saw a host of misses from the Daggers. The first came after 50 minutes, when Fraser's corner was nodded just over by Velimir Radosavljevic. Dagenham stalwart Joel Honeyball then sent a couple of attempts narrowly wide before the half-hour mark. Once we passed the 60th minute, though, our attack lost all its steam, as Sevilla tightened up at the back and keep us quiet.

 

The visitors later had several opportunities to bolster their slender advantage, but all of them went wide. One close-range header from Canedo in the 62nd minute was a particularly glaring miss. Los Nervionenses wouldn't get as close to scoring again, as Velimir and co performed brilliantly to keep our deficit down.

 

By full-time, the two sides had only mustered one shot on target apiece. Although Sevilla had made their big opportunity count and we hadn't, I couldn't criticise my charges for a lack of effort against what was a very strong team.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Sevilla - 1 (Canedo 45)

Friendly, Attendance 12,321

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Palacios (Whalley), Pearson (Scheepens), Darvill (Anderson), Radosavljevic (Kurtovic), Fox (Djuzel), Jorgensen (Salvador), Fraser (Hutchinson), Powell (Cook), Stevenson (Honeyball), Curnis (Killick), Egueh (Smith). BOOKED: Killick.

 

We had conceded four goals in each of our previous two matches against Spanish opposition. Letting in only one goal versus Sevilla felt like a step in the right direction - and you could say that about our pre-season as a whole. Five wins, two defeats and one draw wasn't a bad record when all had been said and done.

 

Realistically, we weren't going to win the Premier League, as our title odds of 1,000-1 suggested. Most bookmakers had us down to finish in mid-table again, and I saw no reason to argue with them. (If you really want to know, Manchester City were rated as Evens favourites to win the title, followed by holders Manchester United at 5-2 and Arsenal at 5-3.)

 

With the start of the season almost upon us, it was now time to name Dagenham & Redbridge's new captain. Colin Fox, Stephen Palacios, Mark Washington and Kieran Whalley had all donned the armband at various points over the previous few weeks, and all four men would've made terrific leaders. This was the toughest decision I had ever taken when it came to appointing a captain.

 

In the end, I decided that Washington would be our new skipper. The 24-year-old American striker was undoubtedly one of our most talented players, and he also had one of the most vocal and passionate personalities in the dressing room. Whalley retained the vice-captaincy, despite his rather shaky pre-season form, while Fox and Palacios would be the next two in line to lead the team if required.

 

Washington and Fox then left us temporarily, along with several other players, to play in midweek internationals. We had 18 players out on international duty - yep, I counted them all! I won't name every single player individually, but there were a few that perhaps deserved a mention.

 

Velimir Radosavljevic scored his first goal for Serbia, although the 'Orlovi' went on to lose 2-1 in Cyprus. Ante Djuzel received a second Croatia cap, but neither he nor Tomo Kurtovic could prevent their county from being thrashed 3-0 by Australia. Meanwhile, the Aussies' Under-21s side were on the receiving end of a 3-0 beating by an England team that included three young Daggers - Tristan Egueh, Dave Hutchinson, and debutant Kayo Rowe.

 

John Moser was among those who stayed behind, but he wouldn't be hanging about for much longer. The Frenchman was in the final year of his contract, and I felt he hadn't done enough to justify a new deal, so I put him up for sale.

 

Brighton & Hove Albion and Coventry City each put in very attractive offers, so it was now up to the player to decide where he would go next. Brighton offered John the prospect of regular Premier League action, but Coventry offered him over £40,000 per week and a starring role in their pursuit of promotion from the Championship.

 

Moser soon made his mind up, completing a £4.5million move to Coventry two days before our season was due to begin. Mind you, even though he would earn more at the Ricoh Arena than he would've done had he joined Brighton or even stayed with us, the 22-year-old was far from happy about the circumstances of his move.

 

"I never wanted to leave Dagenham," he told Sky Sports. "I gave them five years and was happy to stay, but Fuller was only interested in making a profit on me before my contract ran out. He treated me like a commodity, not like a human. I have no respect for him at all now."

 

What an ungrateful so-and-so, I thought. If that's how John sees me after I brought him over to England and turned him into the player he is now, then good riddance to him. We don't need his like around here.

[CFuller]

Dagenham & Redbridge squad - Start of 2036/2037 season

(All information correct as of 1 August 2036)

GOALKEEPERS

1. Kieran Whalley (age 25)

English [capped at Under-19s level]

Vice-captain Kieran has been a fairly reliable presence in goal for the best part of the last seven years. The agile Mancunian does have hairy moments every now and then, but which goalkeeper doesn't?

13. Stephen Palacios (age 37)

American [152 caps, 0 goals]

FIFA World Cup winner Stephen is an iconic goalie whose experience will be invaluable when needed.

23. Denzel Gallen (age 19)

English [capped at Under-21s level]

On loan from West Ham United, Denzel could emerge as our first-choice keeper once he returns from injury.

DEFENDERS

2. Patrick Scheepens (age 26)

Dutch [capped at Under-21s level]

Patrick had an up-and-down first half-season with us but now appears to have settled into life at Rainham Road. This energetic right-back is always switched on and very rarely runs out of steam.

3. Ante Djuzel (age 21)

Croatian [1 cap, 0 goals]

Left-back Ante certainly has bags of talent, but question marks remain over his tactical awareness.

6. George Darvill (age 23)

English [capped at Under-21s level]

George really is the 'local boy done good' at Dagenham. The covering centre-half seldom has a poor game and has been voted Fans' Player of the Year three times since breaking into the team as a 15-year-old.

16. Velimir Radosavljevic (age 23)

Serbian [11 caps, 0 goals]

I really do like having Velimir in the team - he's professional, intelligent, and also a fantastic man-marker. If this brilliant centre-back does have a weakness, it's that he can sometimes be slow out of the blocks.

19. Tomo Kurtovic (age 24)

Croatian [21 caps, 1 goal]

Tomo shows that it doesn't hurt to have some aggression in the centre of your defence. This resilient powerhouse had an excellent first season with us and could end up as Dagenham's captain in a few years.

24. Colin Fox (age 32)

Scottish [89 caps, 1 goal]

Left-back was an obvious weakness for us last term, but Colin fits that role like a glove. With his experience, work rate and crossing abilities, he could serve us very well over the next couple of seasons.

25. Ross Pearson (age 20)

English [capped at Under-20s level]

Right-back Ross can expect to see plenty of first-team action with us over the coming months.

33. Vicente Gridelli (age 18)

Argentinean [capped at Under-20s level]

Vicente is a well-rounded and versatile youngster who will surely grow into a fantastic defender.

MIDFIELDERS

4. Kenneth Jorgensen (age 23)

Danish [19 caps, 1 goal]

£9million was a lot to pay for Kenneth, but his talent and potential justifies that outlay. He has the defensive skills to play in a holding midfield role, as well as the direct passing ability required of a deep-lying playmaker.

7. Shaun Powell (age 23)

Welsh [7 caps, 0 goals]

Shaun is back in a Daggers jersey after two seasons on loan elsewhere. The jet-heeled right-winger showed signs in pre-season that he could replicate his impressive form from his previous campaign with Derby County.

8. Billy Stevenson (age 24)

English [capped at Under-21s level]

Billy is an unpredictable attacking midfield playmaker who can give defenders nightmares. Few can handle this athletic and technically-gifted magician when he's on the hunt for goals or assists.

11. Dario Curnis (age 22)

Italian [capped at Under-21s level]

Dynamic Dario joined us on a season-long loan from AC Milan to fill a potential gap on the left wing.

12. Neil McCann (age 21)

English [capped at Under-19s level]

Neil is a decent backup option for whenever I need a box-to-box midfielder or someone to hold the fort.

14. Matthew Fraser (age 29)

Scottish [21 caps, 2 goals]

Matthew is now in his 'testimonial year', having made 308 league appearances in a decade with the Daggers. Though he remains an exceptional playmaker, his role might be gradually reduced from now on.

17. Greg Killick (age 24)

English [capped at Under-21s level]

Greg is a strong, no-frills defensive midfielder, and a player that I expect to really kick on very soon. His passing ability is as good as anyone's at Rainham Road, and he also wins more than his fair share of tackles.

18. Dave Hutchinson (age 21)

English [capped at Under-21s level]

Dave returns to the Daggers first-team this season as a rotation midfielder or covering defender.

21. Orlando Salvador (age 19)

Portuguese [capped at Under-21s level]

With his creativity and huge potential, Orlando could blossom into one of my best ever free signings.

28. Martin Thompson (age 20)

English [capped at Under-21s level]

Highly-rated midfielder Martin has gone back on loan this season - to Crewe Alexandra in the Championship.

FORWARDS

9. Mark Washington (age 24)

American [5 caps, 1 goal]

Mark started last season very strongly before he tailed off badly. Now that he's been appointed captain, I'm hoping that this fast-paced poacher will start banging in the goals on a consistent and sustained basis.

10. Robbie MacKenzie (age 27)

Scottish [4 caps, 4 goals]

Robbie shouldn't be a Premier League goalscorer, but this target man is better than the sum of his parts. The 6ft 7in man mountain will hope to hit his top form again soon and earn a new contract with us.

15. Joel Honeyball (age 28)

English

Joel is perhaps not cut out for the PL, but I'll still throw our longest-serving player on every now and then.

22. Elliot Hernández (age 28)

Belgian [2 caps, 0 goals]

California-born Belgium international Elliot was brought in to be our main support striker. He has the enormous physical presence of a target man and will mostly play in a deep-lying role.

26. Tristan Egueh (age 20)

English [capped at Under-21s level]

Tristan scored four PL goals last term, but there's lots more to come from this very skilful wonderkid.

 

RESERVE & YOUTH PLAYERS

Goalkeepers: Kieron Dunlop, Courtney Gallagher (on loan at Cheltenham Town), Alex Lund, Kayo Rowe

Defenders: Roy Anderson, Jameel Bailey (on loan at Ceské Budejovice), Bradley Charles, Mathew Davies, Keith Hamilton, Liam Hamsher, Kevin Hawes, Lassina Sanou, Wayne Seburn, Axel Svonne, Colin Thompson

Midfielders: Lee Allen (on loan at Swansea City), Milen Danchev, André Gross, Neal Jacobs, Niall Nash, Tommy Russell, Daryl Ryan II, Mirko Saric (on loan at Wigan Athletic), Kirtys Sterry, Engilbert Sverrisson (on loan at Ceské Budejovice), Kyriakos Thymiopoulos

Forwards: Ollie Brothers, Elliot Cook, Toby Faithfull (on loan at Newcastle United), Djibril Ibrahim, Peguy Kasongo (on loan at Peterborough United), Jonas Kjaerulff (on loan at Xerez), Jay Lewis, Ngalim Ould Mafoud, Christophe Smith

 

BACKROOM STAFF

Manager: Christopher Fuller

Assistant Manager: Fabio Saraiva

Coaches: Henry Cleminson, Jamie Cochrane, Richaee Derby, Daniel Poustka, Matt Warren, Marco Verratti

Fitness Coaches: Andy Boles, David Wheater

Goalkeeping Coaches: Scott Carson, Andy Lonergan

Physios: Adam Hutchings (head), Andrew Marks

Scouts: Callum Donnelly (chief), George Green, Chris Lewington, Dylan McGeouch, Kevin Mensah, Thierry Monteny, Antonino Pirozzi, Nicky Reynolds, Roscoe Young

 

Reserves Manager: Sean O'Callaghan

 

Head of Youth Development: George Elokobi

Under-18s Manager: Tom Ince

Under-18s Assistant Manager: Aaron McEwan

Under-18s Coaches: Mario Djokic, James Dunne, Joseph Yoffe

Under-18s Goalkeeping Coach: Tunde Shoretire

[CFuller]

And the depth chart...

GK: Whalley / Gallen / Palacios / Rowe

D/WB L: Fox / Djuzel / Radosavljevic
D C: Darvill / Kurtovic / Radosavljevic / Gridelli / Hutchinson
D/WB R: Scheepens / Pearson / Gridelli

DM C: Jorgensen / Killick / McCann / Hutchinson

M/AM L: Curnis / Fox / Honeyball / Salvador
M C: Jorgensen / Fraser / Killick / Hutchinson / McCann / Gross
M/AM R: Powell / Hernández / Scheepens / Danchev

AM C: Stevenson / Salvador / Powell / Washington

F C (strikers): Washington / Egueh / Smith / Honeyball
F C (centre-forwards): Hernández / MacKenzie

[CFuller]

AUGUST 2036 (continued)

Even though it was merely the opening day of the 2036/2037 Premier League season, our home match against Ipswich Town already felt like a must-win encounter. Failure to beat the side who won promotion via the Championship play-offs last term would not look good for a team with top-half aspirations.

 

This was Ipswich's first match in the top flight since 2002, when their current manager James Marshall was only four years old. None of his players - not even captain and club-record goalscorer Luke Boot - had yet been born back then! You could say that the tractor-loving, Ed Sheeran-listening folk of Suffolk had waited a long time for this moment.

 

16 August 2036: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Ipswich Town

Ipswich were a bit of a bogey team for us when we were in League One and later the Championship. They tried to upset us again when strikers Giannos Sotiriou and Luke Boot unleashed a shot apiece in the first 10 minutes. Both of those efforts went well wide.

 

Sotiriou created a better opportunity for the Tractor Boys on 14 minutes. The Cypriot tackled the ball off Daggers left-back Colin Fox in our area, and Simon Hazel crossed it towards Boot on the edge of the six-yard box. George Darvill's brave interception only knocked the cross towards Sotiriou, whose close-range strike was parried by Kieran Whalley.

 

Hazel then flicked a header over the bar in the 17th minute, and the home fans were soon becoming noticeably concerned. Although Ipswich wouldn't get quite so close to opening the scoring in the latter part of the first period, we were even less threatening at their end. Our best chance to strike came from a 42nd-minute Mark Washington free-kick that Tomo Kurtovic flicked wide. The scores remained goalless at the interval, but we were looking more like the Premier League rookies than our East Anglian visitors.

 

I switched things up for the second half, ditching the diamond in favour of a more direct 3-5-2. Ross Pearson and Velimir Radosavljevic came off the bench as replacements for Patrick Scheepens, who had been booked very early in this game, and league debutant Kenneth Jorgensen.

 

Our more attacking approach started to work in the first minute after the restart. Playmaker Billy Stevenson squared the ball to Elliot Hernández in the Ipswich 'D', and the Belgian target man unleashed a vicious effort that Town goalie Joshua Regan did brilliantly to parry. Stevenson then sent a shot over the bar before the Tractor Boys went on the attack in the 56th minute. Our defenders gave substitute Ben Warburton plenty of space to dribble into, but Whalley made light work of a tame shot from the former Leeds United midfielder.

 

Two minutes later, our own Yorkshire terrier showed his teeth. Stevo played a pinpoint pass to Washington, who advanced into the penalty area and forced the visiting defenders to push towards him. When an unmarked Billy made a run into the box, Mark slotted the ball towards his team-mate, who finished with ease.

 

With that opening goal, the match turned inexorably in our favour. When Ipswich right-back Matheus hooked an awful clearance to Daggers midfielder Greg Killick in the 68th minute, Greg sensed an opportunity to set up our captain for goal number two. Although Washington's drive was pushed behind by Regan, the American was just getting warmed up.

 

Mark's moment would come in the 87th minute, four minutes after Warburton had wasted a chance to draw Ipswich level. We probed the ball around the Tractor Boys' half before Killick passed it short to Washington, who dribbled past a lame tackle from defender Moses Langton before killing the game off with a cool finish! Though Stevenson later missed a couple of chances to make it 3-0, I was happy to start the season with a 2-0 win.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Stevenson 58, Washington 87)

Ipswich Town - 0

Premier League, Attendance 16,520 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 3rd, Ipswich 16th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Scheepens (Pearson), Darvill, Kurtovic, Fox, Jorgensen (Radosavljevic), Killick, Fraser, Stevenson, Hernández (MacKenzie), Washington. BOOKED: Scheepens, Stevenson.

 

Only two teams - Burnley and Manchester United - had recorded bigger wins than us on the opening weekend, so we kicked off the season in 3rd place. I would be very pleased, not to mention surprised, if we were still there or thereabouts come May.

 

A few days later, I completed my eighth permanent signing of the summer. Unlike the previous seven, the new recruit in question was an Englishman.

 

We beat three other British clubs - Aberdeen, Burnley and Hamilton Academical - to the signing of England Under-19s left-back Carl Pratt from Benfica. The 19-year-old cost us only £100,000 and has the potential to be another bargain buy for the Daggers.

 

Pratt was born in Harrogate - coincidentally, the same North Yorkshire town that Billy Stevenson grew up in - but his family moved to Portugal when he was 12. Carl later joined Benfica's youth academy, and he broke into their B team two years ago. He also made one appearance for the Águias' senior team - in a Taca da Liga Semi Final win over Feirense last season.

 

Pratt was very much one for the future, but my sights were now firmly on the present - and a daunting trip to Stamford Bridge. We had never beaten Chelsea on their own patch, but the Blues looked more vulnerable than previously, having kicked off the season with a tame 1-1 draw at Southampton.

 

23 August 2036: Chelsea vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Chelsea fired a warning shot in the very first minute, when Alun Harding sent the ball high and wide from distance. Four minutes later, Harding tried to latch onto Blues winger Manuel Paiva's centre into our six-yard box. Daggers defender George Darvill got a tackle in, but Chelsea's main man Gianni Improta pounced on the loose ball and slipped it into the corner of the net.

 

The ex-champions had gone 1-0 up, and they would find the net again after seven minutes later. Harding headed Kim Byung-Ki's corner goalwards, and Bart Abels flicked it home from close range. However, the Dutch centre-back was adjudged to have fouled our goalkeeper Kieran Whalley in the process, and so the goal was ruled out. That was a big call by the referee, who would book Darvill shortly afterwards for an unfair challenge on Improta.

 

The Blues continued to dominate the first half, racking up countless corners and putting our defence under constant pressure. Whalley held up well in goal for us, as he made a couple of fantastic fingertip saves from Almir Murtic and Paiva in the 17th and 19th minutes. Left-back Colin Fox also deserved credit for clearing a Paiva header off the line on 20 minutes. Eight minutes after that, the Blues' Welsh duo of Carl Reynolds and Harding linked up in a dangerous attack that ended with the latter forcing Whalley into another difficult save.

 

I soon figured out why Chelsea were being allowed to run riot; we were giving the ball away too often with too many stray long passes. I ordered my players to shorten their passing, and our performance improved to such an extent that winger Shaun Powell won us a corner off Blues left-back Libor Mach about five minutes from time. Mark Washington curled the corner to the near post, and Tomo Kurtovic headed it in to draw us level against the run of play!

 

Chelsea's frustration of losing a lead that had looked quite comfortable would become apparent about 20 seconds into the second half. Kim tried to pass the ball back to Sébastien Etoundi, unaware that Washington was behind the centre-half and ready to sneakily nick possession off him. Etoundi battled in vain to keep the ball, and within moments, Mark had driven us into an improbable 2-1 lead!

 

Chelsea boss Lee Nicholls looked apoplectic on the touchline, and his mood didn't improve when his skipper Murtic was booked for impeding Powell in the 51st minute. Three minutes after that, substitute midfielder Eric Asare pulled his hamstring. Asare played through the pain, but his game clearly suffered. A missed interception from Asare in the 60th minute allowed Powell to find Billy Stevenson with a swerving centre to the edge of the Blues' penalty area. Stevo's shot was a poor one, though, and Chelsea goalkeeper Mark Thomas caught it easily.

 

Thomas also managed to stop Dario Curnis from doubling our lead on 74 minutes, and a mini-scramble ensued before Abels eventually hacked the ball into touch. That clearance would prove vital for the hosts. In the 79th minute, Murtic played a long ball into our box, hoping to find Maximiliano Fernández on the left flank. Dagenham right-back Ross Pearson got his head to it... but he flicked it ominously into the path of Improta, who erased our lead with an easy half-volley past Whalley!

 

Ross could only hang his head in shame after potentially costing us two points, if not all three. The latter almost came to pass in the 81st minute. Whalley had to push away an audacious shot from Asare before the subsequent corner from Fernández was nodded just over by Abels.

 

Then, on 89 minutes, it was Kenneth Jorgensen's turn to lose possession softly for Dagenham. Egyptian midfielder Khaled Fahim closed in on the Dane's not-so-great pass, and the ball was moved forward via Murtic to Improta, whose dipping shot came within inches of securing his hat-trick. I was so relieved when the final whistle blew with the match still level at 2-2. Considering how bravely we had defended throughout large parts of this match, anything less than a draw would've been heartbreaking.

 

Chelsea - 2 (Improta 5,79)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Kurtovic 41, Washington 46)

Premier League, Attendance 43,000 - POSITIONS: Chelsea 11th, Dag & Red 5th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Pearson (Scheepens), Darvill, Kurtovic, Fox, Jorgensen, Killick (McCann), Powell, Stevenson (Salvador), Curnis, Washington. BOOKED: Darvill.

 

But for that horrendous error by Ross Pearson, we would've moved up into 2nd place. I wasn't going to be too harsh on the 20-year-old right-back, though. Mistakes can happen with younger players, and he'll learn from this.

 

Anyway, I was still glad to take a point away from Stamford Bridge. If you'd offered me a draw before kick-off, I would've happily accepted it, no questions asked.

 

This was the Daggers' third Premier League season, and it was the first time that we'd not lost in either of our first two matches, so that was something else to be pleased about.

[CFuller]

AUGUST 2036 (continued)

Our League Cup form over recent years had been straight-up abysmal. The last time we had won a match in that competition was in 2031, when we defeated AFC Telford United in Round 2. Since then, we had been knocked out at the first hurdle by lower-league teams for four seasons on the trot.

 

Bristol Rovers, AFC Wimbledon, Sheffield Wednesday and Exeter City had all previously defied the odds and crushed our hopes of a lengthy cup run. Now Bradford City were hoping to follow in their footsteps.

 

We could've had more difficult tests in Round 2 than being pitted against the Bantams on home soil... but our opponents were in red-hot form by the time they arrived at Rainham Road. Bradford were 4th in the Championship after winning four of their opening six games, so they were not to be taken lightly. Leaving out my star players and fielding a second-string line-up against them was just asking for another 'cupset'... or was it?

 

26 August 2036: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Bradford City

This match didn't start too well for us, as left-back Ante Djuzel gave away a free-kick for tripping Bradford's Jaroslav Krejci shortly after kick-off. Ante then compounded that mistake with a poor clearance from Gerry Connolly's free-kick. Had Stephen Palacios not caught the resulting header from Bantams defender Stefan Courts, we could well have found ourselves in trouble.

 

Djuzel was a relieved man, and in the fourth minute, his cross into the City box set up a great chance that Elliot Hernández flicked just wide. Elliot would get another bite at the cherry after nine minutes, but Bob Proctor produced a fine save to push away the Belgian's swerving effort.

 

Two minutes after that, my worst fears about this match started to come true. Our defenders had left Bradford striker Vaclav Vlcek in too much space in our area, and when Bantams captain Connolly threaded the ball through to the Czech youngster, the outcome was inevitable. 1-0 to the minnows.

 

Going behind really shook our players - Orlando Salvador especially - into life. Although our young Portuguese playmaker drove a shot over the bar in the 17th minute, his next two efforts both had to be saved by Proctor. Bradford's Geordie goalie also saw off another ambitious long-distance strike from Hernández after 32 minutes.

 

In the 38th minute, disaster almost struck for us again. Palacios' long free-kick was headed back into our area by Greg Shenton, and Vlcek then outmuscled Daggers defender Dave Hutchinson to leave himself one-on-one with our goalkeeping captain. Steph thankfully made an assured catch, but his counterpart Proctor saved a stunning Salvador half-volley in injury time to keep us on the brink of another early cup exit.

 

Before the second half began, I threw on a couple of wingers as replacements for Hernández and Vicente Gridelli. Hutchinson was another player that I'd considered substituting, but by the 50th minute, I was awfully glad I'd kept him on. Velimir Radosavljevic's header from a Fraser corner was blocked by Vlcek, but Hutch thundered in the rebound to level the match!

 

The tie could've been completely turned around in the 60th minute, when one of my subs went close to drawing us level. Joel Honeyball cut inside from the left before sending his shot inches wide. Proctor restarted play with a long goal kick, which Bradford midfielder Vinny Ardley flicked into Vlcek's path. The on-loan AC Milan forward then picked out Bantams stalwart Owen Hillier on the edge of our penalty area. Hillier struck the ball as powerfully as anything... and his shot ricocheted off the crossbar before Velimir knocked it behind the touchline.

 

Four minutes after that stroke of luck, we launched a counter-attack that ripped City apart. Salvador fed the ball to Tristan Egueh, who dribbled through a gap in the Bradford backline and drilled the ball into the bottom corner!

 

At 2-1 up, we were now ready to kill our opponents off. Right-winger Shaun Powell could've done that on 75 minutes, but Proctor parried the Welshman's shot before ex-Daggers defender Lee Heffernan cleared the danger. Heff had a reputation for being overly aggressive on occasion, and he would lose his cool again in the 77th minute.

 

As his central defensive partner Shenton cleared away a header from Salvador, Heffernan inexplicably shoved Orlando over in the penalty area. The referee almost instantly pointed to the spot, and Matthew Fraser stepped up to take his first penalty since missing two in one game against Burnley a couple of seasons ago. Matthew's spot-kick demons did not resurface here, as a powerful strike from the Scot sent us 3-1 up!

 

Fraser almost created what would've been our fourth goal in the 83rd minute, but Hutch headed just over after rising above Heff to meet his team-mate's corner delivery. Hillier then gave us a couple of scares at our end before we finally secured a first League Cup victory in five years!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (Hutchinson 50, Egueh 65, Fraser pen78)

Bradford City - 1 (Vlcek 11)

League Cup Round 2, Attendance 6,577

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Palacios, Gridelli (Powell), Hutchinson, Radosavljevic, Scheepens, Djuzel (Pratt), McCann, Fraser, Salvador, Hernández (Honeyball), Egueh. BOOKED: Powell.

 

Our reward for getting into Round 3 was another home tie... but we really couldn't afford to leave our best players out of this one. We had been paired with Manchester City, which for us was akin to a death sentence. Ah well, it was good while it lasted...

 

We remained at Rainham Road for our next Premier League game against West Bromwich Albion. The Baggies, who finished 16th last term, had started this campaign with a loss at West Ham United, followed by a last-gasp 3-2 win at home to Southampton.

 

30 August 2036: Dagenham & Redbridge vs West Bromwich Albion

The game was barely a minute old when Billy Stevenson sent our first shot woefully wide, albeit from a very long way out. West Brom's first attacks also left plenty to be desired, as Miljan Todorovic's header in the 8th minute was easily cleared by Dagenham centre-half Tomo Kurtovic.

 

Seven minutes after that, our passing game really came together beautifully. I counted 10 successive passes between Kurtovic playing a free-kick and him hoisting a long ball towards Mark Washington deep in Albion's half. Mark advanced into the penalty area and then knocked the ball through space to Robbie MacKenzie, who never looked like missing from point-blank range.

 

After putting us ahead, Robbie tried to return the favour to Washington in the 21st minute. Unfortunately, our captain's excellent low drive was met by a strong catch from West Brom goalie Matsipa Mulonzo.

 

Daggers midfielder Greg Killick, who was booked after 29 minutes for tripping Baggies counterpart Dino Lord, would also have a couple of efforts saved by Mulonzo later in the half. The South African shotstopper then brilliantly tipped behind a MacKenzie header in the 44th minute of what had been an incredibly one-sided first half. Goodness knew how we were only leading 1-0 at the break!

 

MacKenzie went within inches of doubling his and our tally after 48 minutes, when his free-kick swerved just past Mulonzo's right-hand post. That free-kick had come about after West Brom's Zeljko Novak had tripped our left-back Colin Fox, and another foul on Colin soon afterwards would see the Slovenian winger receive a yellow card.

 

Both teams continued to literally battle through this match, with Albion midfielder Alan Hare coming off briefly after being injured in a 55th-minute tackle from Matthew Fraser. We then started playing some football again, with Washington and Fraser each threatening to put us 2-0 up via headers that went wide.

 

Our next shot on target wouldn't come until the 74th minute, when Mulonzo parried a Stevenson rocket. By that point, I had already brought Dave Hutchinson and Elliot Hernández off the bench to give them some Premier League gametime. I used up my final substitution in the 84th minute, with teenage right-back Vicente Gridelli coming on for Patrick Scheepens.

 

Vicente had only just entered the field when he played a suicidal back-pass that Albion left-winger Luis Sevilla knocked away from George Darvill's feet and towards those of his colleague Stephen Walsh. Kieran Whalley had to come off his line to close Walsh's shot down, spare Gridelli's blushes, and keep us in the lead!

 

Things got worse for Vicente when our Argentine rookie tripped Sevilla in the 89th minute and earned himself a booking. However, Gridelli's biggest mistake would come in injury time, when he left Sevilla unmarked as Walsh drilled the ball across our penalty area. The Colombian volleyed it past Kieran, and three Dagenham points were reduced to one. Damn.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (MacKenzie 15)

West Bromwich Albion - 1 (Sevilla 90)

Premier League, Attendance 16,963 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 7th, West Brom 11th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Scheepens (Gridelli), Darvill, Kurtovic, Fox, Jorgensen, Killick (Hutchinson), Fraser, Stevenson, MacKenzie (Hernández), Washington. BOOKED: Killick, Gridelli.

 

Another precious win had gone begging late on, and Luis Sevilla's injury-time leveller for West Brom was especially gut-wrenching, as victory here would've sent us to the top of the table. At least we would keep hold of our unbeaten record for another fortnight.

 

Transfer deadline day was a quiet one for us, though not where goalkeeper Courtney Gallagher was concerned. I recalled him from his loan spell at Cheltenham Town, as he wasn't getting any gametime at the League Two club. I then sent him off to a League One team - Scunthorpe United - until the end of the season.

[CFuller]

SEPTEMBER 2036

This season had started well for us, but another Dagger who looked sharp in August was Martin Thompson. The midfielder's performances out on loan at Crewe Alexandra were deemed good enough to earn him the Championship's Young Player of the Month award.

 

We now had some respite from competitive action as another international break got underway. Several Dagenham players added to their hauls of senior caps, including Shaun Powell, who won his 10th for Wales in a narrow defeat against European champions England. Meanwhile, Mark Washington continued his red-hot form by scoring in a couple of FIFA World Cup qualifying matches for the United States.

 

At Under-21s levels, strikers Tristan Egueh and Toby Faithfull scored twice apiece for England in an emphatic 5-0 win over Northern Ireland. Tristan would then find the net again in Belgium, improving his England Under-21s record to seven goals in just eight appearances.

 

Sadly, Carl Pratt didn't have such a great time with England's Under-19s. Our new left-back signing sustained a damaged kneecap in Slovenia and was likely to miss the next three weeks at least. Orlando Salvador also hurt himself, gashing his head whilst on international duty with Portugal Under-21s, though the attacking midfielder would quickly recover.

 

Next up for us were a couple of away Premier League games against newly-promoted sides. Before travelling to the south coast to play Brighton & Hove Albion, we were off to the north-west - for a meeting with Blackburn Rovers.

 

This was the first time we had played Blackburn since the 2034 Championship Play-Off Final, which we famously won 1-0 after a late goal from the now-departed Stipo Brkic. Rovers took a couple of years to recover from that before returning to the top flight as Championship runners-up behind Brighton. They had since started off their latest Premier League adventure with a defeat and a couple of draws.

 

13 September 2036: Blackburn Rovers vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Worryingly, the malaise that had struck our younger right-backs earlier in the season almost claimed Patrick Scheepens after just 90 seconds. Patrick was tackled off the ball deep in our half by Blackburn midfielder Declan Facey, and the on-loan Manchester United teenager unleashed a vicious shot that Kieran Whalley had to push wide.

 

Brazilian left-winger Souza then missed a couple of attempts for Blackburn before the hosts created their best chance in the 12th minute. After Daggers defender George Darvill was booked for fouling Rovers striker Tim Higginbotham, Souza played the resulting free-kick into our area. Colin Fox's headed clearance bounced towards home defender Peter Adam, who unleashed a stunning half-volley. Had Kieran not shown great reactions to tip Adam's effort away, we would've been 1-0 down.

 

Whalley saved us again in the 25th minute by keeping out another strong attempt from Facey, who had been controversially booked a couple of minutes later. Rovers had wasted several opportunities to go ahead, and it wouldn't be long before Facey and co faced the music.

 

Dagenham midfielder Kenneth Jorgensen nodded a poor Facey clearance into the path of Dario Curnis, who took the ball inside from the left and then weighted it ahead of Greg Killick. The midfield aggressor volleyed it beyond Blackburn goalie Jordan Shields, putting us ahead with just his second goal for the Daggers!

 

Shields narrowly denied Daggers captain Mark Washington the chance to score our second goal just before half-time. However, there was little doubt that we were now in control of this match.

 

Blackburn tried to clear away a corner from Washington after 48 minutes, but the American would quickly return to haunt them. Mark found George with a first-time cross, and the defender duly headed us into a two-goal lead!

 

Rovers needed to hit back as soon as possible if they were to stop us from strolling to victory. Souza sensed his moment when he jinked past Scheepens in the 61st minute, but his shot drifted well over the bar.

 

Three minutes later, some messy home defending allowed us to stretch our lead further. Rovers midfielder Mark Goodacre won the ball with a tackle on our playmaker Billy Stevenson, but he could only knock it into his own penalty area. Daggers winger Shaun Powell swerved past a slide tackle from Hicham Martin to take the ball into the area and cut it goalwards. Although Shaun's low drive clipped the post, Mark buried the rebound, and we were 3-0 up!

 

There was now no way back for Blackburn. Centre-back Jacky Besnard did find our net from Souza's free-kick in the 80th minute, but the Frenchman was flagged offside, and we held onto our clean sheet as well as the victory.

 

Blackburn Rovers - 0

Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (Killick 38, Darvill 48, Washington 64)

Premier League, Attendance 16,918 - POSITIONS: Blackburn 17th, Dag & Red 4th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Scheepens, Kurtovic, Darvill, Fox (Djuzel), Killick, Jorgensen (Fraser), Powell, Stevenson, Curnis, Washington (Egueh). BOOKED: Darvill, Kurtovic.

 

We were still going great guns, but an injury to our main left-back Colin Fox in midweek threatened to derail us. Colin would be out for at least a week with a strained wrist, and so enigmatic youngster Ante Djuzel would have to deputise for him for the next few games.

 

Djuzel and teenage playmaker Orlando Salvador made their first league starts of the season when we took on Brighton & Hove Albion at the AMEX Stadium. The Championship champions had mustered just one point from four games since returning to the top division.

 

20 September 2036: Brighton & Hove Albion vs Dagenham & Redbridge

George Darvill was unlucky not to score for us in the first eight minutes, as he flicked a couple of Mark Washington corners wide. Shortly after Darvill's latter miss, Zema Hilton pulled wide Brighton's first opportunity to move ahead. Hilton's midfield colleagues David Jovanovic and Andreas Klok would also miss chances for the hosts early on.

 

Then, in the 19th minute, Dagenham captain Mark Washington received an excellent direct pass from Kenneth Jorgensen. Washington ran into space and got to the edge of the six-yard box before pulling the trigger... and hitting the post.

 

Mark would face further agony a minute later, when Seagulls goalie Pat Fehmi pushed the ball from his feet just before he could drill Dario Curnis' cross into the net. Brighton countered quickly, as captain Leo Veenboer picked out Carmine Fabris with a dangerous weighted ball that the Swiss striker nodded goalwards. Fortunately, Kieran Whalley was well-placed to catch the header.

 

We then launched a few more fruitless attacks, with Greg Killick missing the target twice, before a low-quality affair took a major turn in the 34th minute. Washington played a through-ball towards Orlando Salvador, who was scythed down by Andrew Locke as he entered the Brighton area. Penalty to the Daggers! I was very surprised to see winger Shaun Powell take the spot-kick, but he quashed any doubts I had about his prowess from 12 yards by beating Fehmi and opening the scoring!

 

That goal could've been followed by a few more from the Daggers, but we wasted a host of chances to give ourselves clear daylight. We also had right-back Ross Pearson booked in a feisty climax to the first half that saw two Albion defenders pick up yellow cards as well.

 

Curnis had disappointed me in the first period, so I replaced him at half-time with Joel Honeyball. This was Joel's 250th league appearance for the Daggers, and his first of the season, but it wasn't exactly a milestone match to remember. The 29-year-old struggled with the frenetic pace and lost the ball softly too often, thus allowing Brighton to get back into the game.

 

Though Killick and Washington each troubled Fehmi with promising strikes either side of the half-hour mark, what could've easily been a strong Daggers lead would soon disappear. Fabris and Jovanovic linked up superbly for Brighton in the 62nd minute, with the latter taking the ball past Honeyball on his way into the penalty area, where he powered in a fine equalising strike.

 

The Seagulls were level, and their confidence was soaring. When 'flying Dutchman' Veenboer went tantalisingly close to putting Albion ahead on 64 minutes, I sensed that our first defeat of the season was imminent. Three minutes later, Honeyball twisted his knee whilst swinging in a cross that Brighton defender Tom Dakin headed away. Joel's misfortune was arguably a blessing in disguise, as I could now replace him with Tristan Egueh and reinvigorate our attack.

 

Tristan would win us a free-kick in a great position after 83 minutes, though Washington curled it over the bar. Moments later, Brighton's Danish midfielder Klok attempted a 30-yarder that could've broken us had Whalley not been alert enough to push it away. That was Albion's last chance to make it 2-1. Ours would come in the 88th minute.

 

Egueh outmuscled Brighton right-back Lee Bowden to take Ante Djuzel's weighted pass up the flank and cross from the byline. Boy-Boy Ngcobo's attempted interception for the hosts was in vain, as Washington bulleted in his fourth goal in five league games to clinch victory for the Daggers! Mark's late winner was especially significant, as results elsewhere meant that we rose from 4th to 1st!

 

Brighton & Hove Albion - 1 (Jovanovic 62)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Powell pen34, Washington 88)

Premier League, Attendance 20,645 - POSITIONS: Brighton 19th, Dag & Red 1st

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Pearson, Kurtovic, Darvill, Djuzel, Killick, Jorgensen, Powell, Salvador (Stevenson), Curnis (Honeyball (Egueh)), Washington. BOOKED: Pearson.

 

As improbable as it sounded, Dagenham & Redbridge were top of the Premier League - and still unbeaten! Mind you, we certainly could not get carried away at this stage in the season.

 

All three of our early-season wins had come against the promoted clubs. Apart from Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, we hadn't yet played any particularly strong teams. That would soon change.

[mark wilson27]

Top of the table sir well done, I know you more than likely wont stay their (no disrespect intended) but well done anyway.

[CFuller]

21 hours ago, mark wilson27 said:

Top of the table sir well done, I know you more than likely wont stay their (no disrespect intended) but well done anyway.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure we won't be staying there! Nevertheless, it's a strong enough start, and it bodes well for our pursuit of a top-half finish.

[CFuller]

SEPTEMBER 2036 (continued)

Dagenham & Redbridge were a team who tended to reach Round 3 of the League Cup only once every five seasons. The Daggers fell short at that stage in 2026/2027 to Chelsea, and then suffered an agonising defeat to Aston Villa in 2031/2032. Now, in the 2036/2037 season, Manchester City stood between us and a place in Round 4.

 

The Citizens were a team chock-full of world-class players - they were the reigning European champions, after all. Although stalwarts such as Andy Boyes, Martin Klonz and Stuart Lindsay were now either retired or at other clubs, manager Rogier Molhoek had spent a lot of money to try and keep City at the very top of global football.

 

Most of City's big summer signings - including Holland striker Hassan Ben Ayad and France defender Ciro Lattarulo - would be on show here at Rainham Road. I knew in my heart of hearts that, even if we fielded our very best players, we were still likely to get annihilated. I therefore left out the likes of George Darvill and Mark Washington, so that they would be fit for our next league game at home to Rochdale.

 

23 September 2036: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Manchester City

I ordered my team to attack Manchester City early... but that was much easier said than done. We had barely even touched the ball when, after just 29 seconds, Hassan Ben Ayad drilled in the opening goal for the visitors. From that point onwards, we were pretty much on a hiding to nothing.

 

Another of City's summer signings - right-winger Bojan Abramovic - could've created a second goal after three minutes, when his cross was headed just off target by Croatian compatriot Zdravko Toplak. When midfielder Andrea Broli pulled wide another opportunity for 2-0 on eight minutes, it became clear that we'd need more than an umbrella to withstand this rainstorm of City attacks.

 

Our first real attack broke down five minutes later, with Ben Ayad heading away Matthew Fraser's free-kick. Citizens talisman Domenico Papa then took the ball and dribbled almost the full length of the pitch before completing a sublime solo goal. Our League Cup charge was already falling to pieces.

 

Papa almost did it again in the 19th minute, but Stephen Palacios restored some pride with an excellent save after the Italian had cut past our right-back Patrick Scheepens. Patrick then conceded a corner, which Papa curled to Souza in our six-yard box. The ex-Juventus strike looked a dead cert to make it 3-0 until Fraser came in a last-ditch tackle!

 

Conceding a third goal would've surely ended our hopes once and for all. That third goal would come in the 23rd minute... but it was scored at the away end! Patrick headed Steph's goal kick towards Elliot Hernández, who then played it through for Tristan Egueh to thunder in a lifeline strike for the Daggers!

 

Billy Stevenson spurned an opportunity to continue the fightback on 28 minutes, and his miss would prove particularly costly two minutes later. Papa showed that he was the daddy again in setting up a second goal for Dutch dynamo Ben Ayad.

 

The £20.5million signing from Bayern Munich was now eyeing up his first hat-trick in English football. Although Palacios did brilliantly to deny Ben Ayad his treble in injury time, there was a real sense that the 29-year-old would soon enhance what was already a very strong 3-1 lead for Manchester City.

 

Ben Ayad and co resumed from where they had left off in the 52nd minute. Ben Ayad outjumped Daggers defender Dave Hutchinson to flick a touchline cross from Papa goalwards, and Palacios had to produce an incredible fingertip save. Steph also kept out a strike from young Portuguese centre-back Álvaro Oliveira moments later, but the American veteran would soon be beaten again. Ben Ayad finally completed his hat-trick two minutes later with an unstoppable low drive from Souza's square pass.

 

At 4-1 down, we were now very much resigned to our League Cup fate. That didn't stop Egueh from trying to get us another goal back after 56 minutes. Orlando Salvador chipped a fantastic ball to Tristan, who ran at the Manchester City defence before having a shot palmed away by goalkeeper Reece Flemming.

 

Salvador and Egueh tried again in the 63rd minute, and a counter-attack culminated in Tristan scoring what was perhaps the best goal of the game. The England Under-21s striker ran onto Salvador's forward pass, dribbled through space, and then beat Flemming for 4-2.

 

Of course, there was next-to-no chance of us launching a full-scale comeback, especially with City now on the hunt for more goals. Papa wasted a couple of openings midway through the half, and left-back Mohammed Ali couldn't quite deliver the knockout punch on 72 minutes, but it was surely only a matter of time before the visitors struck again. That moment would come nine minutes from time.

 

Shortly after Salvador sent a free-kick inches wide for the Daggers, Papa looked to kill us off once and for all with a hanging ball into our box. Palacios came off his line to try and fist it clear... but Ben Ayad beat him, and no fewer than three Dagenham defenders, to head it home. Four goals for Hassan Ben Ayad, and five for Manchester City. Game over.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Egueh 23,63)

Manchester City - 5 (Ben Ayad 1,30,54,81, Papa 13)

League Cup Round 3, Attendance 17,640

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Palacios, Kurtovic (Pearson), Hutchinson, Radosavljevic, Scheepens, Djuzel (Hamilton), McCann, Fraser, Stevenson (Salvador), Hernández, Egueh. BOOKED: Salvador.

 

I gave 16-year-old left-back Keith Hamilton his first competitive run-out late in that game. By then, I had long resigned myself to the fact that my latest attempt to outsmart the Manchester giants had not worked. We were still light years away from their stratospheric level.

 

With any thoughts of a deep League Cup run fading away for another season, we turned our attentions back to the Premier League. However, our preparations for the visit of Rochdale took a major hit when centre-back Tomo Kurtovic was ruled out for around a month with a hernia. That meant Velimir Radosavljevic would make his first league start this season against one of the division's biggest spenders.

 

Rochdale had invested £44.5million in new players over the summer in a bid to take them to the next level - Europe, in other words. However, the Dale's early-season form suggested that Joe Doyle's charges were more likely to move a level down! They had claimed just two points from five matches thus far and were third-from-bottom.

 

27 September 2036: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Rochdale

We quickly took the game to a Rochdale team that included two ex-Daggers in Albert Khumalo and Mario Tortora. Captain Mark Washington blasted a shot just wide in the first minute, while Tristan Egueh's header in the fifth resulted in a save from Dale goalkeeper Petar Kus.

 

At the other end, the visitors' frontmen had mixed fortunes. Thomas Potter strained his thigh very early on and struggled throughout the match, but Tortora did hit an excellent strike in the 9th minute that Kieran Whalley had to palm clear. The next major scare for either side came after 21 minutes, when Khumalo almost slid Daggers right-back Patrick Scheepens' cross into his own net! To be fair, Khumalo was being brought down by Washington, and the referee awarded Rochdale a free-kick.

 

We were doing a fine job of roughing up our opponents, even if we did test the ref's patience a little too often. Our midfield aggressor Greg Killick certainly showed plenty of bite in the 32nd minute, when a crunching tackle on Alasdair Wood left the Dale middleman with a knock. Rochdale were looking by far the inferior team come half-time, though we hadn't yet turned our dominance on the pitch into anything substantial.

 

Billy Stevenson had a very early shot at goal for Dagenham shortly after the second half kicked off. Kus made a comfortable catch in the end, but we would soon put the Slovene under real pressure. On 51 minutes, the energetic Killick got his head to a direct pass from Kenneth Jorgensen, and he just about prevented the ball from crossing Dale's byline before he centred it to Egueh. Tristan's volley was an emphatic one, and we were in the lead!

 

Rochdale attacked from the restart, but another well-timed tackle from Killick prevented Wood from getting a cross into our box. The visitors cried for a penalty, to no avail.

 

Greg didn't get away with another firm challenge on Wood in the 56th minute, but he wouldn't let a yellow card stop him from getting stuck in when required. The Cumbrian workhorse remained a constant thorn in the Dale's side, and it was thanks largely to his tireless efforts that we wouldn't give them any more scoring chances.

 

Indeed, we would round the game off with a second goal in injury time, as Velimir Radosavljevic met Matthew Fraser's floating free-kick with an irresistible diving header. Our fourth victory in six games kept us top of the league, and we were now a point clear of 2nd-placed Manchester United!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Egueh 51, Radosavljevic 90)

Rochdale - 0

Premier League, Attendance 17,848 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 1st, Rochdale 18th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Scheepens, Darvill, Radosavljevic, Djuzel, Jorgensen, Killick, Hutchinson (Fraser), Stevenson (Salvador), Washington (MacKenzie), Egueh. BOOKED: Killick.

 

I honestly could not have dreamt of a better start to this season! We are STILL leading the pack! Okay, Manchester City have a game in hand on us, but we're determined to enjoy the moment before we inevitably crash back down to Earth in October.

[CFuller]

Premier League Table (End of September 2036)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.          Dag & Red              6     4     2     0     12    4     +8    14
2.          Man Utd                6     4     1     1     21    5     +16   13
3.          Liverpool              6     3     3     0     11    8     +3    12
4.          Man City               5     3     2     0     11    3     +8    11
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.          Arsenal                6     3     2     1     8     4     +4    11
6.          Chelsea                6     3     2     1     13    11    +2    11
7.          West Ham               6     3     2     1     10    8     +2    11
8.          West Brom              6     3     1     2     10    11    -1    10
9.          Norwich                6     3     1     2     8     10    -2    10
10.         Southampton            6     2     3     1     9     7     +2    9
11.         Wolves                 6     3     0     3     9     8     +1    9
12.         Tottenham              6     2     2     2     5     5     0     8
13.         Burnley                6     1     3     2     10    9     +1    6
14.         Blackburn              6     1     3     2     12    16    -4    6
15.         Derby                  5     1     2     2     6     9     -3    5
16.         Ipswich                6     1     1     4     8     16    -8    4
17.         Fulham                 4     1     0     3     4     8     -4    3
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
18.         Rochdale               6     0     2     4     2     8     -6    2
19.         Brighton               6     0     1     5     5     13    -8    1
20.         Nottm Forest           6     0     1     5     8     19    -11   1

 

[JayR2003]

Impressive start!

[CFuller]

15 hours ago, JayR2003 said:

Impressive start!

Having a kind early run of fixtures helps. Things will get much tougher from hereon in.

[CFuller]

OCTOBER 2036

Martin Thompson was loving life in the Championship. Our 20-year-old midfielder had just been named the Championship's Young Player of the Month for the second time in a row after producing some more impressive performances while on loan at Crewe Alexandra.

 

Surprisingly, he was the only Dagger to receive an award for their efforts in September. I may have guided Dagenham & Redbridge to a trio of victories, with a goal difference of +6, but I still missed out on the Premier League's Manager of the Month award! The powers-that-be instead honoured Norwich City boss James Wallace, who'd ground out three successive 2-1 wins. IT'S A FIX!

 

Greg Killick also went close to winning an award, coming 3rd in the Goal of the Month results for his sublime strike against Blackburn Rovers. Greg, who celebrated his 25th birthday at the start of October, had been outstanding for us in recent weeks, particularly when it came to winning the ball off opponents. He seemed to have transformed overnight from a decent squad rotation player to an integral part of my team.

 

Eyebrows were raised when Dagenham soared to the Premier League summit, but if Killick and co could keep up their incredible form in October, it would surely take everyone by surprise. With home matches against Liverpool and Arsenal scheduled, followed by a daunting trip to Manchester City, only the most die-hard Dagger would bet on us staying undefeated.

 

First to try and knock us off our perch were the team that Sir Alex Ferguson knocked off their "f***ing perch" four decades ago. Liverpool had famously not won the league championship since 1990, but the Reds were still unbeaten in all competitions thus far this season, and a title challenge was certainly on the cards for them.

 

Unfortunately, we would be without left-winger Dario Curnis for this game, as the on-loan Italian had twisted his knee in training.

 

4 October 2036: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Liverpool

Liverpool won a corner in the second minute, but Christian Keller's header from Pavle Oljaca's delivery looped high over the bar. Two minutes later, Dagenham captain Mark Washington blasted our first shot well off target.

 

Thankfully, our next attack - in the 9th minute - would be rather more fruitful. Although Billy Stevenson's shot was blocked by Liverpool's England midfielder Anthony Diallo, Tristan Egueh blasted the rebound home and got us off to a flier! That was Tristan's fifth goal this term, just one short of his first-team haul from the whole of last season.

 

Egueh almost found the net again after 12 minutes, but Gavin Stopforth thwarted him with a fine catch. Three minutes after that, Liverpool captain Dave Weaver wasted a chance to equalise. Weaver's header from a Diallo cross was well caught by Kieran Whalley, and the man who won England the UEFA European Championship this summer wouldn't get another scoring opportunity. A horrific accidental collision with Daggers defender Velimir Radosavljevic resulted in Weaver tearing his ankle ligaments, thus bring his game to an early conclusion.

 

Worse was to come from Liverpool in the 26th minute, when our skipper produced a moment of magic. Mark collected a direct pass from Greg Killick in the centre circle, and he dribbled towards the right flank before cutting inside and slipping a shot beyond Stopforth! A breathtaking goal from the in-form American had put us 2-0 up, and that was how the scoreline stayed at half-time.

 

Daggers right-back Patrick Scheepens got booked late in the first half, so I brought on Ross Pearson to replace him before the restart. In the 60th minute, Pearson squared a long ball to Radosavljevic deep in our half. Velimir dallied in possession for too long, and he was outmuscled by Liverpool's substitute striker Liam Baldwin. The 27-year-old then burst through and drove in a goal that put the Reds within one of parity.

 

We knew that a team of the Scousers' quality were more than capable of sustaining a fightback, so we sought to kill them off before they could level. Stevo could've done the trick with a banana shot that unfortunately bent just wide moments after the resumption.

 

We then withstood Liverpool's first equalising attempt in the 63rd minute, with Whalley making easy work of a drive from Baldwin. Surprisingly, Kieran wouldn't have to face another shot from the visitors until he caught a last-ditch free-kick from Adi Music in injury time.

 

Washington had already had a couple of opportunities to restore our two-goal cushion, with Stopforth stopping him on each occasion. Mark's misses wouldn't matter, though. Another strong Daggers display - spearheaded once again by in-form midfielder Killick - had preserved our unbeaten start and ended Liverpool's.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Egueh 9, Washington 27)

Liverpool - 1 (Baldwin 60)

Premier League, Attendance 17,848 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 1st, Liverpool 4th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Scheepens (Pearson), Darvill, Radosavljevic, Fox, Jorgensen, Killick, Fraser (Hutchinson), Stevenson, Washington, Egueh (Hernández). BOOKED: Scheepens.

 

After seven rounds of matches, we were one of only two Premier League teams who were still undefeated. The other team with an unblemished record were our League Cup nemeses Manchester City, who still sat three points behind us with a game in hand.

 

Unfortunately, our substitute forward Elliot Hernández picked up a groin strain in the closing stages of the win over Liverpool. The Belgian target man was now set to miss our next game at home to Arsenal. That fixture would take place in a fortnight, after another international break.

 

Tristan Egueh continued his hot scoring form for England Under-21s, notching up a hat-trick against Luxembourg. There was also a moment to remember for 16-year-old winger Milen Danchev, who scored his first goal for Bulgaria's Under-21s in a 10-1 thumping of Andorra.

 

Five Daggers - including Denmark's Kenneth Jorgensen, Serbia's Velimir Radosavljevic and Wales' Shaun Powell - took part in FIFA World Cup qualifying matches. Colin Fox and Matthew Fraser also featured for Scotland, but the international break would end on a sour note for Fraser, who fractured his ribs against Slovakia. Matthew would not be able to play again for at least a month.

 

Matthew's misfortune coincided with injuries to two more Dagenham midfielders. Neil McCann would also miss the next month after being diagnosed with a sports hernia, while Billy Stevenson was sidelined for three weeks with a twisted ankle.

 

Although Dario Curnis, Denzel Gallen and Joel Honeyball had now returned from their injuries, there was now a real fear that our unbeaten start would soon fall to pieces.

[mark wilson27]

You can only imagine how much the latest result has made me happy, I'm sure @salkster2102 will like it too  well done sir

[CFuller]

On 9/22/2017 at 13:39, mark wilson27 said:

You can only imagine how much the latest result has made me happy, I'm sure @salkster2102 will like it too  well done sir

I'm sure you love it that my Daggers have a good record against Liverpool, but a terrible record against United! 

Also, a warning to those who also read my side story "Bygmester Fuller". The next post will contain a huge spoiler regarding that story, so please read the latest installments of that - if you haven't done so already - before continuing with this.

[CFuller]

OCTOBER 2036 (continued)

I made a big decision after the international break. My Norway team had lost three of their first four qualifiers for the 2038 FIFA World Cup, and they were already seven points adrift of the top two teams in their group. I couldn't see us fighting back when we were so far off the pace, so I jacked it in and resigned as Norway's manager.

 

There would be no more leaving my Daggers during international breaks in the future. From now on, I would be 100% committed to my day job at Dagenham & Redbridge.

 

My first match since giving up my second paycheque was at home to 4th-placed Arsenal. With the likes of England legend Clive Johnson and South African midfielder Thulani Kama in red-hot form for the Gunners, our unbeaten Premier League record was set to come under pressure like never before.

 

18 October 2036: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Arsenal

Some of our fans were left concerned when Arsenal wideman Gordon Hubbuck clattered into in-form Daggers midfielder Greg Killick in our penalty area after five minutes. Greg was thankfully not too badly hurt, and four minutes later, we gave the Gunners a bit of a bruising.

 

Tristan Egueh ran at the Arsenal defence and threaded the ball through space to right-back Patrick Scheepens, who then cut it across the goalmouth. At the other end was our left-back Ante Djuzel, who smashed in his first competitive goal for the Daggers!

 

We could have bolstered our lead in the 12th minute, as Tristan played an elaborate one-two with Mark Washington before half-volleying a shot over the bar. Arsenal then gave us our first real defensive scare three minutes later. Shane Hay's close-range header from a Clive Johnson corner was caught by Denzel Gallen, who was making his first appearance for us this season.

 

Gallen's Gunners counterpart Shaun Murat then tipped away a couple of efforts from Killick and Orlando Salvador before the hour mark. Our teenage custodian would come back under pressure in the 38th minute. Arsenal left-back Connor Smith squared the ball to midfielder Thulani Kama, whose low drive was palmed away by Gallen.

 

Denzel had done well there, but he would be badly caught out in the last minute of normal time. The Gunners' Brazilian centre-half Álvaro José outmuscled Gallen to flick in a cross from Johnson at the near post. Our advantage was gone, and the pendulum appeared to have swung towards the visitors.

 

An uncharacteristically clumsy tackle from George Darvill on Hay in the 49th minute saw our local legend receive what was already his third yellow card this season. That would soon be the least of George's problems. On 52 minutes, Hay outjumped Darvill to play a flick-on to his Arsenal strike partner Marc Bennett, who looked certain to score until Scheepens made a fantastic last-ditch tackle. Hubbuck then attempted to curl in a follow-up shot, which our young Argentinean Vicente Gridelli headed clear.

 

Hubbuck went on the attack again in the 60th minute. The England right-winger and former right-back surged past Ante before whipping in a shot that bamboozled Gallen, and put our unbeaten league record in serious jeopardy.

 

Captain Washington looked to put us back on track five minutes later, but Murat kept out his vicious 25-yarder. Scheepens then attempted a close-range shot that just flew wide. On 77 minutes, Killick got himself into the book following a shove on Hay, who while goalless was still posing a constant threat to us.

 

This match appeared to be a bridge too far for us... until, with nine minutes remaining, Djuzel played a first-time cross into Arsenal's penalty area. Our 6ft 7in substitute Robbie MacKenzie then leapt above the defence to head in a precious equaliser! Although we had ceded top spot to Manchester United, a 2-2 draw had prolonged our incredible start to the campaign!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Djuzel 9, MacKenzie 81)

Arsenal - 2 (Álvaro José 45, Hubbuck 60)

Premier League, Attendance 17,848 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 2nd, Arsenal 4th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Gallen, Gridelli, Darvill, Radosavljevic, Scheepens, Djuzel, Killick, Jorgensen (Ryan), Salvador (Honeyball), Washington, Egueh (MacKenzie). BOOKED: Darvill, Killick.

 

Goalkeeper Denzel Gallen may not have impressed me in his first league start of the season, but Vicente Gridelli had, and I was prepared to keep the teenage defender in the starting XI for our next match. Unfortunately, those plans were scuppered when Gridelli damaged his shoulder in training a few days later.

 

That meant we had five players out injured, including the not-yet-fit Tomo Kurtovic, when we travelled to the Yaya Touré Arena to face Manchester City. Fortunately, Elliot Hernández was back to fitness and ready to come off the bench if need be.

 

The Daggers and the Citizens were the last remaining undefeated teams in the Premier League. In boxing parlance, "someone's 'O' had to go" (unless there was a draw, of course). Considering that City had a 100% record against us in five previous meetings, you could probably guess whose 'zero' was most likely to disappear.

 

25 October 2036: Manchester City vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Rogier Molhoek's Citizens showed their class almost from the word go. The superlative Domenico Papa rocketed past Daggers right-back Patrick Scheepens in the fifth minute and whipped in a cross that was flicked just over by a diving header from Diogo Dias.

 

Shortly after that, our own Italian left-winger Dario Curnis collided with Manchester City's powerhouse captain Mike Martin. Dario wasn't the most diminutive of attackers, but he was still badly hurt in the collision and came off in obvious pain. Elliot Hernández was brought on in place of Curnis, who was later discovered to have bruised a couple of ribs.

 

Meanwhile, Martin added to our agony by putting City ahead after 12 minutes. Dagenham defender George Darvill's clearance from a corner by Papa only went as far as Dias, who unleashed a stunning volley that Martin flicked beyond Kieran Whalley's reach. I would soon be fearing another flood of City goals.

 

Hassan Ben Ayad, who scored four against us in the League Cup last month, missed a couple of attempts to find the net again, while Brazilian striker Souza wasted a chance in the 19th minute. When the Citizens did score their second goal on 27 minutes, though, it came from the magical feet of Papa. Scheepens struggled to keep up with the 31-year-old Italian as he dribbled effortlessly towards goal before tapping the ball home.

 

Two minutes later, Papa piled on the misery with a fantastic cross to Souza, who got ahead of Colin Fox and headed Manchester City into a 3-0 lead. We weren't even a third of the way through the match, for goodness sake!

 

This was arguably the toughest test that former City goalkeeper Whalley had ever faced in his Daggers career. Kieran wasn't ready to cave in, as he pushed away a 32nd-minute strike from midfielder Dino Laraia before keeping Ben Ayad off the scoresheet in the 34th minute. In the 38th, though, he was beaten for a fourth time - by arguably one of the best goals I had ever witnessed.

 

You won't be surprised to hear that the goalscorer was a certain Domenico Papa. At first, it looked like being a replica of his earlier strike, as he took the ball on the halfway line and then dribbled inside from the left flank, with Scheepens working hard to keep pace. However, Papa then turned sharply to his left before entering the penalty area. Although Patrick managed to force Papa into a tight angle, he still managed to cut the ball past Kieran and into the net.

 

The Yaya Touré Arena erupted, as City fans saluted a world-class goal from one of their all-time heroes. Our supporters stood in silence, stunned at how easily we were being ripped apart. We did give them a reason to celebrate in the 39th minute, when Velimir Radosavljevic headed in a whipped corner from Mark Washington and halved our deficit to 4-1. However, barring a second-half comeback of New England Patriots at Super Bowl LI proportions, we would not be staying unbeaten for much longer.

 

Manchester City were looking imperious, but six minutes into the second half, they made an uncharacteristic mistake that made me wonder if they were doing an Atlanta Falcons. Their American captain Mike Martin cut out a pass from Daggers midfielder Greg Killick, only to almost immediately squander it to another in Orlando Salvador. Orlando got through a gap between Martin's defensive colleagues Willy Danza and Ciro Lattarulo, and a tidy finish beyond goalkeeper Sergio González reduced what had been a 4-0 City lead to 4-2.

 

Salvador's first competitive goal for the Daggers rejuvenated us, and we were soon looking good to score again. Although Hernández snatched at a chance in the 56th minute, Darvill went close in the 59th with a header that prompted Paraguay keeper González to make his first proper save of the afternoon.

 

By the 67th minute, though, the Citizens were back on the offensive. A scuffed clearance from Killick fell towards Papa, who smashed wide a great opportunity to wrap up his hat-trick. We'd shut up shop to try and prevent City from finding our net again, but it would ultimately be to no avail.

 

On 70 minutes, a Papa free-kick caused chaos in our penalty area before substitute Jozef Kral smashed in what he thought was the game's seventh goal. However, the assistant referee had raised his flag for an infringement, and so we remained only two goals down... for the time being.

 

With six minutes remaining, Kral scored for real to emphatically end our unbeaten start. We were torn asunder on the counter, and when Ben Ayad found Kral in acres of space on the edge of our area, the Slovakian couldn't possibly miss. Manchester City had beaten us 5-2 for the second time in a little over a month, but not before Hernández wasted an opportunity to pull another goal back for Dagenham right on the stroke of full-time.

 

Manchester City - 5 (Martin 12, Papa 27,38, Souza 29, Kral 84)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Radosavljevic 39, Salvador 51)

Premier League, Attendance 81,367 - POSITIONS: Man City 2nd, Dag & Red 4th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Scheepens (Pearson), Darvill, Radosavljevic, Fox, Jorgensen, Killick, Powell (Hutchinson), Salvador, Curnis (Hernández), Washington. BOOKED: Killick.

 

What on Earth do we have to do to defeat these monsters?! They cannot possibly be human!

 

In all fairness, I never expected us to keep the unbeaten Premier League run going for this long. But will that first defeat spur us on to bigger and brighter things... or is it the start of a fall back to mediocrity?

[CFuller]

NOVEMBER 2036

There were three teams currently in the Premier League that Dagenham & Redbridge had never beaten before - home or away, competitive or otherwise. Manchesters City and United were two of them, but could you name the third?

 

If your answer was Norwich City, you've just won £64,000. If you also said that Norwich would be our next opponents, then congrats - you're now on £125,000 and are three more correct answers away from a million quid!

 

We attempted to end our barren run against Norwich at Carrow Road on the first day of November, but it sure wasn't going to be easy. For starters, that heavy 5-2 defeat at Manchester City was still in the back of our minds. In addition, the Canaries had made a solid start to the campaign and were unbeaten in seven matches.

 

1 November 2036: Norwich City vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Although Patrick Scheepens broke up an early Norwich attack with an excellent tackle on their left-back Gareth Twyman, things would soon go rather pear-shaped for us. Kenneth Jorgensen's attempted pass to Shaun Powell was intercepted by Canaries captain Ivan Hadziahmetovic, and the hosts quickly moved the ball forward before Joe Shepherd smashed it home. We were already 1-0 down after 59 seconds!

 

We looked to draw back level quickly, winning four corners within the first nine minutes. Only the last of them created a meaningful chance, but Danish midfielder Jorgensen's header from captain Mark Washington's delivery bounced well wide.

 

Captain Mark then had a moment to forget in the 24th minute. Powell's right-wing cross was scuffed by Norwich midfielder Antony Joli to Washington, whose half-volley floated over the crossbar. Three minutes after that, a Daggers disaster worsened further. George Darvill was too slow to react to a centre from Norwich forward Garry Steadman, and attacking midfielder Marco Paiva finished from point-blank range. 2-0 to the Canaries.

 

Jorgensen attempted to amends on 31 minutes with a shot that Stuart Burns caught comfortably for Norwich. Both teams then had injury scares late on, though Darvill's gashed leg was rather more serious than a knock that Twyman sustained. The latter was involved in setting up a chance to put Norwich three goals ahead just before half-time, but Steadman somehow pulled it horrendously wide.

 

After a poor start from both sides, the second half threatened to ignite in the 58th minute. Patrick Scheepens pumped the ball forward from deep in our half, and Tristan Egueh outpaced Norwich defender Rubén Palma to run onto it. Alas, the young Daggers striker - who would celebrate his 21st birthday just four days later - panicked once he was one-on-one with Burns. A terrible finish kept our deficit at 2-0.

 

Either side of Tristan's unbelievable miss were a couple of Norwich bookings - one for right-back Jay Atherton, and then one for Peru centre-half Palma. Dagenham left-back Ante Djuzel also saw yellow after upending Shepherd in the 71st minute. However, Ante had already been booked during the first half, and so referee Michael Reed brought out his red card as well. Djuzel was dismissed, and there was no chance of us battling back with only 10 men against an in-form City side.

 

Norwich were unfortunate not to take full advantage and increase their winning margin late on. Shepherd went closest on 87 minutes, when his attempt from Steadman's flick-on was caught by Denzel Gallen. That said, the Scot's early opener had very much set the tone for what was - in the end - a comfortable Norwich win.

 

Norwich City - 2 (Shepherd 1, Paiva 27)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Premier League, Attendance 27,131 - POSITIONS: Norwich 9th, Dag & Red 5th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Gallen, Scheepens, Kurtovic, Darvill (Radosavljevic), Djuzel, Killick, Jorgensen, Powell (Hutchinson), Washington, Salvador (Pearson), Egueh. BOOKED: Djuzel. SENT OFF: Djuzel.

 

Ante Djuzel's red card - just the second in our Premier League history - would see the young Croatian full-back suspended from our next match. Centre-back George Darvill was also facing a spell on the sidelines, having been ruled out for around a fortnight with a gashed leg.

 

Darvill had not played particularly well at Carrow Road, but we still needed him available for as many games as possible. It came as a relief, then, when I heard that our home match against struggling Fulham the following weekend had been postponed until January due to international call-ups. That gave George, Billy Stevenson and Neil McCann a bit more time to recover from their injuries and return to full fitness.

 

The international break saw Tristan Egueh score another hat-trick for England's Under-21s, who demolished Japan 5-1 in Colchester. Mark Washington claimed his fifth goal in 10 caps for the United States as they beat Portugal 3-1, and Tomo Kurtovic made his 25th Croatia appearance while playing alongside Djuzel in a heavy defeat to Germany. Four other Daggers were capped at senior level.

 

Although our international players returned unscathed, one of my worst fears did come true when the fit-again Stevenson tore his hamstring in preparation for our home match against Burnley. Our main attacking midfielder would face a further absence of around three months, though that did give youngster Orlando Salvador the opportunity to thrive in his place.

 

Lee Clark's Burnley side arrived at Rainham Road in mid-table. My relationship with Clark had cooled since he famously stated two years that we weren't good enough for the Premier League. That said, I really wanted to get the better of his Clarets, having failed in my previous four attempts.

 

15 November 2036: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Burnley

Both of Burnley's strikers had unfortunate starts to this match, for different reasons. After seven minutes, Lyle Donaldson narrowly headed over what had been an excellent corner from Branko Simeunovic. Two minutes later, Donaldson's strike partner Rodrigo Vázquez picked up a strain from out of nowhere, though the Uruguayan bravely played through the rest of the match.

 

We then had our own stroke of misfortune in the 11th minute, when Orlando Salvador's powerful free-kick hit the Burnley crossbar. Having failed to take the lead from a set-piece, we then watched the Clarets do just that after 15 minutes. Former Ipswich Town and Southampton winger Simeunovic swung in another fantastic corner, and on this occasion, veteran Romanian midfielder Ion Pavelescu's header did find the back of the net. Burnley were 1-0 up away from home.

 

Although Daggers captain Mark Washington had a shot blocked by defender Danijel Dedic a minute after the restart, we wouldn't take long to restore parity. After 20 minutes, Tristan Egueh slid the ball beyond England centre-half Karl Marsh and found the in-form Greg Killick, who broke through and tapped in an equaliser.

 

The visitors were now looking very shaky. Left-back Mark Dobson was lucky to only get a yellow card for an appalling tackle on Washington in the 26th minute. Two minutes later, captain Li Jingdao injured his hip following a firm challenge from Dagenham's Dave Hutchinson, and his game came to an early end.

 

Then, on 36 minutes, Dedic's attempted interception from a long ball by our midfield playmaker Kenneth Jorgensen went awry. The Slovene's header bounced towards his goal and fell to Washington, who drilled it past Souza to give us the lead!

 

Mark wasn't happy to settle for just one goal, though. A sublime chip over the onrushing Souza in the 39th minute secured our American skipper a brace, and we were 3-1 to the good at half-time!

 

To tell you the truth, I had serious misgivings about Kieran Whalley before I put him back in goal. My doubts were proven right barely a minute into the second half. Whalley parried a long-distance strike from Donaldson into the path of Burnley substitute Peter Edwards, who reduced our advantage to 3-2 with a simple tap-in.

 

I expected the Clarets to really pile the pressure on from there, but they surprisingly became a lot more conservative afterwards. Perhaps they were a little scared that we would hit back and score again. Orlando almost did that for us in the 55th minute, but Souza got his fingertips to the Portuguese teenager's shot and tipped it wide.

 

A quarter of an hour later, Salvador played an incisive pass to Washington, who dribbled past Marsh's tackle and looked almost certain to wrap up his hat-trick. However, a late charge from Souza panicked Mark into pulling the ball inches past the far post.

 

Burnley's Brazilian goalkeeper would rescue the Clarets again in the 74th minute, when another miscued interception from Dedic opened the door for Daggers sub Robbie MacKenzie. Souza managed to block Robbie's volley just in time, and he continued to shut us out in the second half.

 

As full-time loomed, the visitors attacked with renewed vigour, and they weren't too far away from snatching a draw. Bosnian right-winger Tomislav Gusic had a free-kick saved by Whalley in the 82nd minute, while Edwards' last-minute screamer went wide. We narrowly held on for all three points in the end, and we had our two-goal captain Washington to thank for that.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (Killick 20, Washington 36,39)

Burnley - 2 (Pavelescu 15, Edwards 47)

Premier League, Attendance 17,848 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 7th, Burnley 11th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Whalley, Scheepens, Darvill, Radosavljevic, Fox, Jorgensen, Killick, Hutchinson, Salvador (Honeyball), Washington, Egueh (MacKenzie).

 

Despite the victory, I was now questioning whether our defence had gone off the boil. We'd conceded at least twice in each of our last four matches, and our goalkeepers had looked particularly suspect. Neither of our two leading custodians - Denzel Gallen nor Kieran Whalley - had covered themselves in glory in recent games.

 

I had planned to give veteran gloveman Stephen Palacios his league debut for the Daggers when we travelled to Wolverhampton Wanderers the following weekend. Unfortunately, Steph sustained a chest injury in training, and so Denzel went back in goal against Wolves, who were flying high in 5th place.

[CFuller]

NOVEMBER 2036 (continued)

22 November 2036: Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Our gameplan was to utilise our wingers Dario Curnis and Shaun Powell, and exploit what I reckoned was a Wolves weakness on the flanks. That plan fell apart rather quickly. Our passing in the opening stages bordered on the appalling, and Wolves' inside-forward Kim Chang-Hoon created a couple of early chances to put us behind. Though Kim was unsuccessful, one of his colleagues would have more joy later on.

 

In the 7th minute, Dagenham centre-back Tomo Kurtovic tried to head away a right-wing cross from Marcelo Galeano Zarza. Unfortunately, he could only find home midfielder Janusz Blaszczyk. The Poland international flicked the ball back towards goal, and former Aston Villa striker Bruno Vukcevic beat Tomo to slide in the opener.

 

That was an early moment to forget for Daggers keeper Denzel Gallen, who redeemed himself somewhat by denying Vukcevic a second goal on 13 minutes. Kim and Blaszczyk each missed further opportunities for the home team before Molineux would erupt again, in the 26th minute. Our other Croatian defender made a costly mistake, with Ante Djuzel felling Galeano Zarza in the penalty area and getting a yellow card for his troubles. It was now Galeano Zarza versus Gallen from 12 yards out... and sadly for us, it was the former who prevailed.

 

Wolves' 31-year-old Paraguayan forward would tear us apart again just three minutes later. Galeano Zarza ran through a wide-open channel to collect Abderraouf Rouissi's weighted pass and power it beyond Denzel. At 3-0 up, Wanderers were now strolling to victory.

 

The hosts could easily have gone 4-0 ahead in the 35th minute, had Gallen not saved a low drive from Kim. It was clear that I had to make major changes before the second half...

 

...and what I did was make ALL the changes. Tomo, Dario and Shaun were all subbed, with George Darvill, Greg Killick and Orlando Salvador taking their places as we switched to a narrow 4-4-2 diamond. We were able to keep the ball much better, but while our defensive play had been badly lacking in the first half, it was the attacking side of the game that we struggled with in the second.

 

All three substitutes missed wasted to pull a goal back for us within the first ten minutes or so. Indeed, Greg and Orlando would miss one more opportunity apiece, in the 59th and 66th minutes. Salvador did create an opening for striker Tristan Egueh on 68 minutes, but Egueh pulled the ball miles wide. A similarly woeful effort came from right-back Ross Pearson, who miscued an attempt at his first Daggers goal after running onto Salvador's lob in the 71st minute.

 

There was little doubt, though, that Orlando was making things happen for us. After 72 minutes, the Portuguese starlet glided past Wolves right-back Stef de Haan on the touchline and centred the ball to Mark Washington, who prodded in a consolation strike for Dagenham.

 

A second Daggers goal was not forthcoming, though, and Wolves came back towards our door late on. Gallen caught a Blaszczyk header in the 74th minute, although he was beaten by a 78th-minute effort from Vukcevic that thankfully only hit his near post instead of the net. The final whistle brought an end to our proud unbeaten record against the West Midlanders, but I was somewhat relieved that the final score was no worse than 3-1.

 

Wolverhampton Wanderers - 3 (Vukcevic 7, Galeano Zarza pen26,29)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Washington 72)

Premier League, Attendance 29,944 - POSITIONS: Wolves 5th, Dag & Red 7th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Gallen, Pearson, Kurtovic (Darvill), Radosavljevic, Djuzel, Jorgensen, Fraser, Powell (Salvador), Washington, Curnis (Killick), Egueh. BOOKED: Djuzel.

 

As much as I had criticised the Dagenham defence, I also had to burden a lot of the blame for that defeat. I'd underestimated Wolves' abilities to deal with the quick, direct wing play that I tended to favour away from home.

 

Indeed, that was now our third straight defeat on our travels. Had other teams twigged what we were doing?

 

Four days later, we returned to the relative comforts of east London, where we visited the Olympic Stadium home of local rivals West Ham United. The Hammers were 9th in the Premier League, though their first 12 games had only yielded them 14 goals and three victories.

 

Denzel Gallen was ineligible to play against his parent club, and Stephen Palacios was still injured, so it looked like Kieran Whalley would regain his starting place in the latest round of goalkeeping musical chairs. That was until Kieran sustained a rib injury in a reserve match just two days beforehand, because of course he did.

 

I was now reduced to calling up my fourth-choice goalkeeper - 18-year-old Kayo Rowe - for his PL debut. Had Kayo been thrown in too deep too early in his career?

 

26 November 2036: West Ham United vs Dagenham & Redbridge

We began the match with some quick passing before Mark Washington raced past West Ham right-back Ciro Antonio and bore down on goal. Once Mark made his way into the Hammers' area, he lofted the ball beyond goalie Seán Rooney and into the top corner! After only 13 seconds, the quickest goal in Daggers history had put us 1-0 ahead!

 

West Ham tried to launch a quick response of their own, but Luke O'Leary's free-kick in the 5th minute floated just above our crossbar. Three minutes later, a left-wing cross from West Ham's record signing Jérémy Jossic was inadvertently headed back to him by our own biggest purchase Kenneth Jorgensen. Jossic then nodded the ball onwards towards O'Leary, whose half-volley was met by a fantastic reflex save from Kayo Rowe.

 

After that narrow escape, Orlando Salvador pulled wide a couple of opportunities to enhance our lead. By the 21st minute, though, that lead was no more. Ciro Antonio's long ball towards our box was flicked on by Patrik Petrus to former Portugal Under-21s striker George Mkhwanazi, who blasted it in at the near post after getting away from our right-back Patrick Scheepens.

 

Patrick had another moment that he would rather forget after 31 minutes. Jossic whipped a cross beyond Scheepens... and he very nearly found the net! Fortunately, Rowe's left-hand post deflected the ball away before George Darvill cleared.

 

Three minutes after suffering that major scare, we were given a fantastic chance to restore our advantage from the penalty spot. After Elliot Hernández was pushed over by Hammers defender Nathan Guppy, the Belgium international forward decided that he would take the spot-kick and try to break his Daggers duck. Unfortunately, Rooney read Elliot's penalty perfectly, so he remained goalless, and the match remained level at 1-1.

 

I took off Scheepens at half-time, replacing him with the very promising teenage right-back Vicente Gridelli. Four minutes after the restart, our veteran left-back Colin Fox performed a fantastic tackle on Petrus to prevent the winger from getting a shot on target. West Ham's claims for a penalty went unanswered, and they would remain frustrated throughout the half.

 

Hammers vice-captain Guppy powered a couple of headers off target before the hour mark. He then picked up a yellow card in the 62nd minute, having gone too far in his protests for another penalty after Darvill had outmuscled Jossic to win a header.

 

Another fantastic headed interception by George in the 70th minute would set the wheels in motion for a blistering Daggers counter-attack. Washington looked all set to score again after another excellent solo dribble towards goal, but his shot was superbly tipped behind by Republic of Ireland goalie Rooney. Two minutes later, Petrus was the target of another firm tackle from Fox - one that the Slovakian couldn't recover from. As West Ham had used up all their subs, they were forced to play on with only 10 men.

 

We would make the most of our advantage in personnel with six minutes to go. A flowing passing move from the Daggers ended with Washington laying the ball left to substitute striker Christophe Smith, who marked his first league appearance this season with a tidy finish! The young Scot had earned us an invaluable 2-1 away win!

 

West Ham United - 1 (Mkhwanazi 21)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Washington 1, Smith 84)

Premier League, Attendance 32,746 - POSITIONS: West Ham 9th, Dag & Red 7th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Rowe, Scheepens (Gridelli), Darvill, Radosavljevic, Fox, Jorgensen, Killick (McCann), Hutchinson, Salvador, Hernández (Smith), Washington.

 

We had just a couple of days' rest after that thrilling derby win, and then we looked to preserve our unbeaten home league record against Southampton. The Saints had finished 4th and 7th in their previous two campaigns, but were now sitting in a more modest 13th position. That was largely because Maurice Hockley had failed to recapture his sensational form from last season.

 

Although Kayo Rowe had enjoyed a solid top-flight debut against West Ham United, I still decided to change my goalkeeper for the seventh game in a row. On-loan Denzel Gallen was given one more chance to prove that he could emerge as our first-choice custodian for the remainder of this season.

 

29 November 2036: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Southampton

Southampton showed plenty of aggression early on - but not in the way that I expected. Left-back Peter Beardsley's sixth-minute push on Robbie MacKenzie, was among the first of many fouls that the sinful Saints committed in this first period.

 

To be fair, the visitors did attack us in a more meaningful sense every now and then, though not with much conviction. Perhaps their best opportunity to open the scoring came when striker Mehmet Adams headed Steven Frost's corner past the post in the 20th minute.

 

By the midway point of the first half, Dagenham captain Mark Washington had already missed a couple of hopeless long-distance attempts at goal. Southampton's defence was sitting tightly and doing a job of restricting us to long-range punts... on the most part.

 

We finally appeared to be nearing a breakthrough after 40 minutes, when Kenneth Jorgensen unleashed a shot from the edge of the area. Saints goalie Adaílson pushed it behind for a corner, which Colin Fox swung into the box. Tomo Kurtovic nodded it on to Matthew Fraser, whose header hit visiting defender Nathan Smart in the back before George Darvill slid it across the goalmouth. Greg Killick then finished the scrappiest of corners to send us into the interval with a 1-0 lead that we had barely warranted.

 

If the first half was quite poor by Premier League standards, the second was even worse! The one bright spark in this Saints team was their 23-year-old ex-Manchester City midfielder Frost... but he pulled up in the 52nd minute and had to be taken off.

 

Our own midfield talisman fared slightly better, although Killick missed a couple of chances to double his and our goal tally in the 56th and 61st minutes. After Greg's latter effort, Matthew intercepted the resultant goal kick from Adaílson and flicked it ahead of Washington. Unfortunately, Mark couldn't find enough space to get a shot on target, and he would soon be replaced by Christophe Smith after an atypically poor display.

 

Southampton were now defending even deeper and leaving our attackers very little room to manoeuvre into. There was little chance of either Smith or Robbie MacKenzie increasing our narrow advantage late on, while the prospect of Maurice Hockley salvaging a point for the Saints was even less likely. The England forward had one dreadful 30-yard shot in the 89th minute, and that was it. The visitors quickly faded away as we secured back-to-back wins.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Killick 40)

Southampton - 0

Premier League, Attendance 16,706 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 5th, Southampton 14th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Gallen, Gridelli, Darvill, Kurtovic, Fox, Jorgensen (McCann), Killick, Fraser, Hernández, MacKenzie (Powell), Washington (Smith).

 

That's right, folks - we've moved back up to 5th place! We're also starting to build quite a big gap between us and those teams outside the top eight, so we could be flying high for some time.

 

We've also got ourselves a favourable draw (for once) in Round 3 of the FA Cup. When the New Year rolls around, we can look forward to an away game against either Yeovil Town from League Two or Northampton Town from League One. If we can get through that tie without too many problems, it could potentially kick off a lengthy cup run for us.

[CFuller]

Premier League Table (End of November 2036)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.          Arsenal                15    9     5     1     28    10    +18   32
2.          Man Utd                13    9     3     1     39    8     +31   30
3.          Liverpool              15    9     3     3     30    21    +9    30
4.          Man City               13    8     5     0     31    9     +22   29
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.          Dag & Red              14    8     3     3     25    20    +5    27
6.          Wolves                 14    8     1     5     30    21    +9    25
7.          Norwich                13    7     3     3     23    16    +7    24
8.          Chelsea                15    7     3     5     26    25    +1    24
9.          West Ham               14    4     7     3     17    15    +2    19
10.         Rochdale               15    5     4     6     15    16    -1    19
11.         Derby                  14    4     5     5     20    24    -4    17
12.         West Brom              14    5     2     7     19    26    -7    17
13.         Blackburn              15    4     4     7     30    38    -8    16
14.         Southampton            15    3     6     6     15    18    -3    15
15.         Tottenham              15    4     3     8     18    31    -13   15
16.         Brighton               15    4     2     9     22    23    -1    14
17.         Burnley                14    3     5     6     24    29    -5    14
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
18.         Fulham                 11    2     3     6     13    21    -8    9
19.         Ipswich                15    2     2     11    14    46    -32   8
20.         Nottm Forest           15    1     3     11    18    40    -22   6

 

[JayR2003]

Way to avoid the dips in form I always manage to find in my games...

The Manchesters are crushing people when they win with +31 and +22 GD...

[CFuller]

15 hours ago, JayR2003 said:

Way to avoid the dips in form I always manage to find in my games...

The Manchesters are crushing people when they win with +31 and +22 GD...

I have my bad spells too!  One trick that I've found to be effective is to berate my players after a particularly crushing defeat (Wolves) and then take the pressure back off them before the next one (West Ham). Arranging a reserve friendly against a tiny non-league team, and making my worst-performing players available for that, can also help boost morale... if the reserves win.

The Manchester clubs are ridiculously strong compared to the other teams (though Arsenal and Liverpool are giving them a run for their money this season). United in particular have the potential to rip teams apart with their terrifying tandem of Penfold and Jordan. It'll be a long time before we can even hope to compete with them on a regular basis.

[CFuller]

DECEMBER 2036

And now, a word on Dagenham & Redbridge captain Mark Washington. Last season, he notched up 11 goals and 7 assists in the Premier League for us, though his form tailed off dramatically after Christmas. This term, he'd already reached 9 league goals and 6 assists by the end of November.

 

Giving Mark the captaincy in the summer seemed to have given a massive boost to his confidence. While he wasn't at the same elite level as, say, Sean Jordan or Gianni Improta, the American was still terrorising top-flight defences on a regular basis. Mark had also recently added another string to his bow, becoming a dab hand at corner kicks.

 

Washington really was becoming a joy to watch, and his solo goal within 13 seconds of the kick-off against West Ham United was perhaps his finest moment yet. Incidentally, that strike was nominated for the Premier League's Goal of the Month for November, though it didn't win.

 

I urged Mark to keep his good form going in December, which we began with a couple of trips to the East Midlands. The first of those journeys was to the City Ground - the home of the Premier League's bottom club, Nottingham Forest.

 

Forest were in a rut, having won just one league match all season - indeed, they were still awaiting their first victory at home. The Reds sacked their manager Ross Barkley at the end of November and were now under the guidance of Will Grigg, who'd just been poached from Aston Villa.

 

6 December 2036: Nottingham Forest vs Dagenham & Redbridge

I didn't expect things to be particularly Tricky against these Trees, but Nottingham Forest put up a real fight early on. Portuguese goalkeeper Joao Paulo managed to palm away a powerful strike from Daggers striker Tristan Egueh in the sixth minute.

 

Five minutes after that, Dagenham midfielder Kenneth Jorgensen tripped Forest's Niall Goodison just outside our penalty area. Kenny received a yellow card before lining up in our defensive wall, but he could only watch on as Goodison swung the free-kick powerfully past goalkeeper Denzel Gallen. The hosts celebrated taking the lead, but I was still confident that our class would eventually show.

 

Attacking midfielder Orlando Salvador had our first attempt at an equaliser in the 18th minute, forcing compatriot Joao Paulo into a catch. Salvador also set up a 28th-minute shot from Egueh that the Forest goalkeeper made similarly light work of. When Orlando and Mark Washington scuffed efforts wide either side of the half-hour mark, I began to wonder if there was a bit more to this sub-standard Daggers display.

 

Forest certainly seemed more 'up for it' than we did, as captain Arjan Krasniqi played on despite sustaining a dead leg in the 36th minute. Three minutes later, the Albanian was involved in an attacking move that ended with Denzel frantically coming off his line to parry a strike from Reds striker Adam Gazzola. This match was becoming a real battle for us.

 

I got my players fired up at half-time and ordered them to stretch out play a bit more. That subtle change of approach seemed to have a positive effect on our attacking game, as Matthew Fraser and Washington each had promising shots saved by Joao Paulo early on. Although Goodison almost doubled Nottingham Forest's lead with a blistering 58th-minute volley that Gallen did brilliantly to catch, one could sense that the momentum was shifting.

 

On 61 minutes, Washington drifted in one of his expertly-taken corners to Tomo Kurtovic, who agonisingly headed it against the bar. Mark and Tomo tried their luck again from another corner two minutes later. This time, the Croatian centre-back flicked his skipper's delivery beyond Joao Paulo's reach and levelled the scores! There was still plenty of work to do, though, if we were to complete the fightback and take the win.

 

Forest won several corners of their own, and one such set-piece from John Woods after 72 minutes almost put them back in front. Fortunately, Gallen just managed to tip Goodison's header behind. Shortly after that close shave, I sent wingers Dario Curnis and Shaun Powell on to try and cause problems for Forest's full-backs.

 

Curnis certainly made an impact in the 83rd minute, as he beat Reds right-back Anthony Whitton to a weak header from centre-half Said Tran and whipped it over Joao Paulo's head. However, what would've been an excellent goal from Dario was disallowed, as Orlando had impeded on the Forest goalie.

 

Our Italian left-winger wasn't deterred, miind you. In the 90th minute, Dario got ahead of Whitton to flick home a cross from Shaun, thus securing us the three points after all!

 

Nottingham Forest - 1 (Goodison 11)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Kurtovic 63, Curnis 90)

Premier League, Attendance 14,976 - POSITIONS: Nottm Forest 20th, Dag & Red 4th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Gallen, Scheepens, Darvill, Kurtovic, Djuzel, Jorgensen (Hutchinson), Killick (Curnis), Fraser, Salvador, Washington, Egueh (Powell). BOOKED: Jorgensen, Djuzel.

 

A third straight victory had lifted Dagenham & Redbridge into the UEFA Champions League places, though only temporarily. Manchester City overtook us the following day after extending their unbeaten Premier League start to 14 games.

 

The following week would see us discover the identity of our FA Cup Round 3 opponents. Northampton Town and Yeovil Town couldn't be separated in their original tie, and it would take penalties to split them in the replay at Sixfields. It was Yeovil who finally prevailed 5-4 on spot-kicks after a 1-1 draw, and so we will be heading to Huish Park for our first match of 2037.

 

We continued our league campaign by visiting Derby County at Pride Park. John Sullivan's Rams had struggled somewhat with the rigours of playing in the UEFA Europa League as well as the Premier League. Another major factor in County placing as low as 13th was the absence of star striker Steve Heaton, who broke his foot on the first day of the season and hadn't played since.

 

13 December 2036: Derby County vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Mark Washington delighted the travelling Dagenham supporters with another fantastic corner in the fourth minute. The captain's delivery was flicked on by George Darvill from the near post to Tomo Kurtovic at the back stick, and Tomo racked up his second goal in back-to-back matches!

 

Indeed, a Daggers counter-attack in the 9th minute almost resulted in Kurtovic scoring from another Washington corner. Sadly, the Croatian was unable to direct his header goalwards this time. When Washington scooped a lob over the bar on 14 minutes, I sensed that we were throwing away a great chance to go 2-0 up on Derby. Seven minutes later, we paid the price for not slaughtering the Rams quickly. Our defenders left Derby midfielder Mohamed van Aken in too much space, and when he slotted Paul Sherwood's pass into the far corner, our lead was erased.

 

Another home player we had to be aware of was winger Shane Watts, who went close to putting his charges ahead with a 24th-minute free-kick. When Watts drove another effort inches wide in the 31st minute, I told my assistant Fabio Saraiva, "We're not showing enough bite out there. If we keep standing them off, it'll only be a matter of time before Derby score."

 

I wasn't wrong. In the 44th minute, Watts played a clever free-kick move with colleagues Yassine Allali and Larry Coburn before turning past our left-back Colin Fox and curling the ball home. From 1-0 up, we were now 2-1 down to one of our bogey teams.

 

"WHY AREN'T YOU GETTING INTO THEIR FACES?" I barked at my players during the half-time interval. "You gave them too much space on the ball and they exploited that space. Sort it out in the second half or I'll be having words."

 

My players' response was to attack Derby early in the second period, but Washington and co were guilty of not exploiting the same County mistakes that our defenders were making earlier on. I counted at least three occasions on which Mark opted for a hopeless shot from outside the area when he could easily have run into space and seriously troubled the hosts. Unsurprisingly, he would not be getting his name on the Pride Park scoreboard.

 

Orlando Salvador could've fared better after 80 minutes, but Derby's 39-year-old goalkeeper Andy Boyes - the former England and Manchester City custodian - kept out a low drive from the 19-year-old midfielder. That was as close as we would come to salvaging a point from this game, which petered out rather quickly. Daggers right-back Patrick Scheepens capped off our fourth league defeat by diving in County's penalty area in injury time and getting himself a pointless yellow card.

 

Derby County - 2 (van Aken 21, Watts 44)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Kurtovic 4)

Premier League, Attendance 27,437 - POSITIONS: Derby 12th, Dag & Red 6th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Gallen, Scheepens, Kurtovic, Darvill, Fox, Hutchinson (Killick), Jorgensen, Powell (McCann), Salvador, Curnis (Honeyball), Washington. BOOKED: Jorgensen, Scheepens.

 

That disappointing defeat was followed by some rather more positive news. The expansion of our club's training complex had been completed, and we now had facilities that were truly worthy for the Premier League.

 

Although our high position in the table suggested otherwise, we were arguably not yet worthy of the Premier League's elite. Top of the pile were Manchester United, who were now four points clear of 2nd-placed Liverpool and well on track for a third straight title. Manchester City now trailed United by eight points, having lost their unbeaten record at Fulham.

 

The Red Devils' striking supermen Sean Jordan and Moses Penfold had bagged 26 PL goals between them this term, so Daggers fans must've been fearing a goal glut when they arrived at Rainham Road the following weekend. Was our proud record of not losing a league game at home this season about to go up in flames?

[CFuller]

DECEMBER 2036 (continued)

20 December 2036: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Manchester United

Manchester United were unbeaten in their last 17 matches, though it was worth nothing that they'd played in midweek and were perhaps not as fresh as we were. Moses Penfold looked particularly tired, so he was left on the bench and replaced up front with 23-year-old Shaun Murray, who'd recently won his first caps for England. It was Murray who had United's first shot on target after 10 minutes, but Denzel Gallen comfortably caught his looping header.

 

I then began to take real notice of the Red Devils' fatigue. After I instructed my players to increase the tempo and press United more aggressively, we started to take the game to our opponents. Tristan Egueh missed a couple of chances to give us the lead, but it would be third time lucky for the returning youngster after 22 minutes.

 

Daggers playmaker Orlando Salvador drew United centre-back Emerson out of position before playing the ball through to Mark Washington. The skipper then squared it for Egueh to tap in a simple finish. The Rainham Road faithful celebrated a shock lead for Dagenham, but there was more to come for them!

 

Things would get even better for us in the 26th minute, when the visitors' other centre-half made an uncharacteristic error! Red Devils captain José Luis played a dodgy back-pass to goalkeeper Carl Baker, which Washington swiftly pounced on and powered past the onrushing Welshman! I couldn't believe what I was seeing! We were leading the champions 2-0!

 

Manchester United tried to retaliate a minute after Mark's goal, but Arturo Samario's header from Matheo Honoré's right-wing cross didn't remotely trouble Gallen. It would take another United header - from the incomparable Sean Jordan - to finally break our resistance after 43 minutes. The Red Devils had pulled a goal back, and one of the greatest results in our history was now looking less certain.

 

The champs came back fighting after the half-time interval. Two minutes after the restart, Samario chipped the ball through to Argentina midfielder Sebastián Núnez, whose powerful strike whistled inches over the crossbar. On 53 minutes, Tristan blasted wide an opportunity to restore our two-goal cushion.

 

That miss would prove very telling in the 62nd minute, when Daggers right-back Patrick Scheepens was forced to head behind a cross from Manchester United left-back Tarek Taider. The subsequent corner was swung in by substitute midfielder Denis Bosnjak, and Murray rose above Greg Killick to flick it home. United were back level, and with Penfold now on the pitch (albeit in an unusual midfield role), things were looking ominous for us.

 

Sure enough, after 68 minutes, the Red Devils completed the transition from 0-2 to 3-2. German international midfielder Leszek Michniewicz started off a counter-attack by intercepting a Scheepens throw-in. He would then finish it with moments later with an unstoppable volley from Núnez's deflected centre. One could almost hear the hearts of thousands of Dagenham supporters break in unison.

 

Alexander Mejía's side went for the jugular in the 74th minute, but Emerson's header was met by a crucial catch from Gallen. Four minutes later, Penfold - United's hero on so many occasions - committed a clumsy foul on Dagenham midfielder Neil McCann deep in away territory. Penfold escaped without a booking, but Washington punished his clumsiness with a delightful free-kick into Baker's top corner! 3-3!

 

The excitement didn't quite end here, as Killick had to clear away a Murray header that could've put the Red Devils back in the ascendancy in the 82nd minute. That proved to be United's last meaningful scoring chance, and so a six-goal classic ended with the points being shared - and our excellent home record remaining in one piece!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (Egueh 22, Washington 26,78)

Manchester United - 3 (Jordan 44, Murray 62, Michniewicz 68)

Premier League, Attendance 17,848 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 7th, Man Utd 1st

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Gallen, Scheepens, Darvill, Kurtovic, Djuzel (Fox), McCann, Killick, Fraser (Jorgensen), Salvador, Washington, Egueh (Hernández). BOOKED: Djuzel.

 

Forget that we were 2-0 up, and that Manchester United's players were largely knackered. This was a breakthrough moment for us - the first time we had managed to avoid defeat against either of the Mancunian powerhouses.

 

Holding the champions to a draw strengthened our status as an emerging force in the Premier League. We could now march confidently into our next match, which was away to one of English football's fallen giants.

 

Ten seasons ago, Tottenham Hotspur were on their way to finishing as Premier League runners-up behind Manchester City. They came 5th as recently as 2031. Now, after several years of mid-table mediocrity, Spurs were in the throes of a battle against relegation, having won only four league matches thus far this season.

 

Steven Davis was sacked as manager in early November and replaced with James Marshall - the man who had taken Ipswich Town into the Premier League. Marshall had yet to discover the winning formula at the AIA Stadium, and so it was a rather tragic Tottenham team who welcomed us to their corner of North London.

 

23 December 2036: Tottenham Hotspur vs Dagenham & Redbridge

We reverted to a bog-standard 4-4-2 for this match, and our direct approach would cause Tottenham a ton of problems early on. Though Mark Washington fired our first scoring attempt over the crossbar after nine minutes, he would play a key role in us taking the lead two minutes later. After Shaun Powell's deep cross was headed behind by Spurs right-back Mohamed Ali Zitouni, Washington whipped in a corner that George Darvill emphatically headed home.

 

Four minutes after that came another of Mark's hallmarks. From just beyond the halfway line, our skipper dribbled beyond Zitouni and entered the penalty area, where he lashed in our second goal! The American was in dreamland... and that dream wouldn't be ending any time soon!

 

Left-winger Dario Curnis had made the assist for that second goal, and he would set up Washington for another after 23 minutes. On this occasion, Mark broke away from Tottenham centre-half Shane Hussey to collect Dario's square pass before prevailing in a one-on-one with Spurs goalie Orhan Guner. We were 3-0 up at the AIA Stadium!

 

Our hosts were now in all sorts of trouble, having already seen midfielders Tim Demetriou and Tumelo Mofokeng pick up knocks earlier on. But for a couple of Guner saves from Robbie MacKenzie and Darvill in the closing stages, we could've easily sent them 4-0 behind before half-time! Tottenham had rarely troubled our defence by that point, save for a 37th-minute shot from Shane Stevens that was easily caught by goalkeeper Denzel Gallen.

 

I made a bold substitution during the interval. Powell, who'd received a booking before missing a sitter on the stroke of half-time, was taken off to make way for 16-year-old Premier League debutant Milen Danchev. It would be a quiet second period from the Bulgarian, and indeed from our other attacking players, though they didn't really need to stretch what was already a comfortable lead.

 

Our defence limited Tottenham to a handful of shots from outside our penalty area, and none of them caused Gallen too much bother. Denzel was beaten in the 83rd minute by a blistering 30-yarder from Daniel Poulsen, but the bar deflected the Danish winger's strike behind and kept our goalie's sheet clean.

 

Guner also managed to keep the 3-0 scoreline as it had been at half-time, though not without a couple of late scares. In the 89th minute, a shot from Dagenham midfielder Kenneth Jorgensen was deflected into the path of target man Robbie MacKenzie, whose attempt from a tight angle was parried by Guner.

 

Robbie would eventually beat Guner in injury-time, volleying in a cross from 19-year-old left-back Carl Pratt - another PL debutant for the Daggers. The goal was sadly ruled out for offside, but the officials' call didn't overshadow what had been another great Dagenham & Redbridge performance away from home.

 

Tottenham Hotspur - 0

Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (Darvill 11, Washington 15,23)

Premier League, Attendance 42,740 - POSITIONS: Tottenham 18th, Dag & Red 5th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Gallen, Gridelli, Radosavljevic, Darvill, Djuzel (Pratt), Powell (Danchev), Jorgensen, Fraser, Curnis, MacKenzie, Washington (Egueh). BOOKED: Powell.

 

That result showed just how badly Tottenham Hotspur had fallen in recent years. They'd relied on older players for far too long and hadn't replaced them, which could explain why they'd lost 12 of their last 15 league matches. I really wouldn't be surprised if Spurs get relegated from the top flight this season, for what would be the first time in exactly six decades.

 

There wasn't much Christmas cheer in Tottenham, but 'twas very much the season to be jolly at Dagenham & Redbridge. We enjoyed our festive break before concluding 2036 with one more home game, against Chelsea.

 

The Blues were one point below us in 6th, but had already played one game more. Were we to replicate our home victories over Chelsea from the previous couple of seasons, there would be clear daylight between us and Lee Nicholls' team.

 

27 December 2036: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Chelsea

A poor start from Dagenham striker Tristan Egueh saw him pick up a yellow card for pushing Tomas Jazvin in the sixth minute, and then cue an awful 25-yard shot wide three minutes later. Four minutes later, our usually energetic midfield aggressor Greg Killick was tamely knocked off the ball by Chelsea's Kim Byung-Ki. The ball went loose before being hoovered up by Alun Harding - the Premier League's top scorer this season with 16 goals. The 24-year-old Wales striker ran rings around our defenders before blasting a shot off target.

 

The Dagenham defence tightened up a bit more after that, and Harding wouldn't be allowed another chance until the 31st minute, when his header from Guillermo Mas' corner was caught by Denzel Gallen. The young Daggers goalie also safely gathered an effort from Chelsea's other frontman Gianni Improta on 35 minutes. Seven minutes later, our otherwise quiet captain Mark Washington chipped a free-kick into Chelsea's box, only to see Dave Hutchinson nod it wide.

 

I expected things to pick up in the second half after a lacklustre first period... but they quite simply didn't. Harding was caught offside for Chelsea in the 52nd minute, and Daggers midfielder Orlando Salvador had a tame shot cleared away by Blues defender Sébastien Etoundi a minute later.

 

Washington's woes then continued with a couple of abysmal attempts in the 59th and 61st minutes. Mark did find a promising forward run from Greg on 63 minutes, but Killick couldn't strike the killer blow, as his shot was diverted away from goal by Chelsea keeper Mark Thomas.

 

In the 76th minute, a fantastic tackle from Jazvin halted Washington's attempted dribble into the Blues area. The ball ended up at the feet of our left-back Ante Djuzel, who drove it just the wrong side of the post.

 

We would have one last chance through substitute winger Dario Curnis four minutes from time, but Thomas was determined not to be beaten here. Gallen also kept this clean sheet intact following late saves from Maximiliano Fernández and Improta, and so what could've been a thrilling top-six battle instead finished 0-0.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Chelsea - 0

Premier League, Attendance 17,848 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 5th, Chelsea 7th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Gallen, Gridelli, Darvill, Kurtovic, Djuzel, Jorgensen, Killick, Hutchinson (Powell), Salvador (Curnis), Washington, Egueh (MacKenzie). BOOKED: Egueh.

 

That goalless draw brought a surprisingly mediocre end to what had been a fabulous half-season for us. We were defying all the critics' claims that we would falter to remain on course for European qualification. There was - of course - still a very long way to go, but I saw no reason why we couldn't remain in the upper reaches of the Premier League.

 

Unfortunately, a couple of serious injuries just before the New Year had threaten to disrupt our rhythm. Dave Hutchinson had suffered a torn groin muscle in training, while Tristan Egueh picked up a hernia on New Year's Eve. They have both been ruled out for the whole of what is sure to be an action-packed January.