House of Flying Daggers

[CFuller]

SEPTEMBER 2025 (continued)

We had made a promising start to the season, which was more than could be said of our next opponents. Bristol City, who at one stage last term looked as certain to win promotion as the Workers' Party looked to win a North Korean election, were suffering from 'post-play-off traumatic stress disorder'.

 

City's automatic promotion charge fell apart in the last four games of the regular season, and they then lost out in the Play-Off Semi Finals to Rotherham United, who were eventually promoted. That resulted in manager Greg Abbott losing his job and Chris Basham being put in charge. However, the former Barrow chief was already under pressure, with the Robins down in 17th place before their visit to Victoria Road.

 

20 September 2025: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Bristol City

You could tell from the start that our confidence was much higher than Bristol City's. We were willing to push forward early on against the Robins, and in the fifth minute, Sean Short hit an edge-of-the-area shot that City keeper Stuart Moore did well to turn behind. In the 13th minute, Moore held onto a headed effort from Yasser Ibrahim. Five minutes after that, Mitchell Clark curled in a free-kick that was not too far off target.

 

Another set-piece startled the Robins in the 21st minute, as Ahletdin Israilov's corner was headed towards goal by Short, and Moore had to come in with another catch. Four minutes later, though, we went into our shell, allowing Bristol City to have their first real chance to score. Ryan Wilks - a scorer of 34 league goals for Bristol City last season - drilled the ball across our penalty area to find Leeroy McKenzie, who couldn't hit the target with a poor half-volley.

 

We attacked again after 27 minutes via Ibrahim, whose cross was headed out of the City box by Pete Maxwell. Daggers midfielder Geraint Harding rushed to the ball, and unleashed a stunning volley just before it could hit the ground! Moore made a catch that looked more comfortable than it us, but by half-time, we were wondering why we weren't leading.

 

Moore was keeping Bristol City's heads above water, and he saved his team again in the 58th minute. His catch from Yasser's latest effort was followed six minutes later by a rare chance for the Robins to strike. McKenzie drilled a corner to Wilks, who managed to squeeze the ball between Daryl Ryan and the near post. With that, Bristol City were leading 1-0, and we were staring at another home defeat.

 

Annoyingly, Israilov got booked shortly after the restart for diving. I took him off immediately and sent on Paul Hart, who created a chance for Short on 78 minutes. Moore made an excellent dive to palm Sean's shot away.

 

When Troy Hands blasted a shot wide four minutes later, I really started to feel that we were going to lose. Yasser didn't feel the same way. In the 89th minute, shortly after Theo Wharton had a shot blocked, Ibrahim hammered the ball past Moore to save us a point! The Egyptian could actually have saved two more, but his injury-time shot at glory went high and wide.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Ibrahim 89)

Bristol City - 1 (Wilks 64)

League Two, Attendance 3,732 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 11th, Bristol City 18th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Beech, Dalton, Coton, Warren (Oliver), Harding (Wharton), Clark, Hands, Israilov (Hart), Ibrahim, Short. BOOKED: Israilov.

 

We stayed at home for our next match, which was against recently-relegated Yeovil Town. Troy Hands was particularly looking forward to facing his former club. Troy scored just four goals in 34 league games for the Glovers last season, but he'd already bettered that tally this term with six goals in 10 for us!

 

24 September 2025: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Yeovil Town

Troy Hands had an early opportunity to stun his old club with a fierce shot in the third minute. He couldn't quite beat Jak Alnwick, as the experienced Yeovil goalkeeper tipped his strike over. Six minutes later, Glovers captain Conor Coady made a superb tackle to dispossess Yasser Ibrahim, and he then blazed the ball just over our bar.

 

Another Yeovil effort, from midfielder Jack Lynch, went high in the 13th minute. Lynch then had a pop from long distance in the 19th minute. Daryl Ryan couldn't quite reach the ball before it bounced back off his bar, and with our goalie flat on his backside, Daniel Farmer looked certain to volley Yeovil into a 1-0 lead. That was until Daryl somehow managed to push the shot away!

 

Alas, Ryan's heroics would be in vain. Two minutes later, Mitchell Clark gave away a free-kick just outside our area, and the player he fouled - John Schofield - promptly curled said set-piece into the top corner of Daryl's goal.

 

We were now a goal down, and Hands' frustrations grew in the 28th minute. Moments after our frontman was booked for diving in the Glovers' penalty area, Troy created a chance for Paul Hart, whose shot was pushed away by Alnwick. The 32-year-old Geordie made another save after 29 minutes to deny Hands once more.

 

Yeovil soon threatened to go further ahead through winger Marc Allison, but his audacious half-volley flew straight into Ryan's grasp. Farmer pulled wide another Glovers chance five minutes before the end of a first half that the away team narrowly edged.

 

Hands was not having a happy reunion with his old friends, so he came off at half-time to be replaced by Jonathan Roche. Five minutes into the second half, another Daggers forward was accused of simulation, with Ahletdin Israilov being booked for that offence for the second game in succession.

 

Later on, in the 61st minute, Ahletdin latched onto a lovely cross from Roche. Israilov went for power, and Alnwick reacted with another marvellous save. Alnwick remained unbeaten until the 66th minute, when Israilov volleyed home from another Roche delivery. However, the Kyrgyzstani was well offside when Jonny played the ball to him, so the would-be equaliser wouldn't be.

 

Alnwick was back to his ominous best in the 76th minute, parrying a bullet from Hart just before I substituted my teenage midfielder. The final six minutes saw us waste three more chances. Geraint Harding found the side netting, Roche put too much power into his attempt, and Israilov was thwarted by a spectacular acrobatic save from Alnwick. Thanks to a goalkeeper who was playing more like Lev Yashin in his pomp than a Northumbrian journeyman, we were shut out for the first time this season.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Yeovil Town - 1 (Schofield 21)

League Two, Attendance 3,056 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 11th, Yeovil 6th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Beech, Tierney, Coton, Oliver, Clark, Wharton (Harding), Israilov, Hart (Barber), Ibrahim, Hands (Roche). BOOKED: Hands, Israilov.

 

Our last four home games had resulted in us picking up just two points. That was a major concern.

 

Following our latest disappointment on home turf, we travelled to the East Midlands for our first ever competitive meeting with Derby County.

 

Of course, this wasn't my first visit to Pride Park. At the start of the year, I had discussions about moving to Derby, who were then playing in League One, before deciding to stay at Dagenham. The Rams subsequently turned to rookie manager and former goalkeeper John Sullivan, who oversaw their first relegation to the fourth tier.

 

27 September 2025: Derby County vs Dagenham & Redbridge

The first 20 minutes were absolutely terrible, and largely eventless save for a sloppy Mitchell Clark pass that gifted Derby a corner in the 11th. The rest of the first half was not a great deal better.

 

Neither team had a shot until the 24th minute, when Derby winger Raouf Jaziri rolled his free-kick to striker Thomas Kerr, who failed to get his drive on target. A minute later, Wayne Coton headed wide our first chance from Clark's corner.

 

Dagenham keeper Daryl Ryan made his first real contribution after 29 minutes, parrying Jon Tolley's cross before it could find Kerr. Left-winger Tolley later forced Daryl to catch his header in the 39th minute, but otherwise, the Rams looked rather sheepish, if you'll pardon the pun. To be fair, so did we in a goalless first period.

 

Derby made the slightly better start to the second half, but substitute midfielder Tom Milner couldn't test Ryan with a poor strike in the 47th minute. Two minutes after that, Clark floated a Daggers corner to Sean Short, who flicked it over the crossbar. This display of terrible shooting continued with Brad Gaunt's free-kick for Derby in the 56th minute sailing past the goal.

 

Nine minutes later, a set-piece led to the game's long-awaited opening goal. Short got above Rams centre-half Mike Goodwin to nod Ahletdin Israilov's corner on to Gavin Dalton, who tried to squirm the ball across the line. However, home left-back Lenny Mortimer did that for him, tackling the ball into his own net!

 

After taking a surprise lead, we tried to extend it in the 72nd minute, but Sean's half-volley lacked accuracy. That miss would be costly, as former Republic of Ireland Under-21s striker Kerr drew Derby level two minutes later with a fine finish from Jaziri's pass.

 

Aside from a 76th-minute Israilov free-kick that missed the target, we spent the rest of the match having to defend our position. Thanks to some strong defending from the likes of Coton, Ryan and captain Tim Beech, we just about held onto a point. Daryl parried an effort from Kerr after 79 minutes, while Tim cleared a Jaziri centre out of our six-yard box in added-on time.

 

Derby County - 1 (Kerr 74)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Mortimer og65)

League Two, Attendance 20,832 - POSITIONS: Derby 5th, Dag & Red 12th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Beech, Dalton, Coton, Warren, Clark, Wharton (Israilov), Hands, Roche, Miljevic (Ibrahim), Short (Barber). BOOKED: Hands.

 

We've already had some good results away from Victoria Road this season, and that was among them, even though our football may have been coma-inducingly dull at times. If we can pick up our home form in October, we can certainly move much closer to the play-off places than the relegation spots.

[CFuller]

League Two Table (End of September 2025)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.          Kidderminster          13    9     2     2     24    8     +16   29
2.          Leyton Orient          13    8     2     3     27    15    +12   26
3.          Chesterfield           13    8     2     3     18    10    +8    26
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.          Hartlepool             13    7     2     4     20    13    +7    23
5.          Bournemouth            13    6     4     3     13    11    +2    22
6.          Aldershot              13    7     1     5     17    16    +1    22
7.          Derby                  13    6     3     4     19    14    +5    21
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8.          Yeovil                 13    5     6     2     12    10    +2    21
9.          Wycombe                13    5     5     3     11    10    +1    20
10.         Luton                  13    5     4     4     19    17    +2    19
11.         Bristol Rovers         13    4     6     3     10    8     +2    18
12.         Swindon                13    4     5     4     15    17    -2    17
13.         Dag & Red              13    4     4     5     19    20    -1    16
14.         Bristol City           13    4     4     5     13    15    -2    16
15.         Port Vale              13    4     4     5     14    18    -4    16
16.         Blackpool              13    3     6     4     16    14    +2    15
17.         Burton                 13    4     3     6     5     10    -5    15
18.         Dartford               13    4     3     6     16    22    -6    15
19.         Hereford               13    3     5     5     23    19    +4    14
20.         Chester                13    3     4     6     15    24    -9    13
21.         Tranmere               13    2     6     5     13    18    -5    12
22.         AFC Wimbledon          13    3     3     7     14    27    -13   12
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
23.         Cambridge              13    2     5     6     16    22    -6    11
24.         Boreham Wood           13    0     3     10    11    22    -11   3

[edtheguy]

I don't know what to make of this team yet - but there certainly looks like there's a chance they could pick up momentum as the season wears on. I'll be cheering them on as always!

[CFuller]

I don't know what to make of this team yet - but there certainly looks like there's a chance they could pick up momentum as the season wears on. I'll be cheering them on as always!

Things certainly look more promising than they did last season. I still think that we're one player short of a play-off-chasing team... but that one player might well arrive in the next update!

[CFuller]

OCTOBER 2025

October began with news that one of our players had won an award. Centre-back Wayne Coton had been chosen as the League Two Young Player of the Month for September. Even though we were leaking goals here, there and everywhere, Wayne remained a consistently solid presence at the back.

 

Sadly, Coton would not be winning that award for a second month in a row. He sustained a chest injury a couple of days before a tricky away game against Leyton Orient, and he would miss most of October as a result.

 

We now had to try and contain the best attack in League Two without arguably our best defender. Orient were in 2nd place after winning four matches in a row, and former Daggers forward Lee Finnie was joint-top of the league's goal chart with 10. Needless to say, they were clear favourites to beat us at Brisbane Road.

 

4 October 2025: Leyton Orient vs Dagenham & Redbridge

There was some early tension among the Leyton Orient players, as Max Weatherstone and Lee Finnie both got early warnings after committing fouls in the opening two minutes. On nine minutes, our target man Sean Short fired a warning shot in the form of a header that was caught by O's goalie Abou Magaye.

 

The next few minutes were rather quiet, although Weatherstone twisted his knee in the 21st minute after committing what was his second foul on Mitchell Clark. Surprisingly, Weatherstone played on, and he was involved in a 24th-minute move that saw Brian Maun fire wide Orient's first shot of the game.

 

After 35 minutes, Mitchell was brought down yet again by Weatherstone, who finally saw his name added into the ref's notebook. Our free-kick went to waste, and Finnie could've scored from the Orient breakaway that followed, but he couldn't direct his shot towards goal. Four minutes later, Short's lobbed pass evaded O's defender Jack Saville and left Troy Hands one-on-one with the keeper. Troy took his time, and then fired past Magaye to put us in the ascendancy at the interval!

 

The second half began with substitute Matthew Wickham heading an Orient corner over the bar in the 49th minute. Finnie was also unable to hit the target from just inside our area in the 53rd minute. Nine minutes later, Weatherstone sliced the ball past our centre-backs Gavin Dalton and Aaron McEwan to present Finnie with a fantastic opportunity. The home fans rose from their seats in anticipation… but Daryl held his ground to deny Lee what would've been a dream goal against his former club.

 

After 71 minutes, Daggers winger Jonathan Roche almost scored the goal of his dreams. Jonny evaded two vain tackles from Orient full-back Gavin Hendry as he dribbled towards goal, and the Irishman then fizzed a shot just beyond the post. Six minutes later, Roche's compatriot Ryan pushed away another effort from Finnie on his way to being named man of the match.

 

The dying moments saw Dagenham substitute Kenny Barber have three chances to secure all three points for us. His first went over the bar in the 80th minute, and his second was saved by Magaye in the 82nd. In the 88th minute, though, Kenny ran onto Daryl's goal kick and blasted it beyond the rushing Magaye! That goal secured us an impressive 2-0 victory!

 

Leyton Orient - 0

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Hands 39, Barber 88)

League Two, Attendance 6,241 - POSITIONS: Leyton Orient 2nd, Dag & Red 11th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Beech, Dalton, McEwan, Oliver (Warren), Roche, Clark, Israilov (Barber), G Flood, Short (Wharton), Hands. BOOKED: Oliver.

 

Though we were among the more prolific goalscorers in League Two, I was still open to signing any player who would make our attack look even more menacing. Before our next game, I decided to relax my self-imposed wage limits to sign a new striker for £2,000 per week - and with good reason.

 

Daggers fans from across Essex must have been feeling very excited when, on an otherwise quiet Monday afternoon, we announced the signing of former Bristol City captain Mark West. The 27-year-old Yorkshireman scored an incredible 33 goals in 48 league games for City last season, but the Robins had criminally allowed his contract to expire. With West still on the free agency list after three months, I made my move.

 

At 6ft 2in and 13st 7lb, West - who came through Manchester United's youth set-up way back when - was a big unit. He had incredible strength, both in the air and on the ground, and he also boasted almost endless stamina. It was no wonder, then, that Bristol City fans used to refer to Mark as 'The Beast'.

 

After playing 45 minutes in a reserve match in midweek, Mark took his place on the bench for our home game against rock-bottom Boreham Wood. Daryl Ryan, who was our man of the match against Orient, kept his place in goal, despite representing the Republic of Ireland in an Under-21s international just a couple of days earlier.

 

Though Boreham Wood were propping up the table, they had just recorded their first ever Football League win - 4-2 at home to Swindon Town - before running our conquerors Millwall close in the Football League Trophy. If we had any complacency in our team, Steve McNulty's men would be ready to punish us.

 

11 October 2025: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Boreham Wood

We were so slow to get going that Boreham Wood almost scored before we touched the ball! In the opening seconds, Jamie Starkey played a pinpoint through-ball to former Daggers loanee Charlie Wallace, who drilled wide a great opportunity to silence our supporters!

 

We'd woken up by the 11th minute, when Sean Short's shot was parried by Wood keeper Ross McDonald. Seven minutes later, Short leapt above Niall Bolland to head Mitchell Clark's free-kick towards the away goal. Sean was about to celebrate when, right at the last moment, Boreham Wood winger Joel Logan cleared his header off the line!

 

Logan threatened to stun us further after 25 minutes, when his free-kick was superbly turned over the bar by Daryl Ryan. That was followed two minutes later by a half-volley from Troy Hands, which McDonald held onto. The visiting goalie then watched Short and Clark fire a couple of hopeful long-rangers wide before making his next save in the 41st minute to keep out Mitchell's banana shot.

 

Sean blasted one more effort over before his match was cut short just before half-time by a serious foot injury inflicted on him by Louis Storey. That meant new boy Mark West was given his debut much earlier than anticipated. Mark had a brief run-out in injury time before both teams went back to their dressing rooms with the score still at 0-0.

 

Just like in the first half, Boreham Wood missed a golden chance early in the second period. After 53 minutes, winger Tony Henry curled a cross towards Wallace, only for Daggers defender Gavin Dalton to knock it into the path of another Wood striker. John Lordan just had to find his spot… but a horrible miscue left the Irishman with his head in his hands! Dagenham centre-back Thomas Tierney was also lamenting a miss four minutes later, when he got a poor connection to Clark's free-kick.

 

We had our next opportunity to break the deadlock in the 71st minute. After picking up a great interception from Geraint Harding, Yasser Ibrahim took the ball forward and looked for the run of Paul Hart down the right wing. Paul headed Yasser's delivery back into the centre, where Mark unleashed a stunning volley with his weaker right foot! McDonald couldn't do anything about it, and West had opened the scoring on his Dagenham & Redbridge debut!

 

Wood still had plenty of time to fight back, though. Lordan had two more efforts for them over the next six minutes - the first went wide, and the second was pushed aside by Ryan.

 

In the last minute of normal time, Logan put a 30-yard strike just over the bar after our skipper Tim Beech had headed away Gethin Morgan's corner. Our defence held on for their second straight clean sheet, and Dalton was later named man of the match, but there was only one name on our supporters' lips at the final whistle. 'The Beast' had arrived.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (West 71)

Boreham Wood - 0

League Two, Attendance 3,241 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 10th, Boreham Wood 24th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Beech, Dalton, Tierney, Warren, Roche (Harding), Clark, Hart, Ibrahim (Miljevic), Short (West), Hands. BOOKED: Clark.

 

Mark West was already enjoying the adulation of our fans, but our other target man's spirits weren't quite so high. Club physio Sam Cutler confirmed to me that Sean Short had broken his foot, so Sean would unfortunately be on the sidelines for - at the very best - the next four months.

 

It's just as well I signed Mark, then, isn't it?

[CFuller]

OCTOBER 2025 (continued)

Our next match was against 14th-placed Blackpool at Bloomfield Road. We lost home and away to the Seasiders last season, so we were hoping for better fortune this time round.

 

18 October 2025: Blackpool vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Mark West didn't have much luck in front of goal early in his full Dagenham debut. The big man didn't trouble Blackpool keeper Ross Archer with either of his shots in the 7th and 15th minutes. In between those misses came one from Seasiders midfielder Jimmy Harrison, who fired wide from outside our penalty area.

 

Another home midfielder - the now 38-year-old Graham Dorrans - hoovered up a woeful pass from Geraint Harding in the 24th minute, but he too sent his shot off target. Dagenham keeper Daryl Ryan didn't receive his first serious test until three minutes later. After Ahletdin Israilov conceded a foul for which he was booked, teenage Blackpool winger Tim Bean played the free-kick into our box. Craig Connor got his head to the ball, but Ryan met it with a superb fingertip save.

 

We would need Daryl to try and bail us out again in added-on time. When Dagenham captain Aaron McEwan took out Reis Collins in our area, our Irish keeper was under pressure to stop the 19-year-old striker's penalty. He wasn't up to the task. Collins sent Daryl the wrong way and sent Blackpool into a 1-0 half-time lead.

 

The second half was less than a minute old when Ryan had to stop Connor from scoring the hosts' second goal. In the 49th minute, Bean went on a lung-busting run for Blackpool, only to mess up his shot at the critical moment. Three minutes later, Troy Hands' header for us bounced straight into Archer's hands.

 

Troy would have another chance to score after 68 minutes. The move began with Dean Oliver frantically booting Bean's cross from our six-yard to Blackpool's area, where Troy got to the ball ahead of Dorrans. Hands was clear through until the Seasiders' defenders narrowed his angle and forced him into a shot that deflected off Archer. The deflection took the ball towards Yasser Ibrahim, who tried to half-volley it into a gaping goal… and succeeded only in putting it over.

 

I was just about to substitute Hands, but I was so appalled by Yasser's missed sitter that I hauled him off instead! I also sent on Louis Jack to replace the underperforming Tim Beech at right-back. Two minutes later, another Daggers defender nearly made a huge mistake. Gavin Dalton's interception from a Steve Ramsey cross almost sent the ball into his own net until Daryl saved his bacon by quickly fisting it behind!

 

Ryan displayed excellent reflexes again after 74 minutes to keep out another Connor strike. At the other end, Troy's struggles continued with him getting booked in the 79th minute for a frustrated push on Ramsey. Barely a minute later, however, his fortunes improved dramatically.

 

Hands received a wonderful first-time pass from West and drilled it beyond Archer to level the game at 1-1! Troy missed an opportunity to give us an unlikely victory in the 85th minute, but we still came away from Bloomfield Road with a creditable point.

 

Blackpool - 1 (Collins pen45)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Hands 80)

League Two, Attendance 6,506 - POSITIONS: Blackpool 15th, Dag & Red 9th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Beech (Jack), Dalton, McEwan, Oliver, Clark, Harding, Israilov (Roche), Ibrahim (G Flood), West, Hands. BOOKED: Israilov, Hands.

 

We were now in 9th place - our highest position yet - and had a chance to move another step up if we won our home meeting with AFC Wimbledon. The Dons had thus far struggled on their return to the Football League after an 11-year absence and were fourth-from-bottom.

 

21 October 2025: Dagenham & Redbridge vs AFC Wimbledon

Our new fearsome twosome of Troy Hands and Mark West linked up for a promising attack after just five minutes. Mark slipped a pass ahead of Troy, who misdirected his shot and looked disgusted at himself. I was disgusted at our defending from a Wimbledon corner in the 10th minute, but we got away with it, as Bevis Mugabi headed just wide from Ed Shearing's delivery.

 

Three minutes later, Mitchell Clark caused the Dons some problems with a corner for the Daggers. Mugabi couldn't get it clear, and Gavin Dalton squared the ball to Hands, who smashed it into the net! Troy's ninth goal of the season had given us the early advantage!

 

Theo Wharton nearly put us further clear in the 25th minute, but the Welsh midfielder narrowly missed the target following another great set-up from West. On 36 minutes, we survived a shot from Wimbledon's on-loan Crewe Alexandra striker Harold Grimshaw that flew into the stands.

 

In the 37th minute, Dons goalie Ian McLoughlin dove to catch a goalward header from Dalton. The Irish veteran had a much greater scare just before half-time, when countryman Jonathan Roche thumped his crossbar. McLoughlin couldn't hold onto the deflection, but Dons captain Mugabi headed the ball clear for him.

 

The woodwork would deny us again four minutes into the second period. Just minutes after being booked for pushing Grimshaw, our captain Aaron McEwan fired a rare scoring chance against the post.

 

A second Daggers player saw yellow in the 56th minute, and I took Wharton off straight away after he was booked for 'simulation'. Two minutes later, another corner resulted in the match's second goal. Adam Wixted's corner for Wimbledon led to a scramble in the box before Dominic Nicholas tucked away the equaliser.

 

The Dons sat back a bit more after restoring parity, and successfully defended a number of Dagenham corners. They next attacked in the 73rd minute, when Grimshaw played a free-kick short to 17-year-old Victor Hamsher, whose powerful 30-yarder was held by Ryan.

 

Daryl would not need to do much more in this game. The final quarter-hour was fairly mundane, save for an injury-time strike from West that unfortunately skimmed the bar. Not for the first time, Daggers fans were wondering at full-time how one point hadn't become three.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Hands 13)

AFC Wimbledon - 1 (Nicholas 58)

League Two, Attendance 3,193 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 11th, AFC Wimbledon 21st

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Beech, Dalton, McEwan (Tierney), Warren (Oliver), Roche, Clark, Wharton (Israilov), G Flood, West, Hands. BOOKED: McEwan, Wharton, Clark.

 

That result extended our unbeaten run to five games, although we'd actually only won two of those matches. We would need to show some more composure in front of goal if we wanted to turn draws into victories.

[CFuller]

OCTOBER 2025 (continued)

We went on the road for the fourth Saturday in our last five, with 18th-placed Chester playing host to us. Chester's long-serving manager Marcus Bignot really needed a win in order to take his team away from a relegation scrap and alleviate some doubts about his future. Although I had great respect for Bignot for what he'd achieved at the Deva Stadium, I wasn't going to show any compassion.

 

25 October 2025: Chester vs Dagenham & Redbridge

There wasn't much goalmouth action in the opening stages, although Chester lost a player to injury after just 15 minutes. On-loan Huddersfield Town winger Melih Celiksu tore his hamstring in a tackle from our left-back Dean Oliver and had to come off. Another Chester midfielder - Bob Lamb - was hurt after being felled by Theo Wharton in the 18th minute, but he was able to play on after some treatment.

 

While Lamb was being attended to on the sidelines, his Blues team-mate Deale Flynn drilled a shot into Daryl Ryan's hands. In the 24th minute, Daryl had to make a fantastic fingertip save to divert a close-range header from Flynn. However, the pair's next confrontation would have a different ending. Flynn aimed another header at goal on 30 minutes after latching onto Matthias Fanimo's cross, and Daryl couldn't keep it out.

 

Chester were 1-0 up, but only for two minutes… as they quickly took a 2-0 lead. Some shocking defensive positioning on our part allowed Flynn to set up Northern Ireland winger Bickram Cook, who casually passed the ball into the net.

 

Things soon went from bad to worse, as Ahletdin Israilov picked up a knock seconds after play restarted, leading to his substitution. Then, in the 35th minute, our six-minute spell from hell came to a sickening end. Rory Smith played a superb pass for Flynn, who shrugged off Gavin Dalton to get his second and Chester's third goal.

 

Very soon after that, Mark West fired wide a great opportunity to stem the bleeding and pull us back to within two goals. We then survived a couple of late headers from Flynn and Blues defender Brad McKay that might have sent us even further behind. At half-time, though, I was not a happy bunny at all.

 

"For crying out loud, guys," I cried out loud. "We've been on a good run of form, and now you're going to let it waste away like that? I can't think of a single player, aside from West, who put in even 50% effort, let alone 100%, in that first half. I expect ALL of you to show a lot more desire in the second half, otherwise you'll be having a full day of training on Sunday. Got that?"

 

The players took my words on board and attacked right from the start of the first half. In the 47th minute, substitute Yasser Ibrahim drilled a good cross into the Chester box. McKay could only clear it as far as Paul Hart, who drilled in the first of the three goals we needed.

 

Our second goal would come after 53 minutes. Midfielder Theo Wharton found West, whose first-time through-ball was finished by a clinical Troy Hands! Now it was Chester who were falling apart!

 

When Blues keeper Aaron Page narrowly prevented Hands from sliding Louis Jack's cross into the net in the 56th minute, Marcus Bignot knew he had to do something. He decided to take off Bulgarian defender Petar Biserov, who really struggled early in the half, and replace him with Joseph Debayo.

 

Chester settled back down, and we got nervous again, with Jack, Oliver and Hart all receiving bookings midway through the half. By that point, Dean was playing on a stubbed toe that would see him miss the next match.

 

Hart would also have to skip our next game, but that was because he ran himself into the ground here! Paul couldn't be faulted for not pulling his weight, and his 73rd-minute free-kick went close to drawing us level. We had lost all our momentum, though, and after a dire final quarter-hour, our five-match unbeaten run came to an end.

 

Chester - 3 (Flynn 30,35, Cook 32)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Hart 47, Hands 53)

League Two, Attendance 4,256 - POSITIONS: Chester 18th, Dag & Red 13th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Jack, Dalton (Tierney), Coton, Oliver, Wharton, Hart, Miljevic (Ibrahim), Israilov (Roche), West, Hands. BOOKED: Jack, Oliver, Hart.

 

After our first-half capitulation at Chester, I contemplated fielding an all-changed defence in our next home match against Kidderminster Harriers. That was until captain Aaron McEwan damaged his foot in training - an injury that meant Gavin Dalton retained his place at centre-half.

 

Kidderminster had started the season in blistering form, picking up 23 points from their first nine fixtures. In recent weeks, though, the Harriers had gone crashing down. Patrick Kohlmann's team were on a run of five matches without a victory as they travelled from Worcestershire to Essex.

 

28 October 2025: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Kidderminster Harriers

I told the lad just before kick-off to give our fans something to cheer about… and they did exactly that after just 22 seconds! Most of our outfield players were involved in a passing move straight from the kick-off that ended with Tim Beech tucking Mark West's through-ball bang into the corner of the net!

 

Kidderminster had their first chance to hit back in the 7th minute, when our old friend Stuart Gould fired a tame shot straight at Robbie Ryder. Harriers winger Mitchell Warden headed wide from Jay Seeley's cross a minute later. On 17 minutes, Kidderminster midfielder Bryn Morris floored Daggers counterpart Geraint Harding with a firm sliding tackle. Geraint hurt his shin quite badly, so he had to be replaced with another Welsh middleman in Theo Wharton.

 

That injury disrupted our rhythm somewhat. We would only have one more shot before half-time, and Gareth Flood's 35th-minute effort was not powerful enough to seriously test Kiddy keeper Darren Conneely. Morris then fired wide a couple of long-distance shots for the visitors before the half finished with us still leading 1-0.

 

18-year-old Joel Honeyball came on for us in the second half, and he needed just four minutes to make an impact. Honeyball played a superb crossfield pass to Flood in the 49th minute, and Gareth dribbled up the left flank before returning the favour. Joel fired his fellow teenager's cross into the net from a tight angle, making it 2-0!

 

A minute later, though, Kidderminster captain Jon Newell caught our defence with a stunning long ball into our box. Striker Anthony Ward was first to the ball, but his header went directly into Ryder's hands. That was a pivotal moment, but we survived it and pushed on.

 

After 54 minutes, Honeyball's flick-on was nodded towards goal by West, but Conneely held onto it. Five minutes later, Mitchell Clark played a Daggers corner to the near post, where centre-back Gavin Dalton calmly put away his first goal for the club! That made it 3-0… but the Victoria Road scoreboard still read 1-0! It had malfunctioned very early in the second half, confusing some fans who were late to their seats after getting their half-time refreshments!

 

On the pitch, the Harriers players looked bewildered as to how their game had fallen apart so spectacularly! Joel was very unlucky not to score our fourth goal when his curler hit the post in the 64th minute, but it wasn't very long before we did make it 4-0. My final sub, Troy Hands, put the icing on the cake with a cool finish after a brilliant one-two with West.

 

This was yet another superb display from Mark, who unfortunately did not get the goal he deserved. Mark fired wide a couple of attempts in the 79th and 80th minutes after Mitchell had hit the side netting in the 74th, but four goals would be more than enough for us.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 4 (Beech 1, Honeyball 49, Dalton 59, Hands 71)

Kidderminster Harriers - 0

League Two, Attendance 2,594 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 11th, Kidderminster 6th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Beech, Dalton, Tierney, Warren, Roche (Honeyball), Clark, Harding (Wharton), G Flood, West, Barber (Hands). BOOKED: Honeyball.

 

It was almost a perfect evening for us. I say almost because Geraint Harding bruised his shin, which meant he would definitely miss our next match at Wycombe Wanderers, and possibly also our FA Cup Round 1 tie versus…

 

…well, we'll find out over the weekend!

[CFuller]

NOVEMBER 2025

We didn't play during the first weekend of November, so our attentions were firmly on the draw for Round 1 of the FA Cup. The good news was that we were drawn at home. The not-so-good news was that we'd been paired with Rochdale, who had recently returned to League One after a five-year stint in the Championship.

 

Our meeting with the Dale would come after our League Two mid-table clash with Wycombe Wanderers at Adams Park. The Chairboys were the division's lowest scorers, and only their Austrian striker Kevin Friesenbichler had found the net more than twice so far this term.

 

Incidentally, this was midfielder Mitchell Clark's first game for us since he signed a new contract that extended his stay with us for another year. I nearly sold Mitchell in the summer due to our financial problems, but his excellent form made me rather glad that he didn't join Bolton Wanderers after all.

 

5 November 2025: Wycombe Wanderers vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Wycombe produced some slick football in the first few minutes, and after just seven minutes, veteran midfielder Josh Falkingham's fancy footwork forced Mitchell Clark into conceding a free-kick. Falkingham fired the set-piece at goal, but Robbie Ryder easily caught the former Rangers man's effort.

 

Kevin Friesenbichler exposed our defence four minutes later, when he found Chairboys captain Jordan Gray in space. Fortunately for us, the Australian midfielder curled his shot wide. My concerns grew when Daggers winger Jonathan Roche bruised a rib in a clash with Wycombe left-back Ian Abraham after 13 minutes. Although Jonny was able to finish the first half, the injury would rule him out of our FA Cup game.

 

Things got better for us after half an hour, when Ahletdin Israilov found Mark West just outside Wycombe's penalty area. West then lobbed the ball past Wanderers keeper Tyrone O'Dea from 20 yards out to give us the opening goal! Mark had now either scored or created six goals in his first six games as a Dagenham player!

 

Our newest hero almost had another assist in the 38th minute, but Troy Hands' shot from West's pass slipped past the post. Troy paid the price for that miss a minute later, when Friesenbichler drilled home for Wycombe after a one-two with Gray. This was shaping up to be a very close match, and with the half-time score at 1-1, there was everything to play for.

 

Daggers left-back Matt Warren earned his oats with a couple of great interceptions early in the second half. On one such occasion, he impeccably timed a sliding tackle to deny Wycombe right-back Shane Kavanagh a near-certain goal in the 51st minute. Our defence in general looked very strong, not giving the hosts too many chances.

 

A 58th-minute shot from Friesenbichler, which went considerably wide, would be the Chairboys' last chance for a while. Before Wycombe could trouble us again, Mitchell seriously worried their defence with a couple of near-miss free-kicks in the 64th and 66th minutes. In contrast, Theo Wharton's 76th-minute strike did not get anywhere near the target.

 

Wycombe then came on very strong in the last 10 minutes or so. Ryder punched away a dangerous Kavanagh corner in the 83rd minute before watching winger Dylan Dixon drive wide a trio of long-distance shots. After Robbie made one more save to thwart Friesenbichler in the dying seconds of normal time, the spoils were shared.

 

Wycombe Wanderers - 1 (Friesenbichler 39)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (West 30)

League Two, Attendance 3,833 - POSITIONS: Wycombe 14th, Dag & Red 13th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Beech, Dalton, Coton, Warren, Roche (Honeyball), Clark, Israilov, Ibrahim (G Flood), West, Hands (Wharton).

 

Three days later, a season-high crowd of over 5,000 arrived at Victoria Road for our FA Cup Round 1 showdown with Rochdale. Although the Dale were 9th in League One, I felt that we could see our stronger opponents off if we made a quick start.

 

8 November 2025: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Rochdale

We didn't make a quick start, but Rochdale most certainly did. Winger Daryl Horgan raced past Daggers skipper Tim Beech and crossed to 35-year-old Gary Madine, whose bullet header put the visitors in front after just 20 seconds. I'd warned my team beforehand of the aerial threat Madine posed, and now we really needed to push up - not just to reduce that threat, but also to create chances of our own.

 

Mark West set up an opportunity in the 6th minute for Kenny Barber, who fired straight at Fabian Spiess. The Dale keeper also kept out an effort from Joel Honeyball in the 9th minute. We put Rochdale under more pressure midway through the half by winning a couple of corners, but they didn't amount to anything.

 

Indeed, the side from Greater Manchester had the best chances before half-time. Star midfielder Max Power, who had previously played in the Premier League with Blackburn Rovers, drove the ball just wide of Daryl Ryan's right-hand post after 44 minutes. A minute later, his team-mate Duncan Kirby went narrowly over from just inside the area. That was soon followed by a decent opening for Gareth Flood, but another strong save from Spiess ensured that we went into the break still trailing by that very early Madine goal.

 

I'm afraid things did not get better for us after the interval. West's 66th-minute piledriver, which deflected off Rochdale defender Ablade Mensah and went out for a corner, was one of only two shots we registered in the second half. The second was also from Mark in the 73rd minute, but Spiess saved it comfortably.

 

Rochdale's only shot on target was Madine's effort in the 70th minute, from which Ryan made a difficult stoppage. By and large, our defence had done well to subdue Dale's attacks, and right-back Beech would later be named man of the match for a spirited display against his hometown club. It was our failure to seriously test Rochdale's backline that brought our FA Cup exploits to an early and disappointing end.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Rochdale - 1 (Madine 1)

FA Cup Round 1, Attendance 5,127

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Beech, Dalton, Tierney (Coton), Warren, Clark, Hart, G Flood (Ibrahim), Honeyball, West, Barber (Hands). BOOKED: Tierney, Hart.

 

I wasn't happy to go out of the FA Cup like that - conceding a goal in the first minute, and failing to muster a reply in the next 89. It meant that we had crashed out of all three cup competitions at the first fence.

 

To look at it the other way, we could at least put all our eggs into the League Two basket. Our next match in the league was at home to Swindon Town, who were three places and three points behind us. Unfortunately, our rising star Joel Honeyball would have to sit this game out with a strained wrist.

 

15 November 2025: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Swindon Town

A big mistake from Swindon centre-back David Dickie gifted us the lead in the 7th minute. The Scotsman, who briefly played for the Daggers four seasons ago, missed an interception from Mitchell Clark's free-kick, allowing Troy Hands to tuck away the opening goal.

 

Another Swindon player messed up in the 11th minute, when Ross Bryant's long pass was cut out by Kristjan Miljevic. Our Serbian winger rushed forward and then hit a woeful shot. Mark West's fierce drive after 15 minutes also left something to be desired. On 24 minutes, Daggers defender Gavin Dalton punted the ball about halfway up the pitch to find Hands, who missed a great opportunity for his and our second goal.

 

The Robins had their first chance to strike back four minutes later, but Jon Howard's piledriver failed to get near the goal. Howard's partner in the Swindon midfield fared slightly better a minute before half-time. Mike Donovan was free of any defenders when Australia international striker Jason Darby found him with a clever pass, and Donovan duly drilled the ball home. I was far from happy - we'd dominated this game, yet it was 1-1 at half-time.

 

Encouragingly, we won a couple of corners in the first six minutes of the second half. The second resulted in a goalmouth scramble, as Paul Hart had a shot blocked before Wayne Coton buried a rebound into the Swindon goal!

 

The lead was ours again after 51 minutes, but the Robins gave us a fright two minutes later before Johnson Bassey put his shot clean over the bar. Daggers goalie Robbie Ryder faced a bigger test in the 61st minute, and he passed it with a fingertip save from Matt Stafford's powerful effort.

 

I then brought on Theo Wharton in place of the slacking West, with Ahletdin Israilov pushing up to partner Hands in attack. It was a tactical switch that paid off handsomely after 64 minutes. Dalton hoofed the ball forward to Israilov, who drew three Swindon players wide before playing the ball short to Hart. Paul's cross found Troy, and Swindon keeper Dominic Obodo flapped in vain at the header as he failed to keep it out.

 

At 3-1 down, the Robins saw red - literally. Their first-half hero Donovan turned to zero in the 68th minute with a petulant lunge on Clark that earned him an instant sending-off!

 

Donovan's dismissal effectively killed the game off, but just to make sure, we scored one more goal after 78 minutes. Hart stroked it home from a tight angle, though credit was also due to Miljevic, whose swerving ball to the teenager amounted to his first assist as a Dagger.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 4 (Hands 7,64, Coton 51, Hart 78)

Swindon Town - 1 (Donovan 44)

League Two, Attendance 3,207 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 13th, Swindon 16th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Beech (Jack), Dalton, Coton, Oliver (Warren), Clark, Hart, Miljevic, Israilov, West (Wharton), Hands.

 

Swindon had thrashed us 4-1 in one of our meetings last season, so it felt great to return the favour. That made it three wins in our last four home league games - a sign that we were getting back up to speed.

[CFuller]

NOVEMBER 2025 (continued)

Could we keep our good form going when we took on Bristol Rovers at the Memorial Stadium? Although the Pirates were in the play-off spots, we didn't lose to them in any of our three clashes last term.

 

22 November 2025: Bristol Rovers vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Bristol Rovers striker Paul McInnes headed over the bar from a Tommy Cunningham corner in the 5th minute. In the 18th minute, McInnes was tripped by fellow Scotsman Aaron McEwan, and the Dagenham captain got a booking for his troubles. The free-kick that followed led to a shot from Pirates skipper Fearghal McDonald, who fired it spectacularly wide. We had our first chance two minutes later, but Wayne Coton's header was so far off target that it bounced across the opposite touchline!

 

I'm afraid things didn't get much better for us on the attacking front, as midfielders Paul Hart and Mitchell Clark both cleared the bar in the 26th and 38th minutes respectively. In fact, Bristol Rovers were so woeful in attack that the first half ended without a single shot on target at either end!

 

McEwan had gone downhill after his first-half booking, so I replaced him with Gavin Dalton for the second period. That didn't stop Bristol Rovers - and McInnes in particular - from dominating the early stages of that half. After 50 minutes, McInnes finally troubled Robbie Ryder with his header from substitute Jamie Coyne's corner.

 

We would need Robbie to make another save on 62 minutes. McDonald's cross deflected off Clark and headed towards goal until Daggers left-back Matt Warren scrambled it away. However, McDonald flicked the ball back into a dangerous position, and McInnes rose above Geraint Harding for a header that Ryder managed to hold onto.

 

Ryder stopped yet another McInnes header in the 75th minute, albeit in less comfortable fashion. Robbie spilled the shot, and Gavin's subsequent tackle on McInnes almost knocked the ball across our goal line before the keeper picked it up!

 

Another close shave came when Pirates midfielder Chris Atkinson's first-time punt went just over in the 77th minute. A minute later, Rovers goalie Daniel Bentley caught a strike from Mark West, which was our first - and only - effort on goal. The game then fizzled out completely, with the score staying at 0-0.

 

Bristol Rovers - 0

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

League Two, Attendance 5,989 - POSITIONS: Bristol Rovers 7th, Dag & Red 13th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Beech, McEwan (Dalton), Coton, Warren, Harding, Clark (Oliver), Hart (West), Israilov, Ibrahim, Hands. BOOKED: McEwan.

 

A couple of days after that 'spectacle', we agreed terms on a new contract for right-winger Jonathan Roche. The 22-year-old Irishman extended his stay with the Daggers for an additional two seasons.

 

4th-placed Aldershot Town were next to play us at the Recreational Ground. The Shots hadn't lost a match in any competition for two months, and their 11-match unbeaten streak in the league saw them lead the table briefly.

 

26 November 2025: Aldershot Town vs Dagenham & Redbridge

This match, like our previous one, began with some duff shots at both ends. In the 12th minute, our captain Tim Beech crossed to Geraint Harding, who messed up his half-volley and sent it wide. Two minutes later, Aldershot midfielder Toby Cook intercepted a careless clearance from Wayne Coton and played it to his team-mate Adam Campbell in the Daggers area. The Shots captain had scored in his last three games, but his woeful effort failed to add to his season tally of 16 goals.

 

Our wastefulness continued with misses from Dean Oliver and Gavin Dalton midway through the half, and then a terrible miss from winger Jonathan Roche in the 38th minute. Five minutes later, with half-time drawing near, Aldershot winger Gerard Hibbert turned past Harding and entered our area. Hibbert's initial strike hit the post, but he tucked away the follow-up before left-back Matt Warren could clear. 1-0 to the Shots.

 

We did get a chance to equalise in injury time, when Aldershot full-back Michael Bridges was booked for an altercation with Beech on the touchline. Matt played the free-kick into the hosts' area, but Mark West couldn't guide his header towards the target, and we remained a goal down.

 

Paul Hart replaced Oliver at half-time, and the young Scouser was unlucky to header Yasser Ibrahim's cross wide four minutes after the restart. West then had two efforts in the 53rd minute, but both were saved by Aldershot goalie Jay Lynch. Two minutes later, Roche came off with a dead leg following a strong challenge from Bridges, who of course was already on a booking.

 

In the 65th minute, just moments after seeing Shots substitute Darren Roache head Ben George's deep cross against the far post, Bridges went too far. He backed into Paul to stop him from connecting with Robbie's long goal kick and immediately caught the ref's attention. Bridges knew that a second yellow card was coming, so he headed straight for the tunnel.

 

Aldershot were a man down, and seconds later, they were no longer a goal up. Hart's deep free-kick into the Shots' box was headed home by Dalton from point-blank range, and we were level at 1-1!

 

Paul threatened to create another goal after 74 minutes, when he nodded the ball left to Mark. The big man struck it on the half-volley, but Lynch turned it behind. West then hit the post with his header from Harding's free-kick before Stefan Courts frantically cleared for Aldershot. Mark had another go in the 78th minute, but a poor miss from a narrow angle indicated that it wasn't his day.

 

It wasn't Roache's day, either. The Shots' young Scottish winger had two late efforts saved by Ryder - first in the 84th minute, and then in the third minute of added-on time. When injury time was into its last few seconds, Hart crossed for Kristjan Miljevic, whose header didn't quite give us a late winner. For our third away game in a row, we settled for a share of the points.

 

Aldershot Town - 1 (Hibbert 43)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Dalton 66)

League Two, Attendance 4,387 - POSITIONS: Aldershot 3rd, Dag & Red 12th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Beech, Dalton, Coton, Warren, Harding, Oliver (Hart), Hands, Roche (Wharton), Ibrahim (Miljevic), West.

 

Gavin Dalton was named man of the match at full-time, and it had also been a good month for another Dagenham defender. Wayne Coton's efforts in keeping us unbeaten in League Two throughout November would see him named as the division's Young Player of the Month again.

 

We are now exactly halfway through the campaign, and things were looking good. With five points separating us from 7th, Daggers fans are looking up the table rather than down.

[CFuller]

League Two Table (End of November 2025)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.          Derby                  23    13    5     5     43    22    +21   44
2.          Leyton Orient          23    13    4     6     42    27    +15   43
3.          Aldershot              23    12    6     5     33    22    +11   42
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.          Chesterfield           23    12    6     5     33    26    +7    42
5.          Hartlepool             23    12    4     7     41    31    +10   40
6.          Bournemouth            23    11    7     5     25    23    +2    40
7.          Bristol Rovers         23    10    8     5     25    20    +5    38
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8.          Kidderminster          23    11    4     8     29    21    +8    37
9.          Bristol City           23    10    7     6     29    22    +7    37
10.         Luton                  23    10    5     8     35    30    +5    35
11.         Yeovil                 23    9     7     7     24    19    +5    34
12.         Dag & Red              23    8     9     6     36    28    +8    33
13.         Blackpool              23    8     9     6     31    24    +7    33
14.         Wycombe                23    8     8     7     20    24    -4    32
15.         Dartford               23    9     5     9     28    34    -6    32
16.         Chester                23    6     10    7     30    36    -6    28
17.         Port Vale              23    6     9     8     25    28    -3    27
18.         Swindon                23    5     11    7     26    33    -7    26
19.         Burton                 23    6     5     12    14    26    -12   23
20.         AFC Wimbledon          23    6     4     13    26    43    -17   22
21.         Hereford               23    3     9     11    35    43    -8    18
22.         Tranmere               23    2     10    11    21    36    -15   16
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
23.         Cambridge              23    2     9     12    25    42    -17   15
24.         Boreham Wood           23    1     5     17    25    41    -16   8

[EvilDave]

Your fans certainly aren't shortchanged in the entertainment stakes looking at your for/against record! Good work as ever with the Daggers, and finely written to boot. There's something about a story that isn't filled with instant success that's very satisfying, and your investment in the team comes through here. Keep up the good work Mr Fuller!

[CFuller]

Your fans certainly aren't shortchanged in the entertainment stakes looking at your for/against record! Good work as ever with the Daggers, and finely written to boot. There's something about a story that isn't filled with instant success that's very satisfying, and your investment in the team comes through here. Keep up the good work Mr Fuller!

We always seek to entertain!

I may have said in the Community Thread that I'm quite good at FM13, and I've got better at it throughout this save, but I've never been one to rapidly rise up the leagues. I prefer to take my time and gradually build a team that's fit for promotion - it just feels more organic and realistic.

[CFuller]

DECEMBER 2025

Our second half of the League Two campaign began at the Proact Stadium - home to League Two stalwarts Chesterfield. The Spireites were only outside the automatic promotion spots on goal difference, and they'd lost just one of their last nine league games.

 

3 December 2025: Chesterfield vs Dagenham & Redbridge

For the first 30 seconds of this game, we tormented Chesterfield with some slick forward passing. Then, captain Tim Beech curled a fabulous centre towards winger Kristjan Miljevic, who flicked his header over Spireites keeper Luke Chambers and found the net! We'd scored after just 33 seconds, and before letting the hosts touch the ball!

 

Chesterfield were annoyed, and their captain Brad Potts was booked in the 7th minute for tripping Ahletdin Israilov. Three minutes later, Ahletdin played an exquisite pass to Paul Hart, whose half-volley bounced wide. The Spireites had their first chances in the 13th and 17th minutes, but neither Nathan Ricketts-Hopkinson nor Potts could get on target.

 

On 23 minutes, Arron Baird gave us palpitations with a byline cross into our box. Ricketts-Hopkinson would've surely slid it over the goal line were it not for Matt Warren's late clearance, but Matt paid a big price for his bravery. Ricketts-Hopkinson clashed heads with our left-back in the immediate aftermath, and Warren was concussed. Big Aaron McEwan came on in our stricken defender's place, with Gavin Dalton moving out to the left from the centre.

 

When play resumed, Pelly Ruddock curled the hosts' corner to our near post, where Croatian defender Josip Elez headed over. Baird then put wide a couple of efforts in the 35th and 38th minutes before Ricketts-Hopkinson went close in the 40th. An error from McEwan had resulted in the latter chance, but Aaron would be involved in the game's second goal when it did come after 42 minutes. Israilov's corner was perfectly weighted for Big Mac to head home and put us 2-0 up at the break!

 

Chesterfield tried to fight back early in the second half, but they were constantly denied by regular interceptions from our solid defence. Barely five minutes into the period, the Spireites' backline collapsed again. Holding midfielder Steven Bowden managed to get Israilov's free-kick away from the reach of Mark West, but not McEwan, who stabbed in his second goal! 3-0 to the Daggers!

 

A minute later, however, Chesterfield demonstrated some real class. Jeremy Barnes lobbed the ball over Wayne Coton to find Baird, and the Spireites striker performed a Marseille turn to get past McEwan! He'd lost his momentum by that point, and his shot was easily parried by Robbie Ryder. Chesterfield's wastefulness continued with Chris Cracknell heading wide from a corner soon afterwards.

 

Then, in the 54th minute, we silenced the Proact Stadium almost completely with a fourth goal! After seeing his cross to West blocked by Ally Sharp, right-back Beech picked up the rebound and stroked it into the goal from a difficult angle!

 

This was becoming all too easy for us, even though Ryder had to catch a fierce strike from Barnes shortly after the restart. Indeed, when an injury to Ruddock in the 65th minute reduced Chesterfield to ten men, the spectators began to speculate about how comfortable our win would be. The answer did not involve a clean sheet, which Barnes erased in the 72nd minute with a tidy finish

 

Home fans now had at least one reason to be cheerful. While our fellow east Londoner Ian Dury had three in his 1970s heyday, we would finish with five. West missed a great opportunity for 5-1 in the 78th minute after a great set-up from Geraint Harding, but Mark did find the net in a scrappier manner ten minutes later. Kristjan's cross deflected off Mark's shoulder and crossed the line, leaving the big Yorkshireman almost embarrassed, but it was he who had the last laugh in a stunning away win!

 

Chesterfield - 1 (Barnes 72)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 5 (Miljevic 1, McEwan 42,51, Beech 54, West 88)

League Two, Attendance 6,485 - POSITIONS: Chesterfield 4th, Dag & Red 10th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Beech, Dalton, Coton, Warren (McEwan), Hart, Clark, Israilov (Harding), Miljevic, Hands, Barber (West).

 

Very few performances have left me speechless afterwards. That was one of them. Despite having fewer shots on goal than our hosts, we had taken Chesterfield to the cleaners!

 

We weren't in action again until 10 days later, when we hosted fellow mid-tablers Luton Town. The Hatters had been on a five-match winning streak in the league until they conceded eight goals in their two most recent matches.

 

I was hoping to give young Joel Honeyball a runout in this game. Sadly, Joel twisted his ankle during a midweek reserve match, so he was out until the New Year. The 18-year-old forward had now been injured four times in as many months, which was very worrying.

 

13 December 2025: Luton Town vs Dagenham & Redbridge

In the sixth minute, Mitchell Clark lobbed a Daggers free-kick forward to Mark West in Luton's six-yard box. Mark was all set to tap it in… and then Hatters defender Gareth O'Brien made a last-ditch tackle to knock the ball behind for a corner! Ahletdin Israilov aimed that corner for Geraint Harding, but the Welshman couldn't keep his header low.

 

Luton's first attempt also came from a header in the 16th minute, when free-scoring captain Simon Killeen's effort was caught by Daryl Ryan. A strike from the Hatters' seasoned midfielder Ross Jenkins sailed wide on 19 minutes. Harding then skimmed the bar in the 25th minute before Luton put us under some more pressure.

 

On 33 minutes, Steven McGann gave us a scare with his right-wing cross to Jerome Whiston, whose diving header passed the far post. A minute later, it took a great low save from Ryan to keep Killeen at bay after he was brilliantly set up by 18-year-old wide midfielder Chris Parton. We finished the first half with a couple of powerful but inaccurate strikes from our own teenage middleman Paul Hart, and the score remained at 0-0.

 

Wayne Coton was unlucky that his header in the 48th minute didn't quite give us the opening goal. He soon switched back to defensive duties, but not even an in-form centre-back such as himself could shut up Luton's goal machine for long. On 55 minutes, Killeen thundered in his 15th league goal of the season from Parton's cross, despite Wayne's best attempts to block his shot.

 

Five minutes later, the Hatters skipper was on the hunt for number 16. Thankfully, his header from an Andy Dalman corner lacked his customary accuracy. Killeen was soon joined up front by 20-year-old Ikechukwu Babayaro, who himself had scored 15 times in League Two this season. With this terrible twosome leading the line, I feared the worst.

 

Killeen's strike in the 70th minute, which went very high and very wide, did not give us much to worry about. That was not the case with his next shot, which came after 76 minutes. Midfielder Curtis Hulse's 20-yard strike hit Babayaro in the head, but the ball bounced fortuitously for Killeen, who provided the simplest finish for 2-0. This was a particularly gutting moment, as Israilov had hit the post just two minutes earlier for what would've been our equaliser. Had the match slipped away from us?

 

Not in Hart's book. With just under six minutes to play, Kristjan Miljevic slipped the ball from out left to find Paul in the Luton penalty area, and the youngster's tidy finish halved our arrears.

 

Before we could think about levelling, though, we had to survive an 87th-minute attack from the Hatters. Ryan spilled a cross from Luton left-back Irvine Moyo, but Wayne slid the loose ball away from a lurking Parton, and Killeen could only knock it behind for a goal kick. Our only grew when captain Aaron McEwan and midfielder Harding each picked up bookings just prior to added-on time.

 

Then, in the second extra minute, we launched one final attack. Israilov's lob from wide was shinned by Harding to substitute Troy Hands, who fired past goalkeeper Troy Hands and stunned the visitors! We appeared to have stolen a point… but there were still two more minutes scheduled.

 

In the penultimate minute, McEwan made an excellent clearance on the line from a McGann cross. Big Mac's heroics would be in vain, as another McGann delivery provided Luton with the winner in the very last minute. McEwan could only knock said ball into the path of Babayaro, who sent the Hatters fans mad! Like Lenny Kravitz said three decades ago, it ain't over till it's over.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Hart 85, Hands 90)

Luton Town - 3 (Killeen 55,76, Babayaro 90)

League Two, Attendance 3,906 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 14th, Luton 11th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Beech (Jack), McEwan, Coton, Oliver, Clark, Harding, Israilov, Hart, Ibrahim (Miljevic), West (Hands). BOOKED: McEwan, Harding.

 

And as if we needed any more bad luck, we lost no fewer than four first-team players for our next match.

 

Firstly, Ahletdin Israilov was sent home with a nasty bout of flu. Then, full-backs Louis Jack and Matt Warren both strained their backs in weight training, putting them out for a month apiece. Just to cap things off, midfielder Theo Wharton was ruled out for four weeks after pulling his hamstring whilst playing for the reserves.

 

Although our squad wasn't down to the bare bones, there wasn't a great deal of skin left when we travelled to third-from-bottom Tranmere Rovers the following weekend. Youth players Denis Bartley and Sotiris Giangoudakis joined the squad at Prenton Park, and they would be on standby in case we suffered any more injuries.

 

Tranmere had their own problems, as they were battling to maintain their long-held status as a Football League club. New Rovers boss Kieran Trippier, who won seven England caps in his playing days, had overseen just one league win since taking the helm at the end of October, but that was in Tranmere's most recent game at Swindon Town.

[CFuller]

DECEMBER 2025 (continued)

20 December 2025: Tranmere Rovers vs Dagenham & Redbridge

In the fourth minute, Tranmere's former Liverpool and Stoke City midfielder Coutinho tested Robbie Ryder with an excellent free-kick that the Dagenham goalie met with a strong catch. The Brazilian's career had been blighted by serious injuries and ill-timed transfers, but he showed some real class in the seventh minute.

 

Coutinho's corner delivery was perfectly weighted for Tranmere captain Lenny Coleman to head it home and put the hosts in front! Daggers striker Mark West was kicking himself, having been beaten to the header by a centre-half that was three inches shorter than him.

 

Mark sought to make amends in the 23rd minute. After Mitchell Clark's long ball was met by a volleyed centre from Gareth Flood, West got above Coleman to flick the ball into the Rovers net! We were level, and by the latter stages of the first half, we were looking good to take the lead.

 

In the 34th minute, Tranmere right-back Herbert Honeyball could only knock Flood's cross to our Liverpudlian midfielder Paul Hart, who fired it past the post. Hart was involved again in the 41st minute, when West flicked his cross ahead of Troy Hands. Troy took the ball beyond centre-back Eddie Harvey, but he couldn't beat keeper Marcus Cooper, who produced a brilliant point-blank save! Hart followed that up with an ineffective cross that Honeyball knocked back to the goalie, thus ending our spell of domination. At the break, this match was somehow still level.

 

In the 49th minute, Coutinho blasted high and wide from the edge of our area for Tranmere. That was uninspiring, and things didn't get better for either side until the 70th minute. Hands had a decent opening, but he could only fire his shot directly at Cooper. The 18-year-old Rovers custodian also had a comfortable save to make from Wayne Coton's header five minutes later. I took Hands off after that and sent on Kenny Barber as my second substitute. My first was Jonathan Roche, who hit a pretty awful shot in the 77th minute.

 

There was another awful shot at our end in the 84th minute, when Tranmere's Dave Dobrowolski fired well off target from a ridiculous angle. The Crewe Alexandra loanee followed that up soon after with another ambitious shot that hardly made Ryder break sweat. In between those two 'shots', I'd introduced Yasser Ibrahim in Gareth's place as our final substitution. That would be a decisive move on my part.

 

After 86 minutes, Mark played Robbie's goal kick back to Wayne, and the defender then hoisted the ball ahead of Yasser. Having broken through Tranmere's offside trap, Ibrahim controlled the ball with his weaker left foot. Then, with that same left peg, he struck the ball sweetly and powerfully past Cooper! When Yasser's strike found the net, the travelling Daggers fans went into raptures! We'd taken a late 2-1 lead at Prenton Park, and thanks to some more brave defending from Coton in the final minutes, we didn't let it go!

 

Tranmere Rovers - 1 (Coleman 7)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (West 23, Ibrahim 86)

League Two, Attendance 3,334 - POSITIONS: Tranmere 22nd, Dag & Red 11th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Beech, Tierney, Coton, Dalton, Hart, Clark (Roche), Harding, G Flood (Ibrahim), West, Hands (Barber). BOOKED: Clark.

 

We were now just three points adrift of the play-off places, and after the Christmas break, we had a fantastic opportunity to close that gap further still. Our Boxing Day fixture was at home to Rio Ferdinand's Cambridge United, who were in 23rd place and fearing a return to the Conference Premier.

 

26 December 2025: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Cambridge United

Ominously for lowly Cambridge, we went ahead after just three minutes. The visitors' failure to clear a Dean Oliver cross was punished by an emphatic strike from our teenage sensation Paul Hart.

 

Our quickfire start nearly got better in the sixth minute, when Mark West headed wide from Yasser Ibrahim's lob. Mitchell Clark then missed the target with an effort from just outside Cambridge's area a minute later. Hart rattled the crossbar with a fierce strike on 16 minutes, and U's defender Lubomir Satka had to clear the ball out of play.

 

Clark also hit the bar - with a speculative strike from 30 yards out - after 27 minutes. The panic that it caused to the Cambridge defence resulted in a couple of corners in quick succession for the Daggers. Unfortunately, we couldn't turn either of them into real chances.

 

At the back, some spirited defending from Wayne Coton (who else?) ensured that Cambridge would go into the break without registering any serious shots at goal. We went into the interval still leading 1-0, though Hart snatched at a decent opportunity to put us 2-0 up in the 38th minute. Paul had been booked a couple of minutes earlier after tripping up Lloyd Howard. That was Hart's fifth booking of the season, so he would miss our next match through suspension.

 

We took the game to Cambridge again as soon as the second half began. Indeed, after just 36 seconds, West was celebrating scoring our second goal! We were controlling the match so well, with Yasser nearly adding a third goal in the 49th minute. Seconds later, Ashley Furniss pulled wide United's best effort so far from just outside the area. He then headed wide from closer out three minutes later.

 

By the 59th minute, Cambridge looked completely out of the game. Troy Hands had a shot blocked by U's centre-back Zac Fagan, but Yasser scored from the rebound to give us a three-goal cushion.

 

Just before the hour mark, though, Furniss set out to launch a one-man comeback. It began with the 29-year-old Yorkshireman beating Coton to Satka's long ball, and then unleashing a clinical header that pulled Cambridge back into the match.

 

Furniss used his head to great effect once more in the 65th minute, heading home from Howard's corner to chip away at our lead again. We had dropped points to Cambridge from two goals up before, so when they reduced our three-goal lead to just one, I became really worried.

 

In the 72nd minute, Daggers sub Kristjan Miljevic lost the ball to Brazilian midfielder Paco, and the U's prepared to counter. Paco played an excellent crossfield ball to Rossi Millard, whose shot was superbly blocked by our vice-captain Tim Beech! We had a bit more respite until the 81st minute, when Furniss troubled Daryl Ryan with a powerful strike.

 

Daryl would be needed again in the last minute of normal time. On-loan Leicester City midfielder Sam Brookbanks played Millard through, and the U's skipper would surely have scored had Ryan not made a brave save at his right-hand post! Thanks to our young custodian, we held on for three more points, which moved us to within two of the top seven!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (Hart 3, West 46, Ibrahim 59)

Cambridge United - 2 (Furniss 60,65)

League Two, Attendance 2,798 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 9th, Cambridge 23rd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Beech, McEwan, Coton, Oliver, Roche, Clark, Hart (Harding), Ibrahim (Miljevic), West, Hands (Barber). BOOKED: Hart.

 

That was our third win in four matches, and even without the suspended Paul Hart, I felt we could keep the run going two days later at AFC Bournemouth. Tom Taiwo's Cherries were directly above us in 8th place, so it was likely that the winner of this match would jump into the play-off places.

 

28 December 2025: AFC Bournemouth vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Mark West immediately caused Bournemouth problems, as he got young Cherries defender Dave Monaghan booked in the very first minute for a trip. Four minutes later, Mark punished a mistake by another Scottish member of the Bournemouth backline. Left-back John Durie's dreadful backpass was intercepted by our big frontman, who ran through the offside trap and drilled the ball past goalkeeper Jack Rose!

 

Two minutes later, however, our left-back Gavin Dalton had a moment he would rather forget. Stephen Malsom knocked the ball past Gavin ahead of Josh Todd, and the midfielder's shot was met by a point-blank save from Daggers goalie Robbie Ryder.

 

Dean Oliver then snatched at a chance to put us 2-0 up in the 10th minute, although we did go ahead by that scoreline in the 22nd. West was the hero once again, chesting Dalton's cross before shrugging off a host of Cherries defenders to strengthen our position.

 

At that point, we could be excused for thinking this match was firmly in our grasp. Bournemouth made us think again in the 26th minute, when Robbie had to perform another crucial save from Owen Hillier's close-range header.

 

On 40 minutes, Ryder's counterpart Rose caught a West header to deny Mark a hat-trick and us a 3-0 cushion. A minute later, though, West did get the game's third goal. Unfortunately for us, it was Cherries midfielder Dave West who scored, halving our advantage after we failed to get rid of Todd's corner.

 

Then came a significant hammer blow from Hillier on the stroke of half-time. In the 44th minute, he collected a pass from Todd about 20 yards for goal and then decided to hit and hope. The teenager's bullet shot rocketed past a helpless Ryder, thus sending us into the break without a lead at all!

 

Those late goals left us incredibly shaken, and that showed early on in the second half. Apart from a wayward header by Thomas Tierney on 53 minutes, we didn't have any real chances to go back in front until the 66th minute.

 

Ryder caught a goalward header from Monaghan and then hoofed the ball long to Mark, who flicked it back to Ahletdin Israilov. The Kyrgyzstani hit a poor shot that was heading wide, but Rose still felt the need to tip it behind, giving us a corner out of nothing. Ahletdin's corner was as disappointing as his strike, and he was thankful that Hillier fired wide from the subsequent Bournemouth breakaway.

 

Sadly, a mistake from Gavin in the 69th minute did not go unpunished. When Dalton was muscled off the ball by Cherries winger Daniel Perrin, another counter-attack was in full swing. Aaron Howson's left-wing cross was slipped into the net by veteran midfielder Todd, and Bournemouth led for the first time! I was absolutely furious with Dalton - so much so that I quickly subbed him and gave young Denis Bartley his debut at left-back.

 

Things would soon get even worse, as Monaghan made it 4-2 in the 77th minute. Todd's corner was flicked on by Bournemouth captain Paul Corry into the six-yard box, where Monaghan chested it and volleyed home. Typically, it was the 18-year-old's first ever senior goal.

 

Three minutes later, an unstoppable strike from Mark secured his hat-trick and brought us back into the game, but there would be no grandstand finish at Dean Court. We had no more shots at goal in the final ten minutes plus added-on time, so West's treble was in vain.

 

AFC Bournemouth - 4 (West 41, Hillier 44, Todd 69, Monaghan 77)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (West 5,22,80)

League Two, Attendance 3,387 - POSITIONS: Bournemouth 6th, Dag & Red 9th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Beech, Tierney, Coton, Dalton (Bartley), Oliver, Harding (Hands), Miljevic (Roche), Israilov, G Flood, West.

 

My anger was palpable in the away dressing room after the final whistle. We all knew that we had missed a massive trick. Instead of breaking into the top seven, we now found ourselves four points adrift.

 

I was feeling very depressed for the next few days, and my mood only darkened when managing director Angelo Bosco delivered grim news. Our debt had passed the £1million mark.

 

Administration is now a real possibility. We urgently have to cut costs.

[CFuller]

League Two Table (End of December 2025)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.          Derby                  28    17    6     5     51    23    +28   57
2.          Chesterfield           28    14    7     7     41    36    +5    49
3.          Leyton Orient          28    14    6     8     47    35    +12   48
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.          Hartlepool             28    14    6     8     50    41    +9    48
5.          Bristol Rovers         28    13    8     7     32    24    +8    47
6.          Bournemouth            28    13    8     7     36    31    +5    47
7.          Aldershot              28    13    7     8     38    32    +6    46
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8.          Kidderminster          28    13    6     9     34    25    +9    45
9.          Dag & Red              28    11    9     8     51    39    +12   42
10.         Luton                  28    12    6     10    46    42    +4    42
11.         Dartford               28    12    6     10    37    40    -3    42
12.         Blackpool              28    9     13    6     40    31    +9    40
13.         Yeovil                 28    11    7     10    29    24    +5    40
14.         Bristol City           28    10    10    8     34    30    +4    40
15.         Wycombe                28    10    10    8     25    28    -3    40
16.         Chester                28    9     11    8     40    42    -2    38
17.         Swindon                28    8     11    9     39    44    -5    35
18.         Port Vale              28    6     11    11    31    37    -6    29
19.         AFC Wimbledon          28    8     5     15    36    58    -22   29
20.         Hereford               28    5     11    12    46    50    -4    26
21.         Burton                 28    6     7     15    19    38    -19   25
22.         Cambridge              28    4     9     15    31    48    -17   21
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
23.         Tranmere               28    3     11    14    26    44    -18   20
24.         Boreham Wood           28    3     5     20    31    48    -17   14

 

[CFuller]

JANUARY 2026

I was in a bit of a pickle at the start of 2026. Our finances were in a mess, and I had to figure out how to stave off administration and slash our debts without jeopardising our promotion challenge.

 

Conceivably, we could sell one or more of our most valuable players, which I considered to be Tim Beech, Mitchell Clark, Wayne Coton, Yasser Ibrahim and Mark West. However, all of those five had signed new contracts within the last six months, and it would seem very churlish if I told them that they would have to be put up for sale.

 

Irish youngsters Gareth Flood and Daryl Ryan both signed improved contracts to remain with the Daggers until 2029, but anyone else who wanted to stay here long-term would have to take a pay cut.

 

Our first match of the year was a potentially tricky one at home to Hartlepool United. Only we and runaway leaders Derby County had scored more goals in League Two this season than 4th-placed Hartlepool, whose homegrown hero Luke James was the division's top scorer with 24.

 

3 January 2026: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Hartlepool United

Hartlepool keeper Stevica Zdravkovic faced his first test after just five minutes, when he blocked a shot from Mark West at his right-hand post. Two minutes later, Zdravkovic was beaten at the same post by Yasser Ibrahim, who cut inside and fired an unstoppable bullet underneath the Serbian. That gave us an early advantage, which Hartlepool looked to eradicate quickly.

 

In the 11th minute, Kaan Upson's header from a Themis Saunders cross was caught by Daryl Ryan. Norwich City loanee Upson had another header four minutes later, but he couldn't direct Luke James' cross towards the target.

 

The Pools would have another great chance after almost exactly half an hour. Saunders bent in a free-kick that clipped the post and deflected towards Ryan, who fumbled the ball! James reacted quickly to smash it home, only for the offside flag to deny him his 25th league goal of the season. Saunders then hammered wide a shot in the 33rd minute before we started to attack again.

 

On 36 minutes, Ahletdin Israilov struck a fine free-kick that Zdravkovic did well to hold onto. The Pools' number 1 also made a superb fingertip stop from West in the 44th minute. Mark wouldn't be denied for long, as his header from Ahletdin's corner sent us into the interval leading 2-0!

 

Hartlepool's shooting in the second period was so dreadful that victory for us hardly ever looked in doubt. One 'attempt' from Phil Shepherd after 55 minutes stood out, as it flew deep into the corner of one of the stands. Unsurprisingly, James went closest to scoring for the Pools, narrowly missing on a couple of occasions in the 59th and 62nd minutes.

 

It was very much our day, though, and Daggers fans were hopeful that we would add to our two-goal haul. Mitchell Clark nearly made it three with an excellent free-kick that was tipped behind by Zdravkovic in the 71st minute. Another near-miss came from Ibrahim when he found the side netting five minutes later.

 

Our best effort in the second half was from 18-year-old substitute Lumumba McLean. In the final minute of normal time, McLean - making just his second league appearance for the Daggers - bent a wicked shot that struck the post and almost fell perfectly for Troy Hands. Pools defender Ricky O'Sullivan had to make a late clearance to ensure that we only won 2-0 rather than by the 3-0 scoreline our excellent play perhaps deserved.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Ibrahim 7, West 45)

Hartlepool United - 0

League Two, Attendance 3,554 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 9th, Hartlepool 6th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Beech, McEwan, Coton, Oliver, Clark, Harding (McLean), Israilov (Roche), Hart, Ibrahim, West (Hands).

 

After the match, backup defenders Louis Jack and Thomas Tierney accepted massive pay cuts to commit their futures to Dagenham for an additional season. Their selflessness shaved around £1,500 off our weekly wage bill.

 

Louis was later the subject of a loan move from Conference North outfit Alfreton Town, but he didn't fancy spending the rest of the season in Derbyshire. We also rejected a loan offer from Eastleigh for Joel Honeyball, who was about to return from his latest injury.

 

One of our loan rangers returned home when Lee Heffernan's five-month stint at Crawley Town came to an end. The defender had played 24 times for the cash-strapped Conference Premier club, but he finished with a disciplinary record of nine yellow cards - and THREE RED CARDS! That record makes Joey Barton look like a Buddhist monk!

 

Even for an immature 20-year-old, to get sent off three times in the space of a few months is nothing short of reckless. And with Lee's weekly wages at £1,700 per week, there was no way I could justify keeping him on for much longer. As soon as he came back, I told Heff that he was going straight on the transfer list.

 

We travelled to Staffordshire for our next match, against an out-of-sorts Port Vale team who'd won a grand total of one match in three months. That solitary win was by an unconvincing 1-0 scoreline at home to basement boys Boreham Wood in November.

 

10 January 2026: Port Vale vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Our young midfielder Paul Hart hammered a shot narrowly over Port Vale's bar after just 17 seconds. The Valiants went close themselves a minute later. Tendayi Darikwa intercepted a poor pass from Dagenham left-back Gavin Dalton, moved inside, and then fired just past the post. Darikwa's team-mates Max Davies and Joe Curtis also missed the target in the opening 10 minutes, albeit by greater distances.

 

In the 17th minute, Dagenham striker Troy Hands played the ball upfield to inside-forward Yasser Ibrahim, who knocked it away from Vale captain Lewis Phillips and went clean through! Yasser couldn't quite beat Roscoe Fryatt, though, as the keeper came off his line to parry the shot.

 

On 21 minutes, Fryatt watched Hands fire the ball inches wide of his left-hand post. Mark West went closer still a minute later, with his header from Ahletdin Israilov's corner hitting the bar! Fortunately, Dagenham captain Aaron McEwan stabbed in the loose ball to put us in front!

 

Port Vale would have several opportunities to restore parity over the next few minutes. Midfielder Declan Ferran pulled a shot wide on 24 minutes before Tyler Osmond messed up a diving header a minute later. Grant Harrison scooped the ball over the crossbar in the 28th minute, and Davies volleyed wide a massive chance in the 32nd. Although Daggers right-back Tim Beech was struggling to cope with Osmond out wide, we weathered the Vale storm and remained 1-0 up at half-time.

 

I subbed Beech during the break, bringing on Dean Oliver at left-back and moving Dalton out to the right. That switch would cost us the lead less than a minute into the second half. Osmond made a fool of Dalton by taking the ball past him and setting up an easy finish for Harrison.

 

Worse was to follow in the 48th minute. Darikwa dribbled deep into our half before playing an incisive ball into the box for Davies, who cracked an excellent finish past Ryan. 2-1 to Port Vale, and the match had turned completely in their favour.

 

The next six minutes saw Hart and West both waste equalising opportunities for the Daggers. When Dalton's miscued clearance from Darikwa's right-wing cross was punished by a stunning first-time strike from Harrison in the 56th minute, we found ourselves 3-1 down.

 

At that point, I feared the game was already lost. Then, in the 63rd minute, Daggers sub Joel Honeyball had his shirt pulled by Liam Knight just outside the Valiants area. Mitchell Clark took his time to set up the free-kick, which he curled over Fryatt's head to halve our deficit!

 

Our self-belief grew further when Port Vale lost an important midfielder after 67 minutes. Ferran came off worse after a clash of heads with Hands, and he had to be replaced with Australian Stan Harris. While Vale boss Darrell Clarke made his enforced change, I sent Kenny Barber on to take West's place. Two minutes into his cameo, Barber ran onto Ibrahim's long ball up the left flank. Kenny sidestepped Valiants defender Lee Kilday and returned the favour to Yasser, whose cross was volleyed in by Joel!

 

Having seen us come back from two goals down again, Daggers fans began to wonder if an unlikely away win was back on! When Barber passed Kilday again in the 79th minute, our travelling supporters got off their seats in anticipation. Sadly, Kenny could only fire directly at Fryatt.

 

Barber did find the net a minute later, but Kenny was marginally offside when Hart sent the loanee a through-ball that he slipped beyond the keeper. Paul was rather frustrated, and he would be booked moments later for a mistimed tackle on Osmond. Harris pumped the free-kick into our area, and Wayne Coton nearly flicked the ball into his own net before goalkeeper Daryl Ryan turned it over and spared the defender's blushes!

 

That was the closest we would come to losing a thrilling encounter. Although it finished 3-3, I came away from Vale Park a tad disappointed. Instead of moving to within a point of the play-offs, we had slipped back to three adrift.

 

Port Vale - 3 (Harrison 46,56, Davies 48)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (McEwan 22, Clark 64, Honeyball 70)

League Two, Attendance 3,694 - POSITIONS: Port Vale 18th, Dag & Red 9th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Beech (Oliver), McEwan, Coton, Dalton, Clark, Hands, Israilov (Honeyball), Hart, Ibrahim, West (Barber). BOOKED: Hart, Hands.

 

After the match, I received some good news from the club's board. The directors had pumped £500,000 into the club to reduce our debt and stave off any immediate danger of administration. A huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders.

[CFuller]

JANUARY 2026 (continued)

Vice-captain Tim Beech had now started in 13 successive games for us, but his form had become less consistent in recent weeks. His poor show against Port Vale highlighted the need for us to sign another right-back.

 

In came Igor Angulo - a 19-year-old Spaniard who joined us on loan from Chelsea for the rest of the campaign. The Blues had used Igor as a substitute in three Premier League matches earlier this season.

 

Angulo would make his Daggers debut when we hosted fourth-from-bottom Burton Albion, who'd appointed former player Rashid Yussuff as their new manager a month earlier. Theo Wharton also started after recovering from a back strain, although fellow returnee Matt Warren was only fit enough for the bench.

 

There was less positive news on the injury front concerning Kenny Barber, whose loan spell was cut short after he strained his ankle ligaments. As for midfielder Kristjan Miljevic, he was ruled out for around four weeks with a back strain.

 

17 January 2026: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Burton Albion

Although we won a couple of early corners, the first half was largely disappointing from a neutral point of view. Our first attempt at goal didn't come until the 25th minute. Mark West crossed from the Burton byline to Gareth Flood, who passed the ball back to Geraint Harding just inside the area. Harding went for power, and he narrowly cleared the bar.

 

On 26 minutes, Burton's former Norwich City forward Joshua Murphy fired a harmless shot into the hands of Dagenham goalkeeper Daryl Ryan. That would prove to be the relegation-battling Brewers' only chance in the first half, as they really struggled to get their game going.

 

By the end of the half, Albion would be trailing 1-0. In the last few moments of normal time, West had a shot blocked by Albion defender Toby Alabaster. Jonathan Roche then headed the ball back to Mark, who powered a low strike past Burton keeper Roger Traslett and gave us a narrow advantage!

 

Burton were much better after the interval. In the 57th minute, our captain Aaron McEwan had to intercept a volleyed cross from Emmitt Hatton before it could reach the Brewers' speedy winger Murphy.

 

Two other forwards we had to be wary of were captain John Marquis and substitute Aaron Cheetham. On 59 minutes, Marquis set up Cheetham, who fired in a bullet that Daryl could not do much about. Burton were back level at 1-1.

 

We soon got a tad edgy, as Troy Hands proved when he rifled a poor half-volley from Geraint's first-time pass on 65 minutes. Troy would have another chance in the 71st minute. After playing a clever one-two with West, Roche hoped to find Mark again with a low cross towards Burton's six-yard box. Jonny's delivery evaded our big target man, but not Troy, who grabbed us a 2-1 lead!

 

Over the next five minutes, the Daggers trio of West, Hands and Harding all missed chances to change that scoreline to 3-1. Big Mac then went close in the 80th minute, heading Mitchell Clark's corner into the side netting.

 

Murphy fired a spectacular half-volley over the bar for Burton on 87 minutes before scuffing another chance in injury time. With shooting like that, it was not hard to figure out why the Brewers had scored just 21 goals in 31 league matches, or why they were embroiled in a relegation battle. Another victory at Victoria Road was ours.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (West 45, Hands 71)

Burton Albion - 1 (Cheetham 59)

League Two, Attendance 3,524 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 9th, Burton 22nd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Angulo, McEwan, Coton, Oliver (Warren), Roche, Wharton (Clark), Harding, G Flood (Ibrahim), West, Hands.

 

We made up another point on the top seven as a result of our third consecutive home win. With about a third of the campaign still to play, we were very much live contenders in the play-off race.

 

My mood darkened a little when transfer-listed defender Lee Heffernan refused to move away from the club. He had turned down a £65,000 transfer to Wrexham, and then a move to Chesterfield for a much lower transfer fee, with both deals falling through over his salary demands. Unless his attitude improved dramatically, Heff had no future with us, so I warned him that he'd be left to rot in the reserves if he didn't accept a transfer.

 

While Lee considered his future, we welcomed Hereford United to Victoria Road. The Bulls were in 20th place, and their form had been indifferent since Mark Stewart succeeded Matt Jones as manager in November.

 

24 January 2026: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Hereford United

After his two assists against Burton Albion, Dagenham winger Jonathan Roche made a blistering start to this match. In the very first minute, Jonny intercepted a poor clearance from Hereford goalkeeper Srikumar Mahendran and played it forward to Paul Hart, who smashed in a lightning-quick opener!

 

Dean Oliver also made an early impact - on Bulls midfielder Tom May in the third minute. Oliver's sliding tackle left May with a knock, but the young Scot played on. Another member of Hereford's five-man midfield - Steven Hewitt - fired a shot off target in the 9th minute.

 

Lone frontman John Powell was more clinical with his opening salvo for Hereford on 14 minutes. Right-winger Rob Dunkley won a skirmish with our left-back Matt Warren and crossed to the former Newcastle United youngster, who easily beat Daryl Ryan to equalise.

 

Daryl hadn't covered himself in glory, but his counterpart Mahendran did well to push away a volley from Mark West in the 19th minute. When the big Yorkshireman had another pop at goal on the half-hour mark, he was rather less accurate.

 

Mark's failure to score would prove costly, as we had a shocking end to the half. For starters, in the 39th minute, Dunkley set up another easy finish for Powell to leave us trailing 2-1.

 

Two minutes later, our skipper Tim Beech made a weak interception from Marc Bagan's aerial pass, which he headed back to the Hereford winger. Bagan then played a slide-rule pass to Kyle de Silva before the veteran midfielder smashed in United's third goal! After the Bulls' rampage, I prepared to let my anger loose in the home dressing room.

 

"Can somebody explain why we're 3-1 down at home to Hereford f***ing United?" I asked my boys at the interval. "That's not even close to good enough! Every time we get close to the play-off spots, you seem to lose concentration! Please don't blow another opportunity, for God's sake!" After letting those words sink in, I decided not to make any major changes to my tactics, although I replaced the awful Beech with Igor Angulo.

 

I was not encouraged by our start to the second half. An excellent passing move from Hereford in the 48th minute ended with May hammering a shot that Ryan somehow managed to turn away. Five minutes later, West had a header cleared off the line by Bulls left-back Ross Arkell.

 

The visitors then went closer still to moving 4-1 up, as Daniel Lacey headed just over in the 60th minute and May fizzed a shot past the post in the 62nd. After 66 minutes, Ryan tipped over a stunning strike from Hereford captain Hewitt as he sought to make up for his first-half misgivings.

 

At the other end in the 73rd minute, West nodded the ball on to Oliver, and the midfielder's half-volley was diverted behind by Mahendran. The Malaysia keeper had much less to do when West drove the ball high and wide from distance after 80 minutes. Mahendran's goal kick was headed back towards Hereford's half by Wayne Coton, and Hart then found West in bags of space. Mark advanced towards goal, fired beyond the rushing Mahendran, and cut United's lead down to 3-2. Had 'The Beast' roared us back to life?

 

Our comeback was nearly strangled in its infancy by Gavin Lee-Bulmer. With six minutes to play, the Hereford substitute picked up Bagan's pass towards the penalty spot, but he pulled it past the upright.

 

About a minute after our narrow escape, Daggers sub Gareth Flood made a promising run that was only ended by a last-ditch tackle from Lacey. The Hereford defender conceded a corner, which Mitchell Clark tried to swing into the six-yard box. de Silva made an interception, but that was blocked by Flood, who then slid the ball across the goal line! With four minutes remaining, the match was tied at 3-3!

 

The drama didn't end there, as Lacey picked up a knock in the 87th minute. Despite that, Hereford boss Mark Stewart decided to keep him on. While his Bulls tried to preserve a point, we pushed on in search of all three.

 

During the third minute of added-on time, we passed the ball slowly around the Hereford half. When space opened up, Jonny knocked the ball past Arkell and found Paul, who smashed it beyond Mahendran! The young man who scored in the first minute had won us the match in injury time! Our terrific comeback from a 3-1 deficit to a 4-3 win was particularly significant, as it edged us into 7th place on goal difference!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 4 (Hart 1,90, West 80, G Flood 86)

Hereford United - 3 (Powell 14,39, de Silva 41)

League Two, Attendance 3,640 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 7th, Hereford 20th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Beech (Angulo), Dalton, Coton, Warren (McEwan), Clark, Oliver, Roche, Hart, Ibrahim (G Flood), West.

 

Wow! What an incredible comeback, and what a performance from Paul Hart! The 18-year-old had now scored nine goals and made seven assists in competitive matches this season. No wonder, then, that some of the Sunday papers were waxing lyrical about Paul - one particular red-top even tipped him as a Premier League star in the making!

 

Five more of our young talents returned from loan spells in the week. Dean Martin had produced some mature performances for Oxford City, Wayne Parmenter showed promise at Woking, and Neil Munn scored 10 goals in an injury-hit spell with Milton Keynes Dons. Harry Gorman was not too impressive in Eastleigh's defence, but by far the biggest disappointment was striker Gianluca Cecere. Luca couldn't muster a single goal in 25 matches for Barnet.

 

Before the month was out, we took on an inconsistent Dartford team at Princes Park. Could we consolidate our play-off place with another strong display?

 

31 January 2026: Dartford vs Dagenham & Redbridge

I had no idea which Dartford would show up, but it soon emerged that Carl McAuley's Darts had brought their A-game. In the 10th minute, Dagenham goalie Robbie Ryder had to make a good save to stop Stuart Casey from putting the hosts 1-0 up. Robbie's heroics would prove futile, as Dartford's other striker - Tom McInnes - did get the better of him six minutes later.

 

Shortly after their homegrown hero McInnes opened the scoring, Darts fans applauded goalkeeper Calhan Peters for making back-to-back saves from Mark West and Troy Hands. In the 19th minute, Troy found himself one-on-one with Peters, but he volleyed over the crossbar. Hands was clearly showing signs of nerves, as his next attempt in the 22nd minute was parried by Peters. It was a similar story for West, whose 25th-minute crashing drive cleared the bar.

 

On 26 minutes, Ryder's fingertips denied McInnes what would've been his and Dartford's second goal. The Darts did go 2-0 up in the 33rd minute, with McInnes turning provider for left-winger Dale Bradburn, who slipped the ball past Ryder.

 

Dartford were now in full control, and their high defensive line did a fine job of nullifying our aerial threat. On 38 minutes, Hands cleared the bar after going clean through again, thus confirming my fears that we were playing anxiously. For the second game in a row, we trailed by two goals at the interval… but on this occasion, I felt that a critical team talk was not what we needed.

 

My efforts to calm the players down at half-time seemed to have little effect. We struggled so much in the second half that even the simplest passes were being hoovered up by Dartford. On 58 minutes, Darts midfielder Cledan Price closed Mitchell Clark down to kick off an attack that ended with him missing the target. Four minutes later, Price took the ball away from us again after Paul Hart's first touch let him down. This time, the resulting attack led to a goal, which was hammered in by McInnes.

 

That made it 3-0, but things nearly got even worse for our shellshocked warriors. A wayward long pass from Gavin Dalton in the 65th minute ultimately led to another chance for McInnes, but Ryder saved well to deny him his hat-trick.

 

At that point, we went back to the very basics, adopting a low-tempo, short-passing game until the agony was over. As a result, we created a couple of chances to take home a consolation goal. Mark was unlucky not to score in the 82nd minute, when his strike was tipped behind by the impressive Peters. Dartford's Mackem goalie was finally beaten by a classy finish from our young substitute Joel Honeyball in injury time, but that goal would be the only positive we took away from Kent.

 

Dartford - 3 (McInnes 16,62, Bradburn 33)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Honeyball 90)

League Two, Attendance 4,167 - POSITIONS: Dartford 13th, Dag & Red 8th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Angulo, Dalton, McEwan (Tierney), Oliver, Hart, Clark, Wharton (Roche), G Flood, West, Hands (Honeyball).

 

Our unbeaten start to 2026 is over, and we're back out of the play-off spots, albeit by a single point. I still fancy us to finish in the top seven, but we really need to work on our defending, otherwise this great opportunity might be wasted.

[CFuller]

League Two Table (End of January 2026)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.          Derby                  33    21    7     5     64    26    +38   70
2.          Bristol Rovers         33    16    9     8     43    31    +12   57
3.          Leyton Orient          33    16    8     9     55    44    +11   56
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.          Bournemouth            33    16    8     9     43    37    +6    56
5.          Aldershot              33    16    7     10    52    41    +11   55
6.          Kidderminster          33    16    6     11    39    31    +8    54
7.          Chesterfield           33    15    8     10    42    42    0     53
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8.          Dag & Red              33    14    10    9     63    49    +14   52
9.          Hartlepool             33    15    7     11    53    48    +5    52
10.         Luton                  33    15    6     12    55    48    +7    51
11.         Bristol City           33    13    11    9     42    34    +8    50
12.         Blackpool              33    12    13    8     48    39    +9    49
13.         Dartford               33    14    7     12    42    45    -3    49
14.         Yeovil                 33    13    7     13    32    31    +1    46
15.         Chester                33    11    13    9     46    47    -1    46
16.         Wycombe                33    11    12    10    27    31    -4    45
17.         Swindon                33    10    13    10    43    47    -4    43
18.         Port Vale              33    7     13    13    39    44    -5    34
19.         AFC Wimbledon          33    9     7     17    44    67    -23   34
20.         Hereford               33    6     13    14    51    56    -5    31
21.         Cambridge              33    7     9     17    39    54    -15   30
22.         Tranmere               33    5     11    17    30    53    -23   26
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
23.         Burton                 33    6     7     20    22    47    -25   25
24.         Boreham Wood           33    3     6     24    33    55    -22   15

 

[CFuller]

FEBRUARY 2026

There was one last arrival at Dagenham & Redbridge just before the transfer window closed, and he was yet another addition to our Irish contingent. 17-year-old left-back Daniel O'Reilly, who has been capped by the Republic of Ireland at Under-19s level, signed for us a month after leaving Cork City.

 

Another of our Irish youth internationals - the transfer-listed Lee Heffernan - was finally taken off our wage bill, albeit temporarily. The fiery centre-back made a surprise move up to League One after Forest Green Rovers offered to pay his £1,700-per-week wages until the end of the season. Lee didn't exactly delight when he was playing for Crawley Town in the Conference Premier, so his move to Forest Green could either be an utter disaster or an inspired piece of business.

 

Teenage midfielder Dean Martin also went out on loan for the second time this season. Following a successful stint at Oxford City in the Conference South, Dean moved to Conference Premier side Barnet for three months.

 

Fellow youngster Joel Honeyball penned a new contract that would extend his Dagenham career to 2028, and there was also a new deal for my assistant manager Fabio Saraiva. After qualifying for his UEFA Pro Licence, Fabio was rewarded with a pay rise and another year as my right-hand man.

 

Our first game in February was away to Bristol City, who were underachieving massively in 11th place. The Robins were also onto their third manager in less than nine months, with Jack Redshaw now charged with attempting to halt their decline.

 

7 February 2026: Bristol City vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Dagenham defender Wayne Coton gave Bristol City a major scare after five minutes, when his header from Mitchell Clark's corner hit the crossbar. Two minutes later, the Robins launched their first attack through their leading scorer.

 

After turning past Daggers left-back Matt Warren, Ryan Wilks tried to find the corner of Daryl Ryan's net with a curler from around 30 yards out. The ball seemed to be floating out of play, but it drifted downwards at just the right moment, leaving Daryl flapping helplessly! Bristol City had gone 1-0 up through an incredible stroke of luck!

 

Wilks' confidence was sky-high after his 18th league goal of the season, but his next effort in the 9th minute didn't threaten to increase that tally. Things then went a bit stop-start until Wilks attempted to beat Ryan with another long-range strike from out wide on 33 minutes. This time, the luck was on our side, as Wilks' swerver hit Daryl's right-hand post, and Daggers right-back Igor Angulo cleared. Ryan's goalkeeping was rather more assured when he caught a diving header from Robins defender Stuart Findlay in the 35th minute.

 

After another City attack broke down on 42 minutes, Wayne hoofed the ball forward to Yasser Ibrahim. Yasser then flicked the ball to Mark West, who had been given the Dagenham captaincy on his return to Ashton Gate. Mark ran through the Robins defence and then powered the ball past keeper Stuart Moore from 25 yards! The man who scored five goals against us while at Bristol City last season had come back to haunt the Robins, eradicating their slender lead before half-time!

 

West threatened to score again for us in the 51st minute, but Moore pushed away his fierce strike from just inside the Bristol City area. A minute later, Coton was booked for impeding City's main attacking threat Wilks. It was not the last time Wayne would struggle against the former Hereford United man.

 

In the 68th minute, Coton underhit a backpass to Ryan, and watched on in horror as Wilks intercepted it! To make things worse, Daryl had rushed past Wilks as he tried to reach the ball before the forward! After Ryan made a feeble attempt to sweep the ball off Wilks' feet, the spectators at Ashton Gate held their breath in anticipation of City taking a 2-1 lead. Wilks just had to slot the ball into a gaping net… but he incredibly sent it across the goalmouth, leaving us mightily relieved!

 

After witnessing a horror miss that will be on Danny Baker's next football bloopers compilation, we looked to punish the Robins, but without success. Attacking midfielder Paul Hart fired over the bar in the 74th minute, and Clark failed to test Moore from a free-kick five minutes later.

 

That was followed by three more attempts from Wilks, who didn't quite look at his best again after that horrendous gaffe. Only one of those later chances was on target - a close-range header in the 86th minute that was held by Ryan.

 

Two minutes later, Dagenham substitute Theo Wharton crossed into the Robins' six-yard box, where West leapt to nod his delivery into the net! Sadly, our celebrations were cut very short by the offside flag, and so we left Bristol with only a draw instead of what would've been a tremendous victory.

 

Bristol City - 1 (Wilks 7)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (West 42)

League Two, Attendance 7,402 - POSITIONS: Bristol City 12th, Dag & Red 9th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Angulo, Tierney (McEwan), Coton, Warren, Clark, Harding (Wharton), Honeyball, Hart, Ibrahim (G Flood), West. BOOKED: Coton.

 

Although we dropped another place and another point behind the top seven, I was satisfied with that result. The fact that we'd avoided losing to Bristol City this season showed just how much we had improved - and also how greatly the Robins had regressed.

 

We now had a long 17-day break from competition before back-to-back home games against the top two: Derby County and Leyton Orient. In the meantime, Sean Short made a successful comeback from a broken foot, scoring three goals in two reserve matches. By the time Derby came to visit Victoria Road, Sean was fit enough to take his place on the bench.

 

To say that Derby were sprinting to the League Two title would be like saying that Kenya has produced a few decent marathon runners. The Rams were 14 points clear of their nearest rivals after an unbeaten run of 15 league matches that had seen them drop just eight points. Could they avoid defeat for a 16th game in a row, or would we find a way to break that sequence?

 

24 February 2026: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Derby County

Although Ahletdin Israilov couldn't find the target with a free-kick in the fourth minute, I was encouraged by our start. On seven minutes, Gareth Flood headed Igor Angulo's deep cross into Derby keeper Jonathan Flatt's hands. That had come shortly after our goalie Robbie Ryder saved Rams striker Thomas Kerr's diving header. The pair came face-to-face again in the 10th minute, when Robbie caught another header from the Irishman. Two minutes later, Derby winger Marcus Foster fired just wide from a promising position.

 

With the Rams slowly hitting their stride, it was only a matter of time before they opened the scoring. After 23 minutes, left-winger Graeme McBride opened up our defence with an incisive pass to Kerr, who moved inside and made it third time lucky against Ryder.

 

We weren't put off, as Israilov soon put Derby under pressure with his free-kicks. Ahletdin narrowly missed the target in the 29th minute, having seen Rams midfielder Jack Stillwell pick up a booking for pulling on Paul Hart's shirt. About a minute after that, he played his next set-piece to Mark West, whose header cleared the far post.

 

Our attackers weren't quite on song, but Ryder kept us in contention with a couple of wonderful saves during the 39th minute. His first was to claw Brad Gaunt's low effort away from the goal line, and his next was to tip over Kerr's close-range header from the resulting Michael Edwards corner. The first half finished with us 1-0 down, but had West done better with a brilliant header opportunity in the 42nd minute, we might well have been level.

 

An early second-half counter-attack from Dagenham ended with Theo Wharton clearing the crossbar. We were fortunate not to concede a second goal soon afterwards, as Gaunt's attempt from the 'D' went inches wide.

 

Derby remained in control of the second period, but a series of brilliant interceptions from Gavin Dalton kept the Rams waiting for another goal… until the 70th minute. Two minutes after a strike from left-back Edwards sailed over the bar, County took advantage of some shakiness from our other defensive players to finally go 2-0 up. Angulo's dramatic headed clearance from a Ronnie Brown cross could only fall to Stillwell, whose delivery into the six-yard box was finished by Kerr.

 

When the treble-chasing Kerr found the side netting moments after the restart, I was about to effectively concede defeat. Gavin came off for a well-earned rest in the 77th minute, and we nearly let in a third goal without him three minutes later. Fortunately, Robbie punched away a vicious effort from Brown to keep the result in some doubt.

 

Then came an excellent goal in the 82nd minute from our wonderkid Hart. The teenager's lung-busting solo run towards goal took him past Rams captain Jeremy Pemberton and was followed by a clinical strike that gave renewed hope to the Victoria Road faithful.

 

Six minutes later, McBride headed over a great opportunity to put Derby fans' fears to rest. The travelling supporters' hearts were in their mouths in injury time, when Mitchell Clark hit an all-or-nothing first-time shot to try and pull level. Unfortunately for us, it bent just wide, and we went down to a brave 2-1 defeat, despite giving the league leaders a real test.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Hart 82)

Derby County - 2 (Kerr 23,70)

League Two, Attendance 3,640 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 11th, Derby 1st

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Angulo, Dalton (Tierney), Coton, Warren, Clark, Wharton (Hands), Israilov, Hart, G Flood, West (Short).

 

Gareth Flood had learned just a few hours before playing Derby that he had been called up to the Republic of Ireland's senior squad for the first time. The 19-year-old put in a nervous performance, but I kept faith in Gareth when we hosted Leyton Orient four days later. The O's had dropped from 2nd to 4th after losing away to Wycombe Wanderers in their last match.

 

28 February 2026: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Leyton Orient

We didn't take long to assert our aerial authority over Leyton Orient. Wayne Coton's powerful header from Mitchell Clark's free-kick moved us 1-0 up after less than five minutes! Big frontman Mark West also headed towards goal in the 8th minute after some great build-up from his Daggers team-mates, but Abou Magaye saved comfortably.

 

Magaye pulled off an even better save in the 16th minute to keep out a ferocious strike from Joel Honeyball. Mitchell then aimed an inswinging corner for Aaron McEwan, who flicked it over the crossbar.

 

Having threatened to increase our lead, we lost it after 19 minutes via a strong finish from Leyton Orient midfielder Max Weatherstone. Dagenham goalie Daryl Ryan didn't cover himself in glory, as he'd strayed a bit too far from his goal line to make a quick reflex save.

 

Daryl was rather more assured when it came to catching a long-distance curler from Matthew Wickham in the 26th minute. Two minutes later, his opposite number Magaye somehow hurt himself while kicking the ball to O's left-back Gavin Hendry. The Mauritanian was not at optimal fitness, and our teenage striker Joel Honeyball took full advantage after half an hour, hammering Geraint Harding's through-ball home!

 

Honeyball's goal enabled us to take a 2-1 lead into the second period. That said, Aaron could well have sent us 3-1 up with a 36th-minute header from a Clark corner, which sailed over the bar.

 

Brian Maun's shooting for Leyton Orient early in the second half was not great, as he missed from the edge of our area twice in the opening three minutes. He was now being partnered in the Orient attack by 17-year-old Ola Osafo-Badu, who'd not yet scored a league goal.

 

Osafo-Badu threatened to break his duck in the 54th minute with a fierce drive that Ryan met with a solid catch. A minute later, though, Daryl was caught out by a Wickham free-kick that took a heavy deflection off our wall. Fortunately, the deflection went wide, giving Orient a corner that they weren't able to score from.

 

West wasted another chance for us in the 56th minute, and I subbed him off five minutes later to give Sean Short just his second competitive run-out after a broken foot. After 67 minutes, Short played a key role in the game's fourth goal. Sean's knock-down to Harding was cut out by Gareth Coulson, who started an Orient breakaway that resulted in Osafo-Badu bearing down on goal. The teen's first shot was blocked by Ryan, but he tucked in the follow-up to draw the O's level again.

 

Five minutes later, Osafo-Badu followed his first career Football League goal with his second. When he broke free from Coton's shackles to turn Maun's pass into the net, we found ourselves trailing 3-2 at home.

 

We desperately needed a hero. It wasn't going to be left-winger Gareth Flood, who hit a terrible shot in the 73rd minute. As soon as that shot went out of play, I sent on Igor Angulo on to be our right winger, with Harding coming off and Paul Hart moving into the centre.

 

As it turned out, Igor would be our 'salvador'. In the 75th minute, Angulo intercepted a long throw from Magaye and took the ball forward before playing in Short, who thrashed in the game's third equaliser!

 

That wouldn't be the only time Sean found the net in what proved to be a dramatic end to proceedings. Right in the last minute of normal time, Daniel O'Reilly - who had a difficult Daggers debut at left-back - sent in a low right-footed cross for Short to volley home. The goal was correctly disallowed for offside, but we still avoided a second straight home defeat.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (Coton 5, Honeyball 30, Short 75)

Leyton Orient - 3 (Weatherstone 19, Osafo-Badu 67,72)

League Two, Attendance 4,249 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 9th, Leyton Orient 7th
DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Beech, McEwan, Coton, O'Reilly, Hart, Clark, Harding (Angulo), G Flood (Miljevic), West (Short), Honeyball. BOOKED: McEwan.

 

Worryingly, we have now failed to win any of our last four games - a run that leaves us four points adrift of the top seven. We clearly need to rediscover our winning touch soon to keep the play-offs in our reach.

[CFuller]

MARCH 2026

There was a short international break early in March. Gareth Flood did not get to make his senior debut for the Republic of Ireland, but his compatriots Daryl Ryan and Daniel O'Reilly did feature for Ireland's Under-21s and Under-19s respectively. There was also a fifth Cyprus Under-21s cap for youth striker Sotiris Giangoudakis.

 

When our internationals returned, we looked to break our worst run of form this season. Could we finally return to winning ways at 13th-placed Yeovil Town, who were on course for their lowest ever finish as a Football League club?

 

7 March 2026: Yeovil Town vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Exactly four minutes into his return to Huish Park, Troy Hands found the net against his former employers. However, Troy had already been flagged offside when he headed Tim Beech's cross past Yeovil keeper Mason Springthorpe. About three minutes later, Glovers striker Michael Thalassitis sprinted past Wayne Coton to have his team's first shot at goal. Restored Dagenham keeper Robbie Ryder pushed the ball away before Tim Beech booted it clear.

 

On 12 minutes, Daggers left-back Matt Warren played a wonderful ball forward to Paul Hart, who flicked it on to Sean Short. Sean's volley was parried by Springthorpe, but the Bristolian converted the rebound to give us first blood!

 

Four minutes later, Hands ran onto Yasser Ibrahim's short cross to the near post. Troy's attempt to sidefoot the ball past Springthorpe struck the upright, but like Sean, he scored at the second attempt! There was a hush over much of Huish Park, as we led 2-0 against the hosts!

 

Yeovil hardly looked like rectifying things before half-time. A couple of woeful shots from teenager Travis Richardson just after the half-hour were followed by a similarly bad effort from Jack Lynch in the 37th minute. The Glovers had to pull their socks up, otherwise we would surely stroll to victory.

 

Much to the home fans' horror, their defenders fell asleep very early in the second half! Barely a minute after play resumed, Troy broke through Yeovil's offside to fire Sean's through-ball into the net, despite a feeble attempt from Springthorpe to divert it away from goal! After putting us 3-0 up, Hands ran over to some of the home fans and started taunting them! He had now scored 17 league goals in less than a full season for us - the same number that he managed in FOUR campaigns with the Glovers!

 

Yeovil responded to Troy's taunts with renewed determination, and the vastly-experienced George Thorne nearly scored from a stunning long-distance drive in the 54th minute. Thalassitis also had another go a minute later, but his header was comfortably dealt with by Ryder.

 

On 62 minutes, Short's game came to an early end after he sustained a dead leg in challenging Glovers captain Luke McCullough. Although we had a more than adequate replacement in Mark West, our attack struggled to make an impact for a while thereafter.

 

As for Yeovil, they failed to trouble Ryder again until there were just four minutes left to play. Even then, Thalassitis' low strike lacked the killer instinct needed to beat Robbie, who palmed it aside.

 

About a minute after that, we made victory certain with a fourth goal. Shortly after coming on to replace Hands for the closing stages, Joel Honeyball tested Springthorpe with a powerful effort that the goalie could only push towards West. Mark then did the rest for 4-0… but the scoring didn't end there!

 

Joel provided another simple finish for Mark to round off a stunning 5-0 victory in injury time! That was our eighth shot of the game, and all of them were on target!

 

Yeovil Town - 0

Dagenham & Redbridge - 5 (Short 12, Hands 16,47, West 87,90)

League Two, Attendance 4,569 - POSITIONS: Yeovil 13th, Dag & Red 8th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Beech, Dalton, Coton, Warren, Hart, Clark (Oliver), Harding, Ibrahim, Short (West), Hands (Honeyball).

 

Unbelievably, that wasn't the biggest away win in League Two that weekend! A top-three battle between Aldershot Town and Hartlepool United ended with the visitors racking up a 7-0 win at the Recreation Ground! The Pools had now won four games in a row, scoring 17 goals without reply in the process.

 

Thankfully, our next opponents were right at the other end of the table. We were expected to comfortably beat Boreham Wood, who seemed to be heading straight back to the Conference Premier after winning just four league games all season. Our task at Meadow Park was made slightly more difficult with the absence of the injured Sean Short.

 

10 March 2026: Boreham Wood vs Dagenham & Redbridge

There was no lack of goalmouth action early in this game. Daggers defender Gavin Dalton flicked Mitchell Clark's corner over the bar after just two minutes, while Bill Mooney missed a real opportunity for Boreham Wood a minute later. Daggers frontman Mark West had no fewer than four shots at goal within the first 15 minutes. Only two of them were on target, with Wood goalkeeper Ross McDonald making strong saves in the 9th and 13th minutes.

 

Meanwhile, the referee booked two home players - Mooney, and midfielder Connor Waters. On 16 minutes, winger Joel Logan chose to test our goalie Robbie Ryder, rather than the ref's patience, with a fierce effort that Robbie could only parry. Thankfully, for Ryder's sake, Logan's next effort in the 20th minute was less threatening.

 

Boreham Wood were more likely to hurt us with their rough play, as defender Louis Storey showed with a needless shove on Joel Honeyball in the 34th minute. That saw him become the third Wood player to receive a booking.

 

After 39 minutes, the downpour at Meadow Park impacted on another home defender. Colin Bridges slipped as he tried to reach a pass from McDonald, presenting West with a marvellous chance to finally open the scoring. However, Mark took too much time over his shot, and McDonald's save kept the scores goalless at half-time.

 

West's uncharacteristic wastefulness continued when he fired high and wide in the 50th minute. He now had Troy Hands for company up front, but neither man could match the braces they managed at Yeovil Town. Indeed, after failing to score from his EIGHTH shot of the first 60 minutes, Mark wouldn't get another chance in the next 15 before he was subbed.

 

Troy's only effort after coming on was in the 66th minute, when he missed from just inside the penalty area. Boreham Wood's attacks were limited to a couple of blocked shots from Waters, and two ambitious attempts from Louis Morgan and Aidan Tillson.

 

While a poor match ended without any goals, it finished with a comprehensive 6-0 win for Boreham Wood on the yellow card count. Graeme Kerr and Doyle Molyneux were booked in the 76th and 84th minute, and Karl Barrett also had his name taken in added-on time. Matt Warren nearly headed in a dramatic winner for Dagenham just before that final booking, but McDonald turned the left-back's effort against his bar to leave us very hungry - and very disappointed.

 

Boreham Wood - 0

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

League Two, Attendance 1,050 - POSITIONS: Boreham Wood 24th, Dag & Red 9th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Beech, Dalton, Coton, Warren, Angulo, Clark, Wharton, G Flood (Miljevic), West (Israilov), Honeyball (Hands).

 

Well… that was a bit of an anti-climax after our demolition of Yeovil, wasn't it?

[CFuller]

MARCH 2026 (continued)

Our next match at Victoria Road was against 13th-placed Blackpool, who like us had forgotten long ago about the threat of relegation. We'd not beaten the Seasiders in our last three meetings, but would the fourth time be the charm?

 

14 March 2026: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Blackpool

Blackpool spent the first seven minutes hitting shots more out of hope than expectation. Darren McCabe, Jimmy Harrison and captain Ryan Lynch all tried and failed to beat Robbie Ryder from distance. Blackpool's second-highest scorer, Reis Collins, was playing in midfield, where he got booked for tripping Geraint Harding in the 13th minute. The Seasiders' leading goal-getter was Craig Connor, who failed to add to his tally of 15 with a wayward drive on 22 minutes.

 

Gavin Dalton registered our first shot at goal in the 23rd minute. The centre-half's header from Paul Hart's free-kick took a deflection off Blackpool defender Carl Spooner's back, and goalkeeper Ross Archer made a routine catch.

 

We had some more bad luck on the attacking front after 25 minutes, when Mark West bent a shot just over the bar from long range. About two minutes later, Paul teased the Seasiders with his dribbling ability before passing to Tim Beech, who hammered the ball past the far post. The shooting at either end didn't improve before half-time. Blackpool were particularly profligate, as Connor and McCabe pulled efforts wide in the 39th and 40th minutes.

 

Daggers midfielder Hart and Pool counterpart Archie Love failed to raise the standard early in the second half, hammering shots off target either side of the hour mark. The first player to get a shot on target was actually the famously goal-shy Harding in the 67th minute. The Welsh midfielder's strike from outside the area was turned behind by Archer, who seemed happy to concede a corner. Archer was even happier when a poor delivery from Hart was hacked away by Seasiders right-back Bradley Colbert.

 

We tested Blackpool again in the 71st minute, when Mark almost got a clean delivery to Paul's right-wing cross. Alas, West could only shin it straight towards Archer. It soon occurred to me that Hart could be the key to unlocking Blackpool's defence.

 

With ten minutes to go, West looked down the flank to find Hart in space. The teenager skipped past left-back Spooner to reach the byline, where he curled in a cross that substitute Troy Hands headed into the net! Would that be the clincher?

 

Not if Lynch took full advantage of an unclean interception from Wayne Coton and smashed the ball into the net in the 86th minute. Luckily, for Wayne's sake, Blackpool's 13th shot - like their previous 12 - failed to find the target.

 

The Seasiders' attack had fallen apart, and so did their defence for a second time in the 89th minute. Mark played the ball over their backline to find Troy, whose diving header bobbled past the onrushing Archer and almost pitifully crossed the line! A late brace from our supersub had given us an historic first victory over Blackpool!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Hands 80,89)

Blackpool - 0

League Two, Attendance 4,095 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 8th, Blackpool 13th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Beech, Dalton, Coton, Warren, Hart, Wharton (Oliver), Harding, G Flood (Ibrahim), West, Honeyball (Hands).

 

The following afternoon was spent watching a trial game involving some candidates for our Under-18s squad. Six players received youth contracts after the match: they were goalkeeper Mick Kinsella, defender Will Simpson, wingers Michael Dunn and Paul Parkinson, and strikers Patrick Middleton and Richard O'Hara.

 

I also took in a Daggers reserve game in midweek. That sadly ended in defeat to Port Vale, and serious injuries to two players. Right-back Louis Jack was ruled out for four weeks with a pulled hamstring, while young striker Gianluca Cecere had even worse luck, breaking his foot in the final minute of normal time. Cecere was likely to be out for at least four months.

 

The senior team should have played at AFC Wimbledon the following Saturday, but a waterlogged Kingsmeadow pitch saw the match postponed for three days. The weekend's results went largely in our favour, so if we won the rearranged tie on Tuesday night, we would go back into the top seven.

 

24 March 2026: AFC Wimbledon vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Not for the first time this season, Paul Hart got us off to a lightning-quick start. In the third minute, Hart unleashed a stunning left-footed volley from Matt Warren's cross, and Wimbledon keeper Ian McLoughlin could do very little about it! Paul's 11th league goal of his breakthrough season put us 1-0 up in the blink of an eye!

 

Diego Poyet went close to cancelling Hart's strike out for the Dons in the 11th minute, but his free-kick drifted narrowly over. The midfielder was also off target with a furious strike from just outside the area on 19 minutes.

 

Then, after 25 minutes, Wayne Coton headed clear Declan McLenaghan's corner to start a Dagenham counter-attack. Gareth Flood took the ball on his opposite right flank, and he gradually moved into the centre as he approached the penalty area. Gareth then slipped the ball ahead of several Daggers team-mates, of which Troy Hands was first to slip it underneath McLoughlin.

 

We seemed to be coasting at two goals ahead, but the Dons made things more interesting with a goal in the 29th minute. Dale Gray's finish from a deflected Adam Wixted cross ended our run of successive clean sheets at three, and it also disrupted our rhythm. The next 15 minutes were rather eventless, so we went into the break only leading 2-1.

 

Gray worried us again in the 52nd minute, narrowly heading over from Liam Henderson's centre. After 59 minutes, Gray played a through-ball for his Dons strike partner Victor Hamsher. Coton was initially slow to react, but after seeing Hamsher hit the post, he recovered to knock the rebound away from the 17-year-old striker.

 

Wayne had a header at Wimbledon's goal two minutes later, only to see McLoughlin make a routine catch. The Wimbledon goalie also safely kept out a low drive from Mitchell Clark in the 68th minute.

 

The Dons attacked again after 81 minutes, but when McLenaghan dragged the ball wide, home fans could be forgiven for thinking that this would be the visitors' night. In the 87th minute, Daggers sub Sean Short played in Troy Hands, who tried to clinch us the win with an audacious chip over McLoughlin. Troy miscued the shot terribly, and he had his head in his hands.

 

About a minute later, Coton lost his head tactically. In trying to close down Hamsher, Wayne left Gray woefully unmarked on the periphery of our penalty box. When Hamsher played the through-ball and Gray applied the inevitable finish, I shook my head furiously. Wayne had been brilliant almost all game, but that one tactical blunder had cost us a 2-1 victory - and a place in the play-off spots.

 

AFC Wimbledon - 2 (Gray 29,88)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Hart 3, Hands 26)

League Two, Attendance 4,353 - POSITIONS: AFC Wimbledon 19th, Dag & Red 9th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Beech, McEwan, Coton, Warren, Hart, Clark, Harding (Israilov), G Flood (Miljevic), West (Short), Hands. BOOKED: Hands.

 

I really, really hoped that we would not regret that blown opportunity in the final analysis.

 

We tried to put Kingsmeadow out of our minds four days later, with what I hoped would be a good home win against Chester. The Blues had recently secured their survival, but they were only rank outsiders for the play-offs.

 

28 March 2026: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Chester

The Victoria Road pitch was fairly wet after some early-afternoon drizzle, and that seemed to have an effect early on. Chester goalkeeper Alan Page blocked a shot from Paul Hart after two minutes, but he was unable to keep hold of the wet ball.

 

Dagenham goalie Robbie Ryder also made a difficult save in the fifth minute, parrying a strike from Blues striker Rory Smith. A minute later, Troy Hands continued his impressive form by meeting Mitchell Clark's free-kick with a diving header that Page couldn't keep out! The Daggers fans cheered for their new favourite as we went a goal up!

 

Mark West should've put us 2-0 ahead after eight minutes, but he failed to hit a clear target after Hands set him up superbly. We continued to put Chester under pressure, with Page having to save a 10th-minute effort from Hart. In the 24th minute, he did well to push away a glorious Hands chance after Theo Wharton had sent Troy clean through.

 

Three minutes later, Chester threatened to score a leveller against the run of play. Aryn Williams' right-wing cross found striker Robbie Shenton, whose header couldn't find the target. That would be a decisive miss from the ex-Daggers loanee.

 

Page tipped over another strike from Hands in the 32nd minute. Seven minutes later, though, Troy did beat him for a second time, executing a simple finish from West's through-ball. His third brace of the month gave us a solid 2-0 lead at the interval.

 

Chester's defence was so disorganised in the 52nd minute that we nearly moved three goals ahead! Mitchell Clark picked out captain Tim Beech on the edge of the Blues' area, and had Page not pulled off a critical save, we surely would've been celebrating again.

 

It didn't really matter, as our celebrations did resume just before the hour mark. It was a moment to remember for rookie left-back Daniel O'Reilly, as his deep cross was headed home by West for the Irishman's first senior assist! Mark also reached a milestone - his 15th goal of the season!

 

Chester's first attempt to strike back came shortly after the restart, but midfielder Bob Lamb's effort drifted past the post. The Blues did pull a goal back in the 66th minute through a small stroke of fortune. Bickram Cook's cross struck the unfortunate O'Reilly in the back, and Deale Flynn volleyed in the rebound to leave the outcome less certain.

 

I was grateful, then, that Ryder produced a stunning one-handed save on 69 minutes to stop Flynn from getting another goal in quick succession. Chester didn't get close again, so we emerged 3-1 winners and moved up to 6th.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (Hands 6,39, West 60)

Chester - 1 (Flynn 66)

League Two, Attendance 3,668 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 6th, Chester 15th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Beech, Dalton, Tierney, O'Reilly, Hart (Roche), Clark, Wharton (Oliver), Flood, West (Israilov), Hands. BOOKED: Hands.

 

After an up-and-down March, we did finish the month unbeaten - and in the play-off spots. Troy Hands had been in blistering form, scoring seven goals in five matches, and he could consider himself unlucky not to have won the League Two Player of the Month award.

 

With five matches to go, my free-scoring Daggers are well placed to finish in the top seven, if not higher.

[CFuller]

League Two Table (End of March 2026)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    Pl    Derby                  41    24    10    7     73    33    +40   82
2.          Hartlepool             41    22    8     11    76    50    +26   74
3.          Bournemouth            41    21    9     11    55    45    +10   72
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.          Leyton Orient          41    19    11    11    67    54    +13   68
5.          Kidderminster          41    20    8     13    47    36    +11   68
6.          Dag & Red              41    17    14    10    80    58    +22   65
7.          Bristol Rovers         41    17    13    11    51    45    +6    64
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8.          Aldershot              41    18    9     14    64    62    +2    63
9.          Yeovil                 41    18    9     14    47    45    +2    63
10.         Dartford               41    18    9     14    55    55    0     63
11.         Blackpool              41    15    15    11    59    50    +9    60
12.         Chesterfield           41    17    9     15    55    61    -6    60
13.         Wycombe                41    15    14    12    36    35    +1    59
14.         Luton                  41    16    9     16    69    63    +6    57
15.         Chester                41    13    15    13    58    62    -4    54
16.         Bristol City           41    13    14    14    48    47    +1    53
17.         Swindon                41    12    15    14    53    57    -4    51
18.         Port Vale              41    11    13    17    50    60    -10   46
19.         AFC Wimbledon          41    11    11    19    56    80    -24   44
20.         Hereford               41    8     16    17    58    62    -4    40
21.         Tranmere               41    9     13    19    36    56    -20   40
22.         Cambridge              41    8     12    21    46    65    -19   36
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
23.         Burton                 41    9     7     25    33    65    -32   34
24.         Boreham Wood           41    4     11    26    45    71    -26   23

[edtheguy]

Things do seem to be coming together, that's a nice goal differential for the daggers there. Looks like it's going to be an interesting last five games or so in the league too; there's a lot of teams within four points of the last playoff spot.....

[CFuller]

Things do seem to be coming together, that's a nice goal differential for the daggers there. Looks like it's going to be an interesting last five games or so in the league too; there's a lot of teams within four points of the last playoff spot.....

It's exceedingly tight - anyone from, say, 14th upwards has a chance of squeezing through if they hit top form over these last five games.

Having such a huge goal difference is almost like having an extra point. With Troy Hands and Mark West banging in the goals, we should have enough firepower to get through. It'll probably come down to whether the defence will hold their nerve.

Sadly, the real-life Daggers could not hold their nerve today - a 3-2 defeat to Leyton Orient means they've been relegated from the Football League after nine years. As Dagenham are/were my nearest FL club (ironically, Orient will hold that record from next season), that makes me very sad.

[CFuller]

APRIL 2026

All was peaceful at Dagenham as the last month of the regular season got underway. However, it would not be long before that peace was shattered.

 

On the afternoon before our next match, Daryl Ryan stormed into my office, demanding to know why he hadn't played in the first-team since February. I told the young Irish goalkeeper that his recent displays had not been good enough, and that Robbie Ryder had performed consistently well throughout his extended run in the team in March.

 

Daryl did not buy into that argument. When he furiously threatened to leave if he didn't get his starting place back, I retorted, "You'd be making a huge mistake, Daryl! Do you want to behave like a spoilt child and waste your talent, or do you want to stay here, fight for your place, and become a role model to our fans?" Wisely, Daryl backed down and chose to take the latter route.

 

With that row quickly defused, I could get back to my preparations for the end-of-season run-in. These were the five games that stood between us and a possible shot at promotion:

4 April: vs Kidderminster Harriers (A) - Kidderminster were 5th, and had the lowest goal tally in the top half

6 April: vs Wycombe Wanderers (H) - Wycombe were 13th, and had won three games in a row

11 April: vs Aldershot Town (H) - Aldershot were 8th, and had lost four of their last five matches

18 April: vs Swindon Town (A) - Swindon were 17th, the lowest-ranked of our final five opponents

25 April: vs Bristol Rovers (H) - Bristol Rovers were 7th, and had not won in six games

 

The run-in began with possibly the trickiest of our remaining fixtures. Although they didn't score many goals, Kidderminster Harriers didn't concede many either, and they were on course to reach the play-offs for a second season in succession. I feared that our six-match unbeaten run could come unstuck at Aggborough.

 

4 April 2026: Kidderminster Harriers vs Dagenham & Redbridge

My early nerves settled quickly, as for the third game in a row, we scored within the opening six minutes. It took just four minutes for free-kick specialist Mitchell Clark to fire another glorious set-piece into the net after Mark West had been fouled by Kidderminster defender Isak Ssewankambo.

 

That wasn't a sign of things to come, as Kiddy had most of the attacks in the first half. They won a couple of corners before nearly producing an equaliser from a free-kick in the 17th minute. Keith Toase's delivery into the box found defender Ally Miller, whose header was caught by Dagenham goalie Robbie Ryder. A minute later, Harriers midfielder Steve Millar found winger Jay Seeley in the box, only to see his team-mate pull his shot wide.

 

Clark attempted to double our lead with another free-kick in the 27th minute, but goalkeeper Darren Conneely was equal to his strike on that occasion. Eight minutes later, Ryder showed exactly why he was back to being my first-choice shotstopper. Kiddy striker Stuart Gould thought he'd got the better of his former Daggers colleague until Robbie made a superb acrobatic save to keep our noses in front.

 

Although we were ahead, Kidderminster were dominating the middle of the park. To counter that, I switched formation from 4-4-2 to 4-5-1 during the half-time interval, when I also brought on Yasser Ibrahim for Gareth Flood.

 

Harriers boss Patrick Kohlmann made two subs of his own before sending on a third - Michael Bowen - in the 51st minute. His decision to use up all his options so early backfired after 61 minutes, when Bowen came off worse following a clash with Clark. The Welsh midfielder was forced off injured, reducing Kidderminster to ten men.

 

In spite of that disadvantage, the hosts remained determined to draw level on the count that mattered. An opening emerged in the 65th minute, when Wayne Coton's attempted clearance struck Mitchell in the back and deflected to Kiddy sub Anthony Ward. The striker went clean through, but Ryder came up with the goods again, making a fantastic save to preserve our lead.

 

The Harriers also flew in with some rough tackles. They would finish the game with 21 fouls, but Toase's trip on Troy Hands after 72 minutes was the only one to result in a yellow card. Seven minutes later, the home team's persistence paid off. Captain Jon Newell received a throw from Karl Elliott and moved into the penalty area before smacking in a shot that caught Ryder off his guard!

 

Kidderminster were finally level, and they nearly completed the reversal of fortunes in the 81st minute. Millar sought out Elliott with a superb long ball, and Ryder just about got his fingertips to the right-back's shot. At the other end, West and Theo Wharton each missed late chances to put us back in front. We would have to settle for another draw.

 

Kidderminster Harriers - 1 (Newell 79)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Clark 4)

League Two, Attendance 5,828 - POSITIONS: Kidderminster 5th, Dag & Red 6th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Angulo, Dalton, Coton, Warren, Roche, Clark, Harding (Wharton), G Flood (Ibrahim), West, Hands (Hart).

 

We were now unbeaten in seven matches, during which the outcomes were: Draw, Win, Draw, Win, Draw, Win, Draw. I wouldn't mind seeing that sequence continue 48 hours later with a home win against Wycombe Wanderers. Mind you, the Chairboys had won their last four matches and were making a perfectly-timed surge towards the play-offs. Would they be the team to send us crashing down?

 

6 April 2026: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Wycombe Wanderers

Troy Hands was heavily involved during the opening stages. Between heading his first effort off target in the 2nd minute and drilling his next attempt into Wycombe keeper Tyrone O'Dea's hands in the 9th, Troy picked up a booking for 'simulation'. Paul Hart wasted a glorious chance for us on 11 minutes, as he somehow missed the target after Kristjan Miljevic had played him through.

 

Wycombe could've made the most of their let-off in the 12th minute, as midfielder Jordan Gray went close to giving them the lead. Four minutes after that miss, Gray set up Chairboys striker Ross Draper, whose low strike was gathered by newly-reinstated Daggers goalie Daryl Ryan.

 

Although Hart fired a powerful effort just wide in the 24th minute, I could sense that Wycombe were looking the more confident team. We gave away a number of corners to our visitors, including in the 35th minute, when Theo Wharton's attempted long pass back to Ryan drifted out of play. Thankfully, some strong defending ensured that the Chairboys went hungry.

 

We then had a couple of late sniffs at goal before half-time. Kristjan's 42nd-minute header from Tim Beech's cross was held by O'Dea, who in added-on time punched away a long ball from Hart before Sean Short could get his head to it.

 

I wanted us to be more incisive in the second half, and the players responded in kind. Not long after the restart, Tim knocked a slide-rule pass through Wycombe's defence to Hart, who pulled the ball towards the far post and into the net! Our Scouse magician had come up with the goods again!

 

The single-goal lead Paul had given us was actually more secure than it looked, as the Chairboys were completely woeful in attack. It wasn't hard to understand why, in spite of their recent resurgence, they still had the third-lowest goal tally in League Two. Leroy Lita's side didn't register a single shot at goal after the interval, so we cruised to a straightforward victory. Indeed, Ahletdin Israilov was unlucky not to get us a second goal from an injury-time free-kick.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Hart 46)

Wycombe Wanderers - 0

League Two, Attendance 3,466 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 6th, Wycombe 13th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Beech, McEwan, Tierney, Warren, Hart, Wharton, Israilov, Miljevic (Ibrahim), Short (West), Hands (Harding). BOOKED: Hands.

 

I hoped for a double celebration on my 41st birthday when it came five days later. If we could win our next home game against out-of-form Aldershot Town, and other results went in our favour, we could all but secure a play-off place.

 

At the start of March, Aldershot were in 3rd place and looking good to break into League One. That was until a 7-0 home reverse against Hartlepool United sent the Shots into a downward spiral. Although Aldershot won the game that immediately followed, they'd since lost five in a row, dropping down to 11th as a consequence.

 

11 April 2026: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Aldershot Town

Although it was my birthday, Dagenham left-back Daniel O'Reilly gave Aldershot a present after just five seconds, when his pass back to Robbie Ryder drifted behind for a corner! Gavin Dalton quickly made up for his younger team-mate's mistake, intercepting the corner delivery from Jack Blake. The Shots had a few more early chances, with Daggers keeper Ryder having to make saves from Gerard Hibbert in the 8th minute and Adam Campbell in the 12th.

 

Mark West missed an opportunity for us between those two saves, while Mitchell Clark failed to trouble the Aldershot goal with his 13th-minute header. Two minutes later, Mitchell's corner gave the visitors a more serious threat. Dalton nodded Clark's delivery to Gareth Flood, and the Irish winger's cross was hammered home first-time by Troy Hands! With that superb team goal, we were up and running at 1-0!

 

On 24 minutes, Clark was unlucky to fire an edge-of-the-area shot just over the crossbar. The same fate befell Paul Hart's free-kick four minutes later. Geraint Harding was the next Daggers midfielder to have a pop at goal after 36 minutes, but his drive sailed wide.

 

Eight minutes before half-time, our teen sensation Hart charged headlong at the Aldershot defence. Left-back Michael Bridges blocked Paul's path, but he could only knock the ball on to West, who hit a tame effort straight at Jay Lynch. With a more typical West finish, we surely would have been 2-0 up at the break.

 

Our left-winger Gareth Flood had really terrorised Shots right-back Jack Hunt in the first half, and that continued early in the second. After 49 minutes, former Huddersfield Town stalwart and one-time England international Hunt obstructed a brave run from Flood, but he hurt himself in the process. Hunt had to come off injured, and when play resumed, the free-kick he had conceded nearly led to another Dagenham goal. Hart's set-piece found Dalton, who took the ball into the six-yard box, but Aldershot midfielder Toby Cook managed to get behind Gavin's shot before our man could find the net.

 

Another oh-so-nearly moment came when West headed another Clark corner against the post in the 62nd minute. The Shots continued to defend bravely, with Lynch saving further attempts from Dalton and Flood midway through the period. Cook also went for goal in the 73rd minute, only to pull his shot wide.

 

Then came two injuries that seriously weakened Aldershot's resolve. Firstly, substitute left-back Arno Andersen picked up a minor knock after being floored by a challenge from his ex-Daggers team-mate Flood in the 76th minute. A more serious injury befell Hibbert four minutes later, when he was sent crashing down by Matt Warren's perfectly-timed tackle in our penalty area. Hibbert gashed his arm in the fall, and he was unable to continue, leaving the Shots a man light.

 

After 83 minutes, one of Aldershot's remaining 10 men made things even more difficult for the away side. Gearóid Morrissey brought down Geraint in the penalty area, giving Paul the chance to double our advantage from the spot. Hart went for a powerful strike down the middle - a risky tactic, but it paid off, as Lynch failed to keep it out!

 

Our win was then sealed in the 88th minute by Dalton. The centre-half nodded Harding's corner straight past Lynch, and we ended a brilliant evening having scored three goals without reply!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (Hands 15, Hart pen84, Dalton 88)

Aldershot Town - 0

League Two, Attendance 4,425 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 5th, Aldershot 13th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Beech, Dalton, Coton, O'Reilly (Warren), Hart, Clark (Wharton), Harding, G Flood, West, Hands (Honeyball).

 

The Daggers fans left Victoria Road in a party mood as our unbeaten run was extended to nine matches. That win also lifted us into the top five for the first time this season. Even more significantly, with just two games remaining in the regular season, we were six points ahead of 8th-placed Bristol Rovers - with a vastly-superior goal difference.

 

Barring some unbelievable results in the next fortnight, we were safely through to the League Two play-offs.

[CFuller]

APRIL 2026 (continued)

Although we were almost certain to reach the end-of-season play-offs, I wasn't going to take things easy in our last two round-robin matches. If we could keep on winning, and AFC Bournemouth and Leyton Orient each dropped points, we'd still have an outside chance of going up automatically.

 

Our penultimate match of the regular campaign was at Swindon Town, who had nothing to play for. A run of one win in five games did not suggest that the Robins could stop our unbeaten record from moving into double figures.

 

18 April 2026: Swindon Town vs Dagenham & Redbridge

A nervous start from us in the third minute allowed Swindon an opportunity to hit us on the break. Robins midfielder Johnson Bassey's low drive was pushed away by Robbie Ryder, who had little else to do for the next half-hour. Both sides were unable to keep possession for long periods, so the next shot on target didn't come until the 28th minute. Swindon winger Connor Glover whipped in a corner to captain Ross Gurney, whose header was met by a dramatic fingertip save from Ryder!

 

Robbie's opposite number Dean Snedker was called upon in the 32nd minute, making a point-blank save to keep out Mark West's header. Ryder turned behind another nodded effort a minute later, this time from David Dickie. Snedker then tipped away a shot from Dagenham's leading scorer Troy Hands on 41 minutes, before Gareth Flood and West spurned major opportunities just prior to the half-time whistle.

 

The second half was almost as edgy as the first, but Swindon started to build up a head of steam after the 60th minute. A rare missed interception from Daggers defender Wayne Coton a minute later opened the door for Robins winger Louis Pears, who clipped the corner of the woodwork.

 

In the 67th minute, Ryder got his fingers to a drive from Jason Darby, and Daggers left-back Matt Warren knocked the ball behind for a corner. Pears aimed his corner for Barry Allen at the near post, but Allen's header cleared the bar. Allen's next headed effort, in the 80th minute, was comfortably caught by Ryder. A few moments before then, Yasser Ibrahim had nodded our best chance of the second half into Snedker's hands.

 

Both teams would have one more chance apiece to score before the final whistle blew. Richie Hunter's half-volley for Swindon on 84 minutes was pushed away by Ryder, and West's injury-time strike couldn't get past Snedker. Following those two late saves, a cagey match finished goalless.

 

Swindon Town - 0

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

League Two, Attendance 4,460 - POSITIONS: Swindon 16th, Dag & Red 4th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Beech, Dalton, Coton, Warren, Hart, Clark (Oliver), Harding, G Flood (Ibrahim), West, Hands (Honeyball). BOOKED: Hands.

 

That draw effectively ended our automatic promotion hopes, but AFC Bournemouth's 1-0 win at already-relegated Boreham Wood ensured that not even a victory could've kept us in contention. Bournemouth and Hartlepool United would join Derby County on the road back to League One.

 

We were now mathematically certain to make the play-offs, as were our east London rivals Leyton Orient. There was effectively a three-way battle for the two remaining spots, with Kidderminster Harriers, Blackpool and Dartford all realistically in contention. Chesterfield weren't completely out of it, but their goal difference was so comparatively poor that they needed to beat Swindon by something like 15 goals to have any chance.

 

Our main objective had already been achieved, so I was happy to rest some key players when we ended the regular season at home to Bristol Rovers. Robbie Ryder and Mark West were the only regular starters to feature in what was otherwise a second-string line-up. I also had a number of youth and reserve players on the bench.

 

25 April 2026: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Bristol Rovers

I would have to turn to my bench and make a substitution after less than ten minutes. A horrific challenge from Bristol Rovers' Patrick Naylor on Theo Wharton ended with Naylor picking up a yellow card, and Wharton being stretchered off with what looked like a broken leg. As Daggers fans grew concerned about Theo, 18-year-old midfielder Jeremiah Plummer came on for his league debut.

 

The referee would give out two more bookings in the 19th and 21st minutes, both to Dagenham players - Aaron McEwan, and Wayne Parmenter. During the next seven minutes, Pirates skipper Fearghal McDonald blasted two shots over our crossbar.

 

This was proving to be a mediocre first-half display from us, and our tendency to commit too many fouls gave Bristol Rovers a few decent chances. One came in the 41st minute, when Naylor nodded Jamie Coyne's free-kick on to David Bolger, whose close-range effort was caught just before the line by Robbie Ryder.

 

Robbie also had to deal with a long-distance strike from Naylor in the last minute of normal time. Ryder quickly punted the ball upfield to Ahletdin Israilov, whose header looped straight into the hands of Rovers goalkeeper Daniel Bentley.

 

I switched to a 4-2-3-1 formation for the second half to try and give us more of a presence going forward. That seemed to have an immediate effect, as Gareth Flood's low cross presented his opposite winger Parmenter with a fantastic chance after 49 minutes. Wayne couldn't quite get the ball beyond Bentley, who bravely got in front of the teenager's shot.

 

On 55 minutes, an intercepted pass from Plummer led to a Bristol Rovers counter-attack. The move fizzled out when Bolger's long-distance strike drifted wide, but Plummer's difficult debut wasn't over... yet. Five minutes later, Jeremiah's game was cut short by a rough challenge from Pirates midfielder Craig Shearer. I didn't have any more central midfielders on the bench, so West dropped back to act as a makeshift deep-lying playmaker, and 16-year-old Sotiris Giangoudakis came on to play up front.

 

A scrappy match saw its fourth booking in the 63rd minute, when Pirates winger Lewis Williams was cautioned for fouling our right-back Igor Angulo. On 72 minutes, Williams turned past Angulo to receive Kim Fowler's direct pass into the Daggers area. I was fearing the worst… but Ryder produced the save of a man determined to keep his third successive clean sheet. Coyne swung the resulting corner in to Bolger, whose header went off target.

 

Bristol Rovers wouldn't threaten us again, so we remained undefeated for the 11th game in a row. We would also finish with our sixth victory from that run. With four minutes to go, Williams' sliding tackle from Israilov knocked the ball back towards his team's goal, and Giangoudakis popped up to stroke it past Bentley! Sotiris had scored his first competitive goal and ensured that we would finish 4th!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Giangoudakis 86)

Bristol Rovers - 0

League Two, Attendance 4,901 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 4th, Bristol Rovers 13th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Angulo, McEwan, Tierney, O'Reilly, Parmenter (Roche), Wharton (Plummer (Giangoudakis)), Honeyball, G Flood, West, Israilov. BOOKED: McEwan, Parmenter.

 

Theo Wharton had indeed broken his leg early on in that match. He would miss not just our play-off campaign, but also the start of next season. It was dreadfully bad luck for the Welsh midfielder, who - at 31 - may not be the same player when and if he returns.

 

For the rest of us, attention turns to our Play-Off Semi Final, which will be against 7th-placed Blackpool. The other Semi sees Leyton Orient take on Kidderminster Harriers.

 

On paper, we should be the favourites to go up. We finished the regular season with a league-best goal tally of 86, and we took four points against each of the other play-off contenders. That said, I'm old enough and ugly enough to know that everything can fall apart in just a few hours of football. Concentration is the key for us.

[CFuller]

MAY 2026

We had plenty of time to prepare for our Play-Off Semi Final against Blackpool, as there was a three-week gap between our last regular-season game and the first of what I hoped would be three additional matches.

 

Leg 1 of our Semi would take place at Bloomfield Road on 17 May, with Victoria Road playing host to the return fixture five days later. Hosting the second leg gave us a slight advantage, but I didn't want Blackpool to be way out in front by the time that came around, so I had to get my preparations right.

 

We mainly worked on our teamwork and physical fitness in the first two weeks of training before the play-offs. In the final week, we focused on improving our defensive skills. Although we'd kept four clean sheets in a row leading up to the play-offs, I considered it vital that we should try to shut Blackpool out at their own ground.

 

It was right at the end of our second training week that we suffered a major blow to our attacking prospects. Troy Hands, who'd just extended his contract until the summer of 2028, was in some discomfort after a Saturday morning session. The club doctor later confirmed our worst fears, diagnosing Troy with a lower back stress fracture. We would be without our leading scorer at the most vital stage of the campaign.

 

Troy's loss, coupled with a broken toe sustained by Joel Honeyball earlier on during our extended break, left us fairly short on attacking options when the time came to visit Bloomfield Road. Ahletdin Israilov, who had not scored or created a goal for the senior team since January, would partner big Mark West up front at the start of our play-off campaign.

 

17 May 2026: Blackpool vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Unsurprisingly, Blackpool were on the front foot early in proceedings. In the fourth minute, Dagenham keeper Robbie Ryder could only parry Seasiders captain Ryan Lynch's shot on to Craig Connor, whose subsequent cross failed to find a tangerine jersey. Robbie had to stop Lynch again five minutes later, when he stuck his left leg out to block the midfielder's next strike.

 

At the other end, my choice to put an Ahletdin Israilov low on confidence up front started to look quite badly thought-out. Israilov fired well over in the 20th minute, four minutes after being booked for a careless lunge on Blackpool defender Ronnie Potter. Midfielder Mitchell Clark did test Seasiders goalie Sullay Shaw in the 25th minute with a free-kick that flew into the custodian's hands. That was followed moments later by the first of two wayward efforts from Connor.

 

Mark West also lacked a killer instinct after 32 minutes, when his attempted curler from outside the Blackpool penalty area drifted off target. The first half quickly fizzled out, but not before the referee handed out further bookings to Daggers midfielder Geraint Harding and Blackpool's Reis Collins.

 

Neither Harding nor Israilov would return for the second half, as I replaced them with Dean Oliver and Sotiris Giangoudakis respectively. Sadly, Sotiris couldn't replicate the impact of his previous performance against Bristol Rovers. He'd not even been on the pitch for two minutes when Blackpool full-back Carl Spooner dived in on him near the touchline. Giangoudakis landed heavily on his chest, and he winced off with severe pain, unable to continue. On came Yasser Ibrahim as a makeshift right-winger, and our final substitute.

 

That latest injury did nothing to settle the nerves we clearly had. Lynch was agonisingly close to scoring from Blackpool with a fierce drive in the 55th minute, and Ryder had to make another fine save from Connor two minutes later. The Seasiders later made two subs of their own. Among them was 39-year-old Graham Dorrans, who fired wide in the 63rd minute of his final home game.

 

Ibrahim messed up a clear opportunity for us in the 65th minute, nodding Matt Warren's deep cross off target. That actually marked the start of our first real bright spell in this match. Paul Hart fired a promising effort straight at Shaw in the 67th minute, while Gareth Flood struck the post from Ibrahim's cross in the 71st.

 

Blackpool also hit the woodwork on 79 minutes, as Lynch's free-kick rattled the bar after Clark had been booked for sliding in on Archie Love. The Seasiders' Scottish midfielder would himself get cautioned two minutes later for tripping up Mitchell. Blackpool's last real opportunity to score came after 82 minutes, when Ryder made a routine catch from Darren McCabe's weak header.

 

Then, in the 88th minute, Oliver's work ethic gave us a massive opening. Dean closed down Dorrans inside the Seasiders area and struck a shot that Shaw could only parry to Hart. Paul went for glory, but he seemed to hurt his ankle when striking the ball, which missed the target. Hart couldn't play on, so we had to see the game out with just 10 men.

 

By the time the final whistle blew, I was incredibly relieved that we hadn't conceded. Although we'd missed some big opportunities, the tie was still just about in our favour.

 

Blackpool - 0

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

League Two Play-Off Semi Final Leg 1, Attendance 16,006

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Beech, Dalton, Coton, Warren, Hart, Clark, Harding (Oliver), G Flood, West, Israilov (Giangoudakis (Ibrahim)). BOOKED: Israilov, Harding, Clark.

 

Sotiris Giangoudakis had broken some of his ribs and couldn't take any further part in our season. Fortunately, Paul Hart was not too badly hurt and was able to play in the second leg.

 

That second leg would be played out at Victoria Road, in front of a capacity crowd of 6,077, on a Friday night like no other. Could we finally see off Blackpool, and move to within 90 minutes of a return to League One?

 

22 May 2026: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Blackpool

Blackpool captain Ryan Lynch gave Dagenham left-back Matt Warren a major problem after six minutes. Lynch glided almost effortlessly past Warren until he got to the edge of the six-yard box, where he hit a poor shot into the side netting. Lynch's fellow Seasiders midfielder Archie Love couldn't get any closer to finding the net with a long-distance curler in the 12th minute.

 

Seven minutes later, Mitchell Clark swung in a couple of promising corners for us. The latter of them found Wayne Coton, whose header was held by goalkeeper Sullay Shaw. Mitchell's set-pieces would cause Blackpool all sorts of problems throughout the first half. Coton got onto another Clark corner in the 27th minute, but his set-up for Mark West didn't lead to a goal, as Shaw blocked Mark's shot brilliantly.

 

Shaw denied West again after 31 minutes, catching the big man's header from yet another corner delivered by… yep, him again. Mitchell's next chance to create a goalscoring opportunity came from a free-kick in the 33rd minute. The midfielder curled it over the wall, above Shaw's head… and into the net! Clark had scored from 30 yards to give us a 1-0 lead!

 

Craig Connor hoped to wipe out our advantage with a couple of efforts in the 35th and 38th minute, but they were from too far out to threaten Robbie Ryder's run of clean sheets. In the last minute of regular time, though, that run did come to an end. Connor tried to volley Lynch's cross into the six-yard box, but when the ball drifted wide, it seemed the danger had passed. That was until Warren pulled a weak clearance towards Reis Collins, who poached his 15th league goal of the season. 1-1 at half-time.

 

In the 49th minute, we saw exactly why Yasser Ibrahim is a joy to watch… and also why he can be such a frustrating player. The Egyptian teased Blackpool's defence with some excellent dribbling, only to follow it up with a terrible strike. Ibrahim would later be taken off and replaced by Ahletdin Israilov, but not before another enigmatic Daggers wideman missed a great opportunity of his own.

 

After 64 minutes, Jonathan Roche latched onto West's knock-on and dribbled into the penalty area, where he snatched at a shot with his weaker left foot. That miss had come just moments after Ryder caught a header from Connor. While Robbie and our defenders were more than earning their keep against the Seasiders, our attackers continued to underperform.

 

After 73 minutes, I lost patience with Mark, and sent on Sean Short to take his place as our centre-forward. Short and his fellow substitute Israilov would give our frontline a bit more energy in the latter stages of the second half. In the 80th minute, Ahletdin intercepted a headed clearance from Blackpool left-back Warren Spike. Israilov took the ball forward and then went for goal, getting fairly close to the target.

 

Another great chance came from a counter-attack in the 90th minute. The excellent Clark found Roche in space with one of his trademark direct passes and then watched Jonny get to the byline. Jonny then delivered a delicious cross to Short in the six-yard box… but Sean's header cleared the bar. That miss effectively ensured that the game would finish level at 1-1, both on the night and on aggregate. It would take at least another half-hour to decide the outcome of this Semi Final...

[CFuller]

MAY 2026 (continued)

The first chance for either team to strike in extra-time came during the second minute. Ahletdin Israilov's corner for Dagenham was headed away by Blackpool's Jimmy Harrison, but Jonathan Roche quickly got the ball back to Israilov's feet. The Kyrgyzstan international drilled in a follow-up cross, and Seasiders right-back Carl Spooner made a great interception to stop it from reaching Gavin Dalton. However, he could only divert the ball to Geraint Harding, who delighted the Daggers fans with an excellent finish! That was the first competitive goal of Geraint's career, and it couldn't have come at a much more important moment!

 

Harding's strike also inspired us to push on for another goal that would surely break Blackpool. In the 95th minute, Paul Hart fed the ball through to Israilov, whose strike Sullay Shaw did well to turn against his left-hand post. Sean Short nearly latched onto the rebound, only for Harrison to beat him just in the nick of time for the visitors.

 

A minute later, Robbie Ryder held onto a free-kick from Reis Collins, who was looking to draw Blackpool level for the second time. The Lancashire side's hopes suffered a blow when striker Darren McCabe pulled his hamstring after 99 minutes. Fortunately for Pool boss John Eustace, he was still able to bring on a substitute. We also had one substitution available, but I decided not to play my final card before half-time.

 

We took a narrow 2-1 lead into the second half of extra-time, when we nearly improved on it. Mitchell Clark's 106th-minute found Dalton, whose header was drifting off target before Shaw dove to catch it. Shaw pulled off another catch after 113 minutes from Clark's low drive.

 

Two minutes later, Blackpool defender Matty Fletcher crossed beyond Dagenham captain Tim Beech and into our area. Craig Connor ran onto the ball and sent it across the goalmouth towards Reis Collins, who broke away from Wayne Coton to apply the finish! Victoria Road was stunned. We'd come so close to reaching the Final, but now it looked like we would have to go to penalties in this Semi.

 

I finally made my final substitution following that equaliser, with Aaron McEwan replacing the tiring Gavin to shore up our defence. We would have one final shot at glory shortly after the restart. Israilov could only head it straight into Shaw's hands, and so, with the score still 2-2 at full-time, everyone knew what was next.

 

The dreaded penalty shoot-out didn't fill Dagenham's Paul Hart or Blackpool's Connor with much fear, as they converted the opening spot-kicks for their sides. Israilov was up next for the Daggers, but an acrobatic save from Shaw left him devastated.

 

Our agony only grew, as Collins and Ryan Chalk both scored for the Seasiders either side of an emphatic strike from Daggers striker Short. Blackpool led 3-2 after three kicks apiece, so if Coton missed our fourth, we would be on the brink of defeat. The weight on Wayne's shoulders proved too much, as Shaw pushed away a timid effort from the centre-back.

 

We now needed Warren Spike to miss, or Ryder to save, the eighth penalty of the shoot-out. The 17-year-old Liverpudlian stepped up confidently... and sent Robbie the wrong way with a powerful kick into the top corner. Our dream had been shattered.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Clark 33, Harding 92)

Blackpool - 2 (Collins 45,115)

[2-2 on aggregate, Blackpool win 4-2 on penalties]

League Two Play-Off Semi Final Leg 2, Attendance 6,077

PENALTY SHOOT-OUT: Hart 1-0, Connor 1-1, Israilov saved, Collins 1-2, Short 2-2, Chalk 2-3, Coton saved, Spike 2-4.

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Beech, Dalton (McEwan), Coton, Warren, Clark, Harding, Roche, Hart, Ibrahim (Israilov), West (Short).

 

Losing any penalty shoot-out is heartbreaking. Losing a shoot-out in a Play-Off Semi Final, when you've been within five minutes of victory and played so well throughout the season, can almost give you a coronary.

 

I had a few minutes to myself, and then entered a deadly-quiet home dressing room. I couldn't find any words to console a devastated collection of grown men, some of whom were sobbing as if they'd lost a relative. This should've been their season, and throughout the last few weeks, I'd grown even more convinced that it would be their season.

 

While Blackpool boss John Eustace and his team celebrated reaching a Play-Off Final against Leyton Orient at Wembley, I sat down on a bench beside an inconsolable Ahletdin Israilov, and put my head in my hands. Countless thoughts swept through my mind, including some sentences that I could put into a resignation letter. For the first time since we returned to the Football League, I seriously considered quitting Dagenham & Redbridge.

 

Wisely, I decided to sleep on it rather than make a rash decision when emotions were running high. When I rose the next morning, I was ready to carry on for another season. After all, there were no attractive job vacancies around in London or the south-east, and I would've been foolish to walk out without a clear idea of where I'd go next.

 

After taking the weekend off, I met up with chairman Antonello Scolaro for our assessment of how the season went. Mr Scolaro said that he was very pleased with our performances, even if we didn't quite get promoted. He therefore allowed me to stay on for another season, which would be the last of my current contract.

 

However, there was still the major issue of our finances. We remained around £1million in debt, having made a net loss of £170,000 in the past 12 months. I would have to try to sell off some more players and cut the wage bill even finer.

 

Vice-captain Tim Beech helped us out massively in the latter respect, as he selflessly agreed to take a massive pay cut to stay with us until 2029. Current Daggers captain Aaron McEwan is on a steep £1,800 per week, and he won't be getting a new contract for next season, so Tim could well be taking his armband in the summer.

 

Another highly-paid defender that I wanted off my wage bill was 'Mr Three Reds', Lee Heffernan. Although he didn't pick up any more red cards during his three-month loan at League One side Forest Green Rovers, I remained desperate to sell a player who had not fulfilled his potential.

 

The thing was, though, Heff was very reluctant to budge. In the three weeks after coming back from Forest Green, Lee turned down permanent moves to Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Mansfield Town, with each transfer falling through over his salary demands. I was now willing to forego any transfer fee just to get Heffernan out, but I had the feeling that he would even turn down Manchester City if they came in for him!

 

Attacking midfielder Ahletdin Israilov was another player that I was happy to move on. Ahletdin was still an excellent playmaker, but I couldn't really justify paying £1,400 a week to a 31-year-old rotation player whose best years were behind him. Besides, 18-year-old Dean Martin will be ready to challenge for a first-team place next season after his short loan stint at Barnet.

 

One of the big reasons why Israilov's impact has lessened massively this season is Paul Hart, who blew him out of the water with 13 goals and 9 assists. The teenage maestro's performances would see him win the LFE League Two Apprentice of the Year award. Perhaps more significantly, Hart was also named in the PFA's League Two Team of the Year, along with team-mate Wayne Coton.

 

It will take a massive offer to persuade us to sell either Paul or Wayne, but some of our other key men could be sold in the coming months.

[CFuller]

League Two Table (End of 2025/2026)

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    C     Derby                  46    26    13    7     81    39    +42   91
2.    P     Hartlepool             46    24    10    12    83    56    +27   82
3.    P     Bournemouth            46    23    10    13    59    51    +8    79
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.          Dag & Red              46    20    16    10    86    59    +27   76
5.          Leyton Orient          46    20    14    12    74    59    +15   74
6.          Kidderminster          46    21    10    15    51    41    +10   73
7.    P     Blackpool              46    18    17    11    69    54    +15   71
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8.          Chesterfield           46    20    10    16    64    67    -3    70
9.          Yeovil                 46    20    9     17    52    49    +3    69
10.         Dartford               46    20    9     17    62    63    -1    69
11.         Wycombe                46    17    16    13    41    39    +2    67
12.         Luton                  46    18    12    16    76    67    +9    66
13.         Bristol Rovers         46    17    15    14    54    51    +3    66
14.         Aldershot              46    19    9     18    69    73    -4    66
15.         Bristol City           46    15    15    16    52    52    0     60
16.         Chester                46    13    18    15    63    71    -8    57
17.         Swindon                46    13    17    16    58    63    -5    56
18.         AFC Wimbledon          46    14    13    19    65    85    -20   55
19.         Port Vale              46    12    16    18    60    70    -10   52
20.         Hereford               46    11    16    19    70    67    +3    49
21.         Tranmere               46    9     16    21    39    61    -22   43
22.         Cambridge              46    9     14    23    51    75    -24   41
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
23.   R     Burton                 46    10    10    26    36    73    -37   40
24.   R     Boreham Wood           46    4     13    29    51    81    -30   25

 

[CFuller]

Dagenham & Redbridge Player Statistics (2025/2026)

(Includes stats from all first-team matches & 1 Essex Senior Cup match)

 

GOALKEEPERS               APPS    CON  CLN  MOM  P%   TR   ST%  Y    R    AV RAT
Stephen Flood             1       3    0    0    69%  -    -    0    0    6.60
Daryl Ryan                22      32   4    1    75%  -    -    0    0    6.81
Robbie Ryder              29      33   10   0    74%  -    -    0    0    6.98
OUTFIELD PLAYERS          APPS    GLS  AST  MOM  P%   TR   ST%  Y    R    AV RAT
Igor Angulo               7 (2)   0    1    0    84%  4.16 -    0    0    6.99
Kenny Barber              5 (9)   3    0    0    78%  2.46 83%  1    0    6.86
Denis Bartley             0 (2)   0    0    0    83%  0.00 0%   0    0    6.70
Tim Beech                 41      2    5    2    77%  4.03 50%  0    0    7.17
Mitchell Clark            34 (3)  3    6    1    85%  5.29 30%  4    0    7.27
Wayne Coton               38 (2)  2    1    8    72%  3.04 36%  2    0    7.58
Gavin Dalton              37 (1)  3    2    3    62%  2.92 47%  3    0    7.35
Gareth Flood              22 (6)  1    4    0    72%  2.88 36%  0    0    6.78
Sotiris Giangoudakis      0 (3)   2    0    0    90%  -    75%  0    0    7.25
Troy Hands                34 (10) 23   4    5    78%  3.54 55%  9    0    7.16
Geraint Harding           27 (7)  1    3    0    76%  5.58 15%  2    0    7.06
Paul Hart                 34 (6)  13   9    1    84%  3.10 45%  6    0    7.19
Joel Honeyball            7 (9)   4    3    0    78%  2.89 47%  1    0    7.01
Yasser Ibrahim            18 (13) 5    5    1    76%  2.25 52%  1    0    6.94
Ahletdin Israilov         24 (8)  3    9    1    80%  2.68 32%  4    0    7.00
Louis Jack                4 (3)   0    0    0    68%  2.81 100% 1    0    6.75
Zac Johnson               1       0    0    0    72%  0.00 0%   0    0    6.90
Aaron McEwan              19 (4)  3    0    2    70%  3.57 50%  6    0    6.99
Lumumba McLean            1 (2)   0    0    0    55%  1.62 0%   1    0    5.75
Kristjan Miljevic         10 (8)  1    2    0    77%  3.23 50%  0    0    6.86
Dean Oliver               21 (11) 0    3    0    79%  4.00 17%  2    0    6.78
Daniel O'Reilly           4       0    1    0    72%  2.69 -    0    0    6.92
Wayne Parmenter           1       0    0    0    76%  0.00 100% 1    0    6.90
Jeremiah Plummer          0 (1)   0    0    0    82%  0.00 -    0    0    6.60
Jonathan Roche            20 (10) 0    10   1    78%  2.67 29%  0    0    6.98
Sean Short                14 (5)  6    3    1    73%  2.00 44%  1    0    7.12
Thomas Tierney            11 (8)  0    0    0    70%  3.78 0%   1    0    7.02
Matt Warren               31 (4)  0    1    1    77%  4.22 100% 0    0    7.00
Mark West                 30 (5)  15   10   5    77%  2.42 45%  0    0    7.43
Theo Wharton              19 (14) 0    1    0    86%  4.18 10%  1    0    6.94
Ben Wordsworth            1       0    0    0    76%  -    -    0    0    6.40

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 2026

I've not been on many holidays abroad, but I bucked that trend this month. Instead of going to one of my typical destinations, such as Norfolk or the Peak District, I would be joining assistant manager Fabio Saraiva and his family in sunny Portugal for two weeks.

 

Porto was the perfect place to unwind after a long and stressful season. Of course, though, being a football obsessive, I couldn't get away from the beautiful game for very long.

 

Fabio and I spent the first Wednesday evening in a bar, where dozens of Portuguese football fans were watching their country's Under-21s play a friendly match against Bosnia & Herzegovina on TV.

 

After Portugal took an early 2-0 lead, Fabio spoke to a Porto fan about some of the players. When the fan mentioned that one of them - the lightning-quick left-winger Marcelo Andrade - had just been released by the Portuguese champions, I took a keen interest.

 

"How good is he?" I asked. The fan replied, "Andrade? He's very promising. He played well for the B team this season, so I'm surprised that we released him."

 

Another Porto supporter - a fairly elderly gentleman - chimed in, "He reminds me a bit of Paulo Futre." I didn't really know much about Futre, but that was quite high praise. It turned out that Futre was a very productive left-winger who won the 1987 European Cup with Porto and represented Portugal 41 times. To be compared with him, you would have to be a bit more than a decent player.

 

Bosnia came back to draw 2-2, and Andrade did not have a fantastic game, but I still reckoned that he could be a great player for us if we could persuade him to sign on. A week later, before Portugal Under-21s played another home friendly against Croatia, Fabio and I arrived at the team's training ground to meet Marcelo face-to-face.

 

Using Fabio as an English-to-Portuguese translator, I tried to persuade Andrade that he could establish himself at Dagenham & Redbridge. Although Marcelo spoke very little English and had no idea where Dagenham was, he couldn't resist the lure of playing in England. Later that day, he agreed a three-year deal worth £1,700 per week. We had claimed what I considered to be a major coup.

 

When we came back from our holiday, I finalised my second summer signing - one from much closer to home. 25-year-old centre-back Josh Charles had been by far Burton Albion's best player in an otherwise dreadful season, and I was delighted to sign the burly Brummie.

 

A third new signing would soon be heading to Dagenham. He was 18-year-old right-back Dan Plummer - a north Londoner recently released from Southampton's youth academy.

 

Josh's arrival meant there was no longer any room for skipper Aaron McEwan at Victoria Road. After three years with the Daggers, Big Mac was off to Macclesfield Town, and he left with our best wishes.

 

Two other defenders left the club on free transfers. Right-back Louis Jack joined Conference South side Maidstone United, and centre-half Lee Heffernan finally accepted that it was time to move on. Heffernan signed for Northern Irish champions Portadown, who will give us half of his next transfer fee in return. In the end, we might get nothing back for a player we once had high hopes for, but it's a gamble I'm willing to take.

 

Neil Munn was also on the move after agreeing to sign with League One outfit Charlton Athletic. Igor Angulo, Dean Oliver and Sean Short completed their loans and returned to Chelsea, Fulham and Bristol Rovers respectively.

 

The list of first-team departures was completed by Ahletdin Israilov and Kristjan Miljevic, who were released along with youth-teamers Reiss Edwards, Jeremiah Plummer and Ben Wordsworth.

 

On the staff front, I handed new contracts to shooting coach Danny Keohane, fitness coach David Wheater, physio Sam Cutler, and scouts Goma Lambu and Nicky Reynolds. Technical coach Steve Moss wasn't retained, and goalkeeping coach Scott Tynan didn't receive a new deal either, as I'd given his job to a much bigger name.

 

Our new goalkeeping coach was none other than ex-England international Scott Carson, who'd played in the Premier League for a whole host of clubs. This wasn't the 40-year-old Cumbrian's first backroom position since hanging up his gloves - he had a very brief stint as manager of non-league Rugby Town in 2024.

 

Meanwhile, the Dagenham supporters' club named their best XI for the 2025/2026 season as follows: Robbie Ryder, Tim Beech, Wayne Coton, Gavin Dalton, Matt Warren, Paul Hart, Mitchell Clark, Geraint Harding, Yasser Ibrahim, Mark West, Troy Hands.

 

Four of those players stood out as major contenders for the Player of the Year award, but for the second year in a row, it was Wayne Coton who polled the most votes. The young centre-back is well on his way to becoming a Daggers icon.

 

Wayne and the other Daggers returned for pre-season training on 22 June. Three days later, the fixture list for the new League Two campaign was released. Our season would begin at Luton Town on 1 August, followed by a home game against AFC Wimbledon on 4 August.

 

This could be my last season at Dagenham & Redbridge, so I've got to make it count. It's promotion or bust.

[CFuller]

Romford watch: 2025/2026

Having lost another Conference South Play-Off Final, could Romford bounce back and finally make that next step into the Conference Premier? Manager Tyrone Mears would be right under pressure from the off.

 

Conference South: 8th

Romford did not make a good start, with back-to-back draws being followed by an away defeat to Hampton & Richmond Borough. The Boro did record a comfortable 3-0 home win over Milton Keynes Dons in their fourth game, but that couldn't spark them into life. By the end of October, they were in 17th place, having won just two league matches thus far. Although he was drawing far more games than he was losing, Mears' credentials as a manager were being seriously questioned.

 

The coach's job appeared to be on the line until Romford finally hit some form in mid-November. They would pick up 12 points in the space of seven matches until they started the New Year with a 3-2 defeat at stadium:mk, where MK Dons got their revenge. Their next six league games in January resulted in five wins and just the one draw - at home to Bath City. The Boro were back into the top half and making a late charge for a play-off place, but had they left themselves too much to do?

 

Though Romford lost both of their games in February, it didn't knock them off their stride. From March until the end of the regular season, the Boro hit a purple patch that saw them go unbeaten in 10 matches, winning six. January signing Connor Flitcroft was in fine form, as the former Brentwood Town forward scored seven goals, including three at Maidstone United. Alas, it was too little, too late for the Boro. They finished four points adrift of 5th-placed Oxford City, and missed the play-offs for the first time since 2021/2022.

 

FA Cup: Qualifying Round 2

For the first time in eight years, Romford failed to get through their first game in the FA Cup. They were given a tricky away draw against divisional rivals Welling United, and lost 2-0.

 

FA Trophy: Qualifying Round 3

The Boro's FA Trophy run was even more disappointing. Drawn against Isthmian Premier side St Albans City in Qualifying Round 3, they suffered a 1-0 defeat and exited that competition very early as well.

 

Essex Senior Cup: Winners

Things were much more straightforward in the Essex Senior Cup. Comfortable victories at FC Clacton and Stanway Rovers were followed by a 1-0 Quarter Final victory against Redbridge, which put the Boro into a home Semi Final with fellow Conference South side Maldon & Tiptree. The hosts didn't show any nerves, as two goals from on-loan Leyton Orient winger Deren Quaye helped them to a 4-0 win. Romford were now in their first Essex Senior Cup Final for 12 years.

 

The Final took place on 2 May 2026, with Waltham Forest providing the opposition at the Cricklefield Stadium in Ilford. Romford took a while to get going before veteran striker Junior Morias finally fired them into the lead after 39 minutes. Seidu Asante - making what would be his final appearance for the Boro - added a second goal less than a minute into the second half. Waltham Forest had no response to those two goals, and when home winger Aiden Naylor was sent off late on in the game, the match was effectively over. Romford fans went wild at the final whistle, as their side finally won the Essex Senior Cup again after a 79-year wait!

 

Best Players

Despite missing four months of action with a torn calf muscle, Asante was Romford's leading scorer with 12 goals in all competition. Asante had a number of different strike partners throughout the season, with recent signings Flitcroft and Morias proving to be perhaps the most successful. Other star performers included left-back Ian Wigley and hard-working midfielder Phil Blake. Captain Kieron Gray was as consistent as ever, but after nearly ten years at Ship Lane, he has decided that he will definitely be leaving the club this summer.

 

The Future

Next season will be Romford's first full season under fan ownership. Chairman Jeff Bonser sold the club to the Romford Supporters Trust, led by John Walker, early in February. The new owners have shown faith in 43-year-old Mears, giving him a new 12-month contract to stay on as manager. Unless he guides the Boro back into the play-offs next term, it might be the last chance he gets to make a lasting impression at Ship Lane.

[CFuller]

2025/2026 season round-up: Part 1

Premier League

Once again, Manchester United and Manchester City were locked in a fierce title battle that almost went to the wire. The Premier League title would ultimately stay in the hands of Roberto Donadoni's United, who finished just two points ahead of their bitter rivals. The Red Devils once again had Damien King - the league's Top Goalscorer with 32 goals - and Belgian magician Grégory Lefevre to thank for their success. City didn't finish empty-handed, though, as they regained the UEFA Champions League title and won the FA Cup for the third season in a row.

 

In the bronze medal position were Fulham, who became the first team from outside the 'Big Six' to break the top three since 2003. The Cottagers' long wait to qualify for the Champions League under the ownership of Dmitrijs Morozs was finally ended with the help of Dutch international Johan van Keulen, who scored 24 PL goals. Fulham also finished as London's top club, with Chelsea in 4th place ahead of Arsenal and West Ham United on goal difference, and Tottenham Hotspur just below them.

 

Norwich City's return to the Premier League saw them finish in a very impressive 9th place, just above a Liverpool side who had another disappointing season. Fellow promoted side Nottingham Forest made an excellent start under Stuart Pearce, but then fell away to 13th after he left abruptly to join Hamburg. Meanwhile, 12th-placed Aston Villa won the League Cup, and Sir Elton John was left blubbing at Wembley again after Watford lost their second FA Cup Final. The Hornets duly thanked their manager Bobby Mimms… by giving him the sack.

 

Top-flight newcomers Peterborough United picked up just two points from their first 11 games, and though they put up a good fight thereafter, relegation was always looking likely. On a thrilling final day, six teams battled to try and avoid joining Peterborough in the Championship. The day would end in agony from Sunderland, who really missed homegrown hero Clive Johnson after his sale to Arsenal. Everton were even unluckier, as they finished 18th on goals scored behind Newcastle United, who narrowly survived despite making some high-profile signings!

 

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    C/CL  Man Utd                38    26    9     3     89    33    +56   87
2.    CL    Man City               38    26    7     5     97    36    +61   85
3.    CL    Fulham                 38    22    8     8     74    56    +18   74
4.    CL    Chelsea                38    17    13    8     67    49    +18   64
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.    EL    Arsenal                38    19    7     12    70    54    +16   64
6.          West Ham               38    19    7     12    68    57    +11   64
7.          Tottenham              38    16    14    8     72    65    +7    62
8.          Wolves                 38    17    10    11    60    52    +8    61
9.          Norwich                38    14    8     16    58    59    -1    50
10.         Liverpool              38    14    6     18    50    54    -4    48
11.         West Brom              38    12    10    16    61    71    -10   46
12.   EL    Aston Villa            38    10    12    16    42    57    -15   42
13.         Nottm Forest           38    9     13    16    40    56    -16   40
14.         Reading                38    10    10    18    55    72    -17   40
15.   EL    Watford                38    10    10    18    47    69    -22   40
16.         Burnley                38    10    8     20    34    54    -20   38
17.         Newcastle              38    8     13    17    49    70    -21   37
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
18.   R     Everton                38    9     10    19    35    56    -21   37
19.   R     Sunderland             38    8     12    18    46    71    -25   36
20.   R     Peterborough           38    6     9     23    41    64    -23   27

 

Championship

Wigan Athletic couldn't be kept out of the Premier League for long. They started the Championship season like a train and went on to win the title by 11 points. Huddersfield Town also celebrated a return to the elite level. Manager Robbie Simpson was soon poached by Watford, whose old boss Mimms replaced him at Huddersfield!

 

Having crept into the play-off spots on the final day, Blackburn Rovers stunned 3rd-placed Southampton to reach the Final. There, they would be playing Stoke City, who kept Leeds United's long absence from the Premier League going on. The Potters would also have to stay in the Championship, as goals from Austrian striker Markus Galm and midfielder Stuart Johnson sent Blackburn up with a 2-0 win.

 

Barnsley had their best finish for 26 years, as Mark Burley's league-best tally of 28 goals guided them to 10th place. They finished above Notts County and Bradford City, who threatened to sneak into the play-off spots until late slumps saw them fall into the bottom half.

 

Fleetwood Town won just five games all season as they finished bottom of the Championship. Wrexham went straight back down to League One, and ex-England defender Micah Richards was unable to keep his Sheffield United team up on judgement day. Plymouth Argyle, Swansea City and Bolton Wanderers all narrowly escaped the drop.

 

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    C     Wigan                  46    29    10    7     82    44    +38   97
2.    P     Huddersfield           46    25    11    10    83    54    +29   86
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.          Southampton            46    25    10    11    87    51    +36   85
4.          Leeds                  46    23    9     14    65    46    +19   78
5.          Stoke                  46    21    15    10    68    50    +18   78
6.    P     Blackburn              46    18    17    11    74    58    +16   71
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7.          Brighton               46    20    10    16    63    59    +4    70
8.          Coventry               46    17    15    14    59    58    +1    66
9.          Leicester              46    18    11    17    71    60    +11   65
10.         Barnsley               46    15    19    12    63    61    +2    64
11.         Crystal Palace         46    19    7     20    59    67    -8    64
12.         Hull                   46    19    6     21    49    61    -12   63
13.         QPR                    46    16    14    16    59    57    +2    62
14.         Notts County           46    18    6     22    61    64    -3    60
15.         Bradford               46    17    9     20    59    66    -7    60
16.         Crewe                  46    16    12    18    50    57    -7    60
17.         Middlesbrough          46    14    13    19    60    61    -1    55
18.         Doncaster              46    13    16    17    47    63    -16   55
19.         Bolton                 46    13    13    20    49    62    -13   52
20.         Swansea                46    13    12    21    67    79    -12   51
21.         Plymouth               46    14    9     23    61    77    -16   51
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22.   R     Sheff Utd              46    12    12    22    64    73    -9    48
23.   R     Wrexham                46    9     16    21    47    78    -31   43
24.   R     Fleetwood              46    5     14    27    45    86    -41   29

 

League One

After nine years in League One, Millwall finally bounced back to the Championship as champions of the third tier. Rochdale finished runners-up after a final-day win at promotion rivals Rotherham United.

 

Rotherham would fall short in their Play-Off Semi Final against Cardiff City, while Gillingham saw off an Ipswich Town team who'd started the campaign terribly before rising up to 6th. The Final was goalless after 90 minutes, but extra-time goals from Steven Edwards and Ryan Bardsley secured promotion for Cardiff's resurgent Bluebirds.

 

Morecambe, Mansfield Town and Exeter City made up the bottom three following a tense battle to stay in League One. The other relegation place was filled by Forest Green Rovers… until a 2-0 win at home to Brentford on the final day sent the Bees down instead!

 

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    C     Millwall               46    24    11    11    69    43    +26   83
2.    P     Rochdale               46    23    10    13    65    47    +18   79
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.          Gillingham             46    22    9     15    60    47    +13   75
4.    P     Cardiff                46    21    12    13    60    48    +12   75
5.          Rotherham              46    20    14    12    55    39    +16   74
6.          Ipswich                46    20    11    15    62    43    +19   71
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7.          Shrewsbury             46    20    11    15    59    59    0     71
8.          Portsmouth             46    19    13    14    50    49    +1    70
9.          Walsall                46    18    14    14    55    49    +6    68
10.         Colchester             46    17    15    14    62    54    +8    66
11.         Sheff Wed              46    17    12    17    60    57    +3    63
12.         Birmingham             46    17    12    17    52    58    -6    63
13.         AFC Telford            46    17    11    18    60    57    +3    62
14.         Stockport              46    17    11    18    56    58    -2    62
15.         Northampton            46    15    16    15    48    47    +1    61
16.         Oldham                 46    17    9     20    56    62    -6    60
17.         Scunthorpe             46    16    10    20    50    50    0     58
18.         Oxford                 46    13    13    20    47    60    -13   52
19.         Forest Green           46    12    16    18    46    60    -14   52
20.         Charlton               46    14    10    22    48    66    -18   52
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
21.   R     Brentford              46    12    15    19    46    66    -20   51
22.   R     Exeter                 46    12    13    21    41    56    -15   49
23.   R     Mansfield              46    13    9     24    53    67    -14   48
24.   R     Morecambe              46    10    15    21    46    64    -18   45

 

League Two

Despite a shaky start, Derby County eventually proved too strong for the rest of League Two, winning 26 games and losing just seven. Following them on the road back to League One were Hartlepool United and AFC Bournemouth.

 

There was plenty of drama in the Play-Off Semi Finals, as an injury-time penalty put Leyton Orient through against Kidderminster Harriers, and Blackpool knocked out Dagenham & Redbridge on penalties. The Final was anything but dramatic, with two early goals bringing an end to Blackpool's slow descent.

 

Boreham Wood won only four games in what proved to be a brief stay in League Two. Their only home victory was against Burton Albion, whose 17-year spell as a Football League club ended with back-to-back relegations.

 

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    C     Derby                  46    26    13    7     81    39    +42   91
2.    P     Hartlepool             46    24    10    12    83    56    +27   82
3.    P     Bournemouth            46    23    10    13    59    51    +8    79
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.          Dag & Red              46    20    16    10    86    59    +27   76
5.          Leyton Orient          46    20    14    12    74    59    +15   74
6.          Kidderminster          46    21    10    15    51    41    +10   73
7.    P     Blackpool              46    18    17    11    69    54    +15   71
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8.          Chesterfield           46    20    10    16    64    67    -3    70
9.          Yeovil                 46    20    9     17    52    49    +3    69
10.         Dartford               46    20    9     17    62    63    -1    69
11.         Wycombe                46    17    16    13    41    39    +2    67
12.         Luton                  46    18    12    16    76    67    +9    66
13.         Bristol Rovers         46    17    15    14    54    51    +3    66
14.         Aldershot              46    19    9     18    69    73    -4    66
15.         Bristol City           46    15    15    16    52    52    0     60
16.         Chester                46    13    18    15    63    71    -8    57
17.         Swindon                46    13    17    16    58    63    -5    56
18.         AFC Wimbledon          46    14    13    19    65    85    -20   55
19.         Port Vale              46    12    16    18    60    70    -10   52
20.         Hereford               46    11    16    19    70    67    +3    49
21.         Tranmere               46    9     16    21    39    61    -22   43
22.         Cambridge              46    9     14    23    51    75    -24   41
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
23.   R     Burton                 46    10    10    26    36    73    -37   40
24.   R     Boreham Wood           46    4     13    29    51    81    -30   25

 

Conference Premier

Kent now has three Football League teams following Ebbsfleet United's surprise victory in the Conference Premier title race. Ebbsfleet managed to pip both Stevenage and Torquay United at the post.

 

Torquay lost their Play-Off Semi Final to Cheltenham Town, and Stevenage would also miss out on promotion, despite seeing off Kingstonian. Cheltenham battered the Boro 3-0 at Wembley to end a decade in the Conference. Were it not for a 10-point penalty, penniless Crawley Town would've made the play-offs at Kingstonian's expense.

 

Preston North End's shocking decline continued with relegation to the Conference North. They finished on the same number of points as bottom club Altrincham, while Newport County and York City also went down.

 

                                   P     W     D     L     F     A     GD    PTS
1.    C     Ebbsfleet              46    25    10    11    82    47    +35   85
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.          Stevenage              46    24    12    10    80    54    +26   84
3.          Torquay                46    22    16    8     62    42    +20   82
4.    P     Cheltenham             46    20    13    13    64    52    +12   73
5.          Kingstonian            46    19    15    12    61    51    +10   72
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.          Barrow                 46    19    12    15    66    54    +12   69
7.          Darlington             46    17    16    13    60    53    +7    67
8.          Lincoln                46    17    16    13    52    46    +6    67
9.          Carlisle               46    19    10    17    46    48    -2    67
10.         Southend               46    17    15    14    65    54    +11   66
11.         Crawley                46    19    15    12    63    48    +15   62 *
12.         Southport              46    18    8     20    51    61    -10   62
13.         Eastleigh              46    17    10    19    59    63    -4    61
14.         Stalybridge            46    16    12    18    59    58    +1    60
15.         Chelmsford             46    17    9     20    52    58    -6    60
16.         Canvey Island          46    17    8     21    49    59    -10   59
17.         Grimsby                46    15    13    18    54    56    -2    58
18.         Bromley                46    16    10    20    60    64    -4    58
19.         Farnborough            46    12    19    15    40    44    -4    55
20.         Barnet                 46    13    14    19    53    65    -12   53
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
21.   R     York                   46    14    11    21    49    69    -20   53
22.   R     Newport County         46    9     13    24    41    71    -30   40
23.   R     Preston                46    6     21    19    42    63    -21   39
24.   R     Altrincham             46    9     12    25    38    68    -30   39

* Crawley deducted 10 points for entering administration

 

Conference North

Promoted: Macclesfield Town (1st, 94 pts), Kettering Town (2nd, 82 pts).

Also in Play-Offs: Harrogate Town (3rd, 79 pts), Gateshead (4th, 68 pts), Bury (5th, 65 pts).

Relegated: Blyth Spartans (20th, 42 pts), Ilkeston (21st, 38 pts), Droylsden (22nd, 25 pts).

 

Conference South

Promoted: Salisbury City (1st, 87 pts), Woking (3rd, 77 pts).

Also in Play-Offs: Milton Keynes Dons (2nd, 80 pts), Bath City (4th, 73 pts), Oxford City (5th, 67 pts).

Relegated: Burnham (20th, 43 pts), Dulwich Hamlet (21st, 42 pts), Brentwood Town (22nd, 26 pts).

 

Regional Premier Divisions

Promoted from Northern Premier League Premier: Stamford (1st), Vauxhall Motors (4th).

Promoted from Isthmian League Premier: AFC Hornchurch (1st), St Albans City (2nd).

Promoted from Southern League Premier: Weston-super-Mare (1st), Chalfont St Peter (2nd).

[CFuller]

2025/2026 season round-up: Part 2

Major Transfers

• Arsenal paid out £25.5million on England's new striking superstar Clive Johnson after the prolific 23-year-old sought a new challenge away from his beloved Sunderland. Johnson was an instant hit in London, scoring 23 Premier League goals and winning the PFA Player of the Year award.
• Manchester City secured one of the world's best centre-backs on a free transfer when France international Yasar Eroglu's contract at Real Madrid expired. Another big-name Real player headed for the Etihad Stadium in the New Year, as the unsettled Ukraine striker Maxim Rybin returned to England for £21.5million. The ex-Tottenham Hotspur star went on to score 16 goals in his first 25 games for City.
• Chelsea received £38.5million from Barcelona for their cultured Croatian midfielder Vladimir Pfeifer. The Blues then went down a well-trodden path to spend some of that money. 22-year-old England centre-back Joe Southwood arrived for £12million, becoming their latest signing from Manchester United.
• United caused a stir by signing former City midfielder Dejan Milenkovic from Southampton for £18.75million. The Serb quickly endeared himself to the Old Trafford faithful with some excellent performances as United retained the Premier League title. In January, the Red Devils re-signed their former youth product Mike Robinson, whom they had released as a teenager. Now aged 24 and an England international striker, Robinson returned in a £19.75million deal from West Ham United.
• Eyebrows were raised when ageing Belgian superstar Eden Hazard left Paris Saint-Germain and signed for Newcastle United on a free transfer. Hazard, who joined compatriot Matthew Fuller and ex-France defender Raphael Varane at St James' Park, only played in 25 league games, but his performances almost certainly kept the struggling Magpies up. Meanwhile, PSG raided the PL for their two big summer signings - City striker Uwe Schumacher, and Watford's Swedish midfielder Filip Svensson.
• Pfeifer wasn't the only major arrival at Barcelona. They also secured the services of Portugal left-back Angelo from Braga for £17.75million. Angelo immediately cemented his place in Barca's starting XI as Miodrag Bozovic's side saw off Real to win their first La Liga crown since 2022.

 

Managerial Movements

• Steven Davis left Newcastle United before the new season to take over from the retired Victor Fernández at Real Sociedad. The Northern Irishman didn't even last four months, as he was sacked in November and replaced by Besiktas chief Alexander Mejía. Davis' successor at Newcastle - ex-Aberdeen boss Allan McGregor - was himself dismissed two months later. Gary Rowett then walked out on West Bromwich Albion to become the Geordie nation's newest saviour.
• Chelsea were 8th in the Premier League when they decided to axe Ard van Peppen at the start of November. Aykut Kocaman arrived from Fenerbahce to guide the Blues back into the UEFA Champions League places. van Peppen found a new job in the New Year, replacing Mark Bowen at Norwich City after the Welshman had moved to Tottenham Hotspur as Michael Appleton's successor.
• Another of the PL's big managerial imports who tried to rebuild his reputation at a smaller club was Vitor Pereira. Not long after being sacked on New Year's Eve by Liverpool, who brought in Feyenoord's Eredivisie-winning coach Maceo Rigters, Pereira resurfaced at Nottingham Forest. The two-time Champions League winner has so far failed to build on Stuart Pearce's good work at the City Ground, winning just one of his first 17 games in charge.
• Everton sacked Nicky Bailey in mid-November, and then persuaded former Toffees hero Leighton Baines to quit Stoke City and try to save them from relegation. At about the same time, fellow strugglers Aston Villa replaced James McArthur with Keith Hill, and Burnley ditched Colin Cameron in favour of Elvis Scoria. McArthur would later return to his old job at Peterborough United after Darren Ferguson left the Posh for a third time and took the vacant position at West Brom.
• Vadim Skripchenko was dismissed by Real Betis just two-and-a-half months into the La Liga season. The vacancy went to Roberto Mancini, who returned to work a year after his sacking by Granada. Another big Spanish job changed hands later on, as Frank Lampard left Napoli to take the Atlético Madrid reins from Pepe Mel.
• Ronald Koeman announced his retirement as Juventus head coach at the end of the season. Controversially, Juve chose to appoint Roma manager Giuseppe Scienza in his place. The Giallorossi will now head into the new campaign under the guidance of Gabriel Obertan, who has previously had two spells as Nice boss either side of a brief tenure at Valenciennes.

 

Other Major Stories

• Manchester City launched a great comeback in the UEFA Champions League, overturning a 3-0 first-leg deficit against holders Empoli in the Quarter Final. They then overcame Benfica to book a place in the Final against German champions Bayern Munich. The showdown in Madrid was decided by an error from Bayern goalkeeper Aleksandar Nikolov in the 54th minute. The Bulgarian's free-kick from outside his area was intercepted by Rybin, whose flick-on was hammered into the net from 40 yards by Glauco Dotto! That was the only goal of the Final, and it won City their third European title under Gianluca Atzori.
• Empoli put their Champions League disappointment behind them and sauntered to their second Serie A scudetto in three years. In fact, the Azzurri were on course to go the entire league season unbeaten until they lost their final two matches - to runners-up Juventus and relegated Lazio. Inter Milan nearly went the same way as Lazio, but their city rivals AC Milan did them a massive favour with a 3-0 final-day win that relegated Vicenza instead.
• After 13 years at the top of Ligue 1, Paris Saint-Germain were finally dethroned by another filthy-rich club. Inspired by the likes of 35-goal striker Enzo Greppi and former Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, Valenciennes were crowned French champions for the very first time. That was a particularly impressive achievement, as a fixture backlog meant VA had to play their final six league games, the Coupe de France Final, and the UEFA Europa League Final in the space of just 15 days!
• José Mourinho brought a fitting end to his glorious managerial career by winning his seventh Primeira Liga crown with Porto. The 'Special One' retired at the age of 63 after winning three Champions Leagues and 13 league titles in four different countries. High-profile players who finished their careers after this season included Barcelona legend Thiago and PSV midfielder Kevin Strootman.
• It was an unforgettable season in Russian football - particularly in the capital. CSKA Moscow's long-serving keeper Igor Akinfeev won his 12th Russian Premier League winner's medal, and then announced his retirement after 613 league appearances. Sensationally, Dinamo Moscow finished bottom, and Spartak Moscow were also relegated for the first time since the Soviet Union broke up!
• Wayne Rooney's records as England's most-capped player and top scorer were both smashed this season. Prior to the FIFA World Cup, Phil Jones had been capped a new-record 138 times, and Damien King had scored 71 goals in just 81 appearances for the Three Lions. However, King's international record has been blown out of the water by that of Nando Ribas. The Barcelona megastar had played 96 games for Spain and scored 106 goals - just three shy of the world record held by Iranian legend Ali Daei!

 

Cup Winners

FA Cup: Manchester City 5-2 Watford.

League Cup: Aston Villa 1-0 Chelsea.

Community Shield: Manchester United 1-0 Manchester City.

Football League Trophy: AFC Telford United 3-1 Brentford (aet).

 

UEFA Champions League: Manchester City 1-0 Bayern Munich - at Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid.

UEFA Europa League: Granada 2-1 Valenciennes - at Sukru Saracoglu, Istanbul.

UEFA Super Cup: Valenciennes 1-0 Empoli - at La Rosaleda, Malaga.

FIFA Club World Championship: Empoli 5-0 Corinthians - at Estadio Azteca, Mexico City.

 

Major European Leagues

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

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

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

Italian Serie A: Empoli (1st), Juventus (2nd), Roma (3rd).

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

Russian Premier League: CSKA Moscow (1st), Kuban Krasnodar (2nd), Krylja Sovetov Samara (3rd).

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

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

 

Award Winners

PFA Player of the Year: Clive Johnson (Arsenal).

PFA Young Player of the Year: Claudio Aureli (Arsenal).

FWA Footballer of the Year: Iván Guillermo (Manchester City).

Premier League Manager of the Season: Billy Davies (Fulham).

PFA Premier League Team of the Year:

• David De Gea (Manchester United and Spain)
• Gordon Hubbuck (Watford and England)
• Stuart Lindsay (Liverpool and England)
• Wang Xiaodong (West Ham United and China)
• Marvin Havenaar (Tottenham Hotspur and Holland)
• Iván Guillermo (Manchester City and Argentina)
• Alison Brito Neves (Chelsea and Portugal)
• Alexandre Ricardo (Manchester City and Brazil)
• Grégory Lefevre (Manchester United and Belgium)
• Damien King (Manchester United and England)
• Clive Johnson (Arsenal and England)

 

FIFA Ballon d'Or: Iván Guillermo (Manchester City).

World Soccer World Player of the Year: Artur Zarembski (Real Madrid).

European Golden Shoe: Nando Ribas (Barcelona).

UEFA Best Player in Europe: Iván Guillermo (Manchester City).

FIFA/FIFPro World XI:

• David De Gea (Manchester United and Spain)
• Nelson Parra (Paris Saint-Germain and Colombia)
• Fabián Valino (Real Madrid and Argentina)
• Stuart Lindsay (Liverpool and England)
• Angelo (Barcelona and Portugal)
• Alison Brito Neves (Chelsea and Portugal)
• Christos Vassiliadis (Bayern Munich and Greece)
• Iván Guillermo (Manchester City and Argentina)
• Alexandre Ricardo (Manchester City and Brazil)
• Artur Zarembski (Real Madrid and Poland)
• Nando Ribas (Barcelona and Spain)

[CFuller]

FIFA World Cup review: United States 2026

Qualification

Belgium and France were the most impressive teams to qualify from Europe, recording 10 wins out of 10 in the Group Stage. Germany were also unbeaten, England lost just one game, and 2022 runners-up Italy also topped their group. As expected, Argentina and Brazil were the dominant forces in South America, while African champions Nigeria won every qualifier they played, and Mexico topped the final North American group.

 

Holders Spain's route to the United States was surprisingly elongated, as they had to come through a two-legged play-off against Serbia to progress. UEFA Euro 2024 winners Czech Republic lost in the play-offs to Denmark, but 2014 world champions Ukraine failed to even get that far after a dismal campaign. Ivory Coast, who are consistently ranked among the world's top 15 teams, missed their first World Cup since 2002.

 

Unprecedentedly for a World Cup, there were no debutants among the qualified nations, although El Salvador and Israel reached the finals for the first time since 1982 and 1970 respectively. Denmark's successful qualification was their first in 16 years.

 

QUALIFIERS: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, El Salvador, England, France, Germany, Ghana, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Qatar, Russia, Scotland, Senegal, South Korea, Spain (holders), Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey, United States (hosts).

 

Group Stage

Italy recorded comprehensive 6-0 and 5-0 wins over Qatar and Tunisia respectively in Group A, and breezed through along with hosts United States, who held them to a draw. Spain also progressed from Group B after a series of braces from Nando Ribas saw him become the leading scorer in the history of men's international football. However, a 2-0 defeat to already-eliminated Germany meant that the holders ceded top spot to unbeaten Chile.

 

Russia won Group C without dropping a point or conceding a goal. Argentina were less impressive, only progressing to the knockout stage after thrashing Costa Rica 4-0 in the final round. Every team won a single match in a very tight Group D, from which Brazil and Cameroon emerged as survivors.

 

Highly-fancied France were the dominant nation in Group E, with neighbours Belgium also going through after edging out Australia on goal difference. Denmark won their opening two fixtures to effectively qualify from Group F. The Danes were then beaten by a single goal from Jeon Yong-Koo, who fired South Korea into the last 16.

 

Damien King was irresistible for England, getting five goals as he sent the Three Lions through Group G with a game to spare. They wouldn't top the group, though, as Mexico beat them 2-1 and reached the knockout phase for the ninth World Cup in a row. Colombia and Turkey provided plenty of entertainment, not to mention goals, to complete the line-up for Round 2. Like France and Russia, Colombia progressed with three wins from three.

 

GROUP A: Italy* (1st, 7 pts), United States* (2nd, 7 pts), Qatar (3rd, 1 pt), Tunisia (4th, 1 pt).

GROUP B: Chile* (1st, 5 pts), Spain* (2nd, 4 pts), Canada (3rd, 4 pts), Germany (4th, 3 pts).

GROUP C: Russia* (1st, 9 pts), Argentina* (2nd, 4 pts), Costa Rica (3rd, 3 pts), Scotland (4th, 1 pt).

GROUP D: Brazil* (1st, 5 pts), Cameroon* (2nd, 4 pts), Israel (3rd, 4 pts), El Salvador (4th, 3 pts).

GROUP E: France* (1st, 9 pts), Belgium* (2nd, 4 pts), Australia (3rd, 4 pts), Senegal (4th, 0 pts).

GROUP F: Denmark* (1st, 6 pts), South Korea* (2nd, 6 pts), Sweden (3rd, 4 pts), Ghana (4th, 1 pt).

GROUP G: Mexico* (1st, 7 pts), England* (2nd, 6 pts), Switzerland (3rd, 4 pts), Japan (4th, 0 pts).

GROUP H: Colombia* (1st, 9 pts), Turkey* (2nd, 6 pts), China (3rd, 3 pts), Nigeria (4th, 0 pts).

* through to Round 2

 

Round 2

Reigning champions Spain were the first team to fall in the knockout stage after losing a heavyweight battle. A second-minute goal from Glauco Dotto was all Italy needed to triumph in a rematch of the 2022 Final. Spain were left stunned, as were the host nation. After quickly cancelling out an opener from Chile in the first half, United States looked set to take the South Americans to extra-time until Claudio Vera struck a fatal blow in the 80th minute.

 

Argentina only had one shot in a cagey meeting with bitter rivals Brazil… but Iván Guillermo made it count! The Manchester City midfielder's 38th-minute strike sent the Albiceleste into the Quarter Finals. Russia also reached that stage in more convincing fashion, seeing off Cameroon by 3 goals to 1.

 

It took the longest shoot-out in World Cup history to separate Belgium and Denmark after a 1-1 draw! In the 19th round of spot-kicks, Aston Villa's Muharrem Kurt put the Danes 17-16 ahead, and then Klaes Jorgensen saved the decisive penalty from Belgian stalwart Dennis Praet. Denmark were joined in the last eight by France after Moussa Kari's double helped them to win 3-0 against South Korea, who had midfielder Kim Byung-Joo sent off late on.

 

England were made to toil against Colombia before an 84th-minute strike from Tottenham Hotspur striker Kyle Wigley finally broke the Cafeteros. Turkey opened the scoring against Mexico through Brazilian-born defender Jorge Luiz, but replies from Mexican centre-backs José Manuel Velasco and Ignacio Valdés sent 'El Tri' through instead.

 

RESULTS: Italy 1-0 Spain, Chile 2-1 United States, Argentina 1-0 Brazil, Russia 3-1 Cameroon, Denmark 1-1 Belgium (17-16 penalties), France 3-0 South Korea, England 1-0 Colombia, Mexico 2-1 Turkey.

 

Quarter Finals

Ilja Oschepkov put Russia ahead six minutes into their Quarter Final, only for Angelo Henriquez to nod Chile back level in the 29th minute. The Russians then retook the lead through Jonathan Rodriguez just before half-time, and 2-1 was how the scoreline remained. The second team through to the Semi Finals were Italy, who brought an end to Argentina's challenge. Arsenal midfielder Claudio Aureli decided that game with his solitary goal on 36 minutes.

 

Denmark's penalty prowess saved them again when they saw off Mexico 3-1 on spot-kicks after a goalless draw. Espanyol's Jacob Broe dispatched the decisive penalty after 'El Tri' missed three of their four kicks. Later on, France's dream fell apart in spectacular fashion against England. After having Barcelona full-back Zbigniew Szwarga sent off for two quick bookings in the 13th minute, Les Bleus crashed to a humiliating 5-1 defeat, with Clive Johnson scoring twice for the Three Lions.

 

RESULTS: Russia 2-1 Chile, Italy 1-0 Argentina, Denmark 0-0 Mexico (3-1 penalties), England 5-1 France.

 

Semi Finals

Denmark were enjoying their best ever FIFA World Cup campaign, but they finally came a cropper against Italy in Los Angeles. The Azzurri took 55 minutes to open the lead through Empoli legend Mohammed Said, and Dotto secured the victory from a breakaway move in injury time. That put Italy through to a record eighth World Cup Final - their second in succession. Was Gianfranco Zola about to lead his nation to glory for the first time since 2006?

 

About ten miles away from LA was Pasadena - the setting for the second Semi Final between Russia and England. Oschepkov cancelled out Johnson's opener for England, but then Phil Jones sent the Three Lions back in front, all within the first half-hour. Arsenal striker Johnson would score two more goals in the 57th and 59th minute to complete his hat-trick and send Sean Dyche's men through as 4-1 winners. After six decades of hurt, could Baddiel and Skinner finally stop dreaming about England winning their second World Cup?

 

RESULTS: Italy 2-0 Denmark, England 4-1 Russia.

 

3rd Place Play-Off

There were plenty of goals in the 3rd Place Play-Off in Los Angeles - most of them at the Danish end. Russia took the lead after 22 minutes through Vitaly Gadjibekov, although Sevilla striker Jan Pedersen pulled Denmark level after 40. The Russians then moved up a gear in the second half, when Anji Makhachkala's Oschepkov, Alexandr Buznikin and Alexandr Korneev all found the net. That secured a 4-1 win, and a first top-three finish in the World Cup, for Russia.

 

RESULT: Russia 4-1 Denmark.

 

Final

Over 100,000 packed into Pasadena's Rose Bowl for the 2026 World Cup Final between Italy and England. When Said marked his 50th Italy cap by scoring goals after 19 and 36 minutes, it seemed that the Azzurri were on course for a joint-record fifth world title. Golden Boot winner Johnson brought England back in contention two minutes after that second Italian goal, and the Three Lions spent most of the second half desperately trying to equalise. With five minutes to go, Said's Empoli team-mate Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain finally levelled the scores to force extra-time.

 

Despite having left midfielder Sam Barnett sent off for two bookable offences in the 101st minute, England held firm during the extra half-hour. With the scoreline still 2-2 after 120 minutes, a penalty shoot-out would be needed to decide the outcome. After four kicks apiece, the shoot-out score was also deadlocked at 2-2. Fulham right-back Steve Guy scored England's fifth penalty before Alberto Grassi lined up to try and save Italy. However, Andy Boyes made a stunning save to make the improbable a reality - England had won the World Cup on penalties!

 

English captain Will Hughes quickly forgot about his penalty that Nicola Leali had saved in the shoot-out as he followed in Bobby Moore's footsteps, and proudly lifted the World Cup trophy. An emotional Dyche resigned as England manager immediately afterwards, saying that he couldn't possibly achieve any more with the Three Lions. The man now being tipped to become Sir Sean had written his name large into British football history.

 

RESULT: England 2-2 Italy (3-2 penalties).

 

Award Winners

Golden Ball: Mohammed Said (Italy).

Golden Boot: Clive Johnson (England, 8 goals).

Yashin Award: Nicola Leali (Italy).

Best Young Player: Danilo Labbé (Chile).

Goal of the Tournament: Jan Pedersen (Denmark, vs Sweden - Group Stage).

Dream Team:

• Nicola Leali (Italy and Lyon)
• Steve Guy (England and Fulham)
• Stuart Lindsay (England and Liverpool)
• Filippo Casetta (Italy and Roma)
• Cristiano Magnolo (Italy and Juventus)
• Jonathan Rodriguez (Russia and Lokomotiv Moscow)
• Lorenzo Crisetig (Italy and Paris Saint-Germain)
• Price Huet (France and Paris Saint-Germain)
• Ilja Oschepkov (Russia and Anji Makhachkala)
• Clive Johnson (England and Arsenal)
• Mohammed Said (Italy and Empoli)

[CFuller]

JULY 2026

Dagenham & Redbridge have never needed more than three seasons in League Two before moving up to League One. The Daggers first entered the Football League in 2007 and won promotion again in 2010 before rapidly falling away again. After briefly exiting the League, they returned in 2014 and were playing in League One again by 2016.

 

In our third stint as a Football League club, we didn't quite match the rapid rise from our second spell, which was followed by a steadier decline back into the Conference Premier. However, we still had a chance to replicate our maiden Football League voyage by making it third time lucky.

 

The new season started with the prospect of more upheaval on the player front. Although I'd managed to cut the wage bill to just under £23,000 per week, I still felt that was not sustainable. More high-earning players would have to go.

 

In the second week of pre-season training, I summoned Mitchell Clark and Yasser Ibrahim to my office, and told them that I would have to listen to any good offers for their services. With weekly wages of £2,300 and £2,000 respectively, they were our two costliest assets.

 

Mitchell was particularly upset, and understandably so. This was the second summer in a row in which I'd put him up for sale, and though he'd shown incredible loyalty to turn down Bolton Wanderers last July, I asked him to seriously consider moving on for the sake of our finances. While I didn't really want to sell Clark, I was keener to offload Ibrahim, who had been far too inconsistent in recent years.

 

My initial efforts to cash in on those two players did not bear fruit. Having touted Yasser's services to a number of other Football League clubs, I found that none were willing to pay any sort of transfer fee for him. Meanwhile, Mitchell suffered a groin strain in training, delaying his return to match action - and my attempts to sell him - until mid-July.

 

Clark was not the only Daggers stalwart to miss the early stages of pre-season. Goalkeeper Robbie Ryder damaged his heel, meaning he would sit out our first three friendlies at the very least.

 

Our pre-season began at Hayes Lane, where we entertained Bromley. The Lilywhites came 18th in the Conference Premier last season - their highest ever finish at the top level of non-league football.

 

4 July 2026: Bromley vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Right from the first minute, when David Ramage went very close to scoring from Bromley, I could tell that all was not well. After less than two weeks of pre-season training, our players did not look match-ready. A few also looked very nervous, in particular 16-year-old striker Patrick Middleton, who was booked nine minutes into his senior debut after shoving Kelly Bedeau.

 

Our chickens came home to roost five minutes later, as Ramage dribbled around our defence and smacked in the opening goal for the Lilywhites. That was followed by poor shots from young Daggers midfielders Wayne Parmenter and Lumumba McLean. Things didn't get much better, as we allowed Bromley too much possession for my liking.

 

When I urged my boys to press the hosts a bit more, that only worsened our plight. In the 35th minute, Dagenham goalie Daryl Ryan had to make successive saves from Joe Holden and then Ramage. Daryl's second save only went as far as Bromley forward Gary McEvoy, who tucked it into the net for 2-0.

 

When Ramage slotted in a third goal on 44 minutes, I thought that was the end of a nightmare first period. I was wrong. Ramage, who'd scored 18 goals in the Conference Premier last season, completed his hat-trick just before half-time, at which point we found ourselves trailing 4-0!

 

I took desperate measures at the break, and changed my ENTIRE line-up for the second half. Our second XI nearly went a goal behind within less than a minute, as McEvoy curled a free-kick wide. By the 47th minute, though, we finally had something to celebrate. Joel Honeyball set up a tidy finish for Sotiris Giangoudakis, leaving us 'only' 4-1 down.

 

Joel had a pop at goal for himself in the 60th minute, but he missed the target by some distance. In the 67th minute, a blocked shot from Paul Hart deflected into the path of Geraint Harding, whose strike was well saved by Warren Lunn. The Lilywhites goalkeeper would make another save moments later, catching Wayne Coton's header from Marcelo Andrade's corner.

 

Lunn was later replaced with Dennis Seymour, who caught a long-distance strike by Paul Hart after 83 minutes. Two minutes earlier, Ramage had come close to adding his fourth and Bromley's fifth goal, but he lobbed over the bar. Regardless of that miss, we still slumped to a very disappointing defeat in a match that we were clearly not ready for.

 

Bromley - 4 (Ramage 14,44,45, McEvoy 35)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Giangoudakis 48)

Friendly, Attendance 931

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan (S Flood), Plummer (Beech), Tierney (Dalton), Charles (Coton), O'Reilly (Warren), Parmenter (Roche), McLean (Harding), Martin (Hart), G Flood (Andrade), West (Honeyball (Hands)), Middleton (Giangoudakis). BOOKED: Middleton, Dalton.

 

After that stark reality check, I lined up two new signings to give us a bit more depth. One of them was Scotland Under-21s international Matthew Fraser - a 19-year-old deep-lying playmaker who'd just been let go by Celtic.

 

Our other new acquisition was also aged 19. Manchester United agreed to loan us their promising target striker Bill Mooney, who had a successful stint at Boreham Wood last season, for the next seven months. Mooney is a fairly similar player to his fellow Yorkshireman Mark West, who also came through United's youth academy.

 

I hoped our new boys could make an instant impact in an all-Essex encounter with Conference South outfit Maldon & Tiptree at the Wallace Binder Ground. Ex-Daggers striker Ben Strevens was in temporary charge of Maldon for this match, after which former Middlesbrough defender Luke O'Neill would take over as manager on a permanent basis.

 

7 July 2026: Maldon & Tiptree vs Dagenham & Redbridge

We quickly put Maldon & Tiptree under the cosh with a couple of early corners. One of them came in the 9th minute, when Paul Hart's floating delivery was nodded wide by Gavin Dalton. Hart's next corner, delivered to Geraint Harding after 20 minutes, had the same outcome. Paul then hammered a shot off target moments later.

 

Our extended spell of pressure finally produced a goal in the 21st minute, when Mark West smacked the ball home from just outside Maldon's penalty area. Hart swung a free-kick just wide three minutes later as we looked to take full control of proceedings.

 

Town's first - and only - chance to equalise came when Godfred Appiah's shot was blocked by Dalton in the 27th minute. Daggers debutant Matthew Fraser nearly doubled our lead in the 33rd minute, but Alan Kelly somehow tipped the Scot's header behind his goal! A missed interception from Cory Tandy a minute later let in Yasser Ibrahim, who wasted another great opportunity for 2-0. That didn't really matter, as Yasser more than made up for his miss with an emphatic strike after 44 minutes.

 

At the break, I urged my team to win by at least the three-goal margin that Bromley had defeated us by. Joel Honeyball could've given us a three-goal cushion in the first minute of the second half, but the teenage striker pulled an angled effort past the far post.

 

Jonathan Roche had set up that opportunity for Honeyball, and in the 57th minute, he found Thomas Tierney with an excellent corner delivery. There wasn't to be a goal for Tierney, as Maldon's substitute goalkeeper Tommy Lawrence caught the American's shot.

 

The two Toms faced each other again in the 69th minute, when Lawrence turned behind Tierney's header from another Roche corner. Four minutes later, Town defender Jordan Farquharson's missed interception from a Harry Gorman long ball opened the door for Jonny to run through and slot in our third goal.

 

Victory was sealed, and a fourth goal was added four minutes from time. Dean Martin centred the ball from the right, and fellow teenager Bill Mooney capped his Dagenham bow with a simple finish. That was much better.

 

Maldon & Tiptree - 0

Dagenham & Redbridge - 4 (West 21, Ibrahim 44, Roche 73, Mooney 86)

Friendly, Attendance 411

DAG & RED LINE-UP: S Flood (Ryan), Plummer (Beech), Tierney (Charles), Dalton (Gorman), Warren (O'Reilly), Fraser (McLean), Harding (Hands), Honeyball (Martin), Hart (Roche), Ibrahim (Andrade), West (Mooney). BOOKED: Warren.

 

With that, our pre-season campaign was well and truly underway. Sadly, Troy Hands' preparations for the new season would soon be cut short by a hernia, which ruled our star striker out for around six weeks.

 

Victoria Road hosted its first game of the pre-season campaign four days later, when Charlton Athletic were the visitors. Paul Dickov's Addicks came perilously close to being relegated from League One last term.

[CFuller]

JULY 2026 (continued)

11 July 2026: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Charlton Athletic

Charlton made a tentative start, and it didn't get much better for them after Daggers defender Josh Charles intercepted Samir Carruthers' attempted cross to Jonathan Soar in the 7th minute. Josh also cut out the resulting corner, heading away Jack Robinson's delivery. Matt Warren and Daniel O'Reilly had our first chances before the 15-minute mark, but both missed by a long distance from distance.

 

Paul Hart did get his free-kick on target in the 21st minute, only for Addicks goalie Jonathan Oakes to make a routine catch. Hart then crashed a drive well wide two minutes later before further misses from Mark West, Matthew Fraser and Mario Andrade summed up our wastefulness. Carruthers ballooned over a shot for Charlton in the 44th minute of a very mundane first period.

 

Joel Honeyball came on for us at the interval, and his first major contribution was to blast a poor shot into the stands after 47 minutes. Against a more confident team than Charlton, we would surely have been punished for missing so many chances.

 

Fortunately, the Addicks were even more hopeless on the attacking front. Daryl Ryan's 60th-minute parry from Antony Stockdale was the only save either he or fellow Irish keeper Stephen Flood would have to make in the Dagenham goal.

 

At the other end, Oakes produced two more saves to deny Lumumba McLean in the 74th minute and Joel in added-on time. Despite bringing on ex-Dagger Neil Munn for the closing stages, Charlton could not get their game going at all, and so a dismal affair ended with the deadlock intact.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Charlton Athletic - 0

Friendly, Attendance 2,129

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan (S Flood), Beech (Plummer), Charles (Gorman), Coton (Dalton), O'Reilly (Bartley), Fraser (Harding), Warren (McLean), Roche (Ibrahim), Hart (Honeyball), Andrade (G Flood), West (Mooney).

 

As far as intensity and quality goes, that wasn't exactly the FIFA World Cup Final, which we watched on TV the following night. Much to the delight of me, and millions of my compatriots, England were dramatically crowned world champions after beating Italy on penalties! For the first time since 1966, football's biggest prize was coming home!

 

Also coming home, to Victoria Road, was Dagenham & Redbridge legend Luke Wilkinson. Between 2010 and 2021, the centre-back made 365 league appearances, sticking with the Daggers through thick and thin. Now aged 33, and without a club after finishing a five-year stint with Exeter City, Wilko came back to Dagenham on an initial trial basis. If he impressed, I would be more than happy to make his return permanent.

 

Luke's first game back in a Daggers shirt was away to Soham Town Rangers, who'd narrowly avoided relegation in their first season in the Conference North. I'd not faced them as a manager since my inaugural campaign with Romford.

 

14 July 2026: Soham Town Rangers vs Dagenham & Redbridge

The home fans at Julius Martin Lane were celebrating a goal after just three minutes. Dagenham defender Luke Wilkinson was caught napping by Soham's Irish striker Darragh Kehoe, who finished from Jamie Hudson's pass.

 

That very early opener startled us into action. Joel Honeyball, who'd been booked in the very first minute, swung in an excellent 6th-minute corner to Harry Gorman, whose header rattled the crossbar. Dean Martin also had a pop at goal four minutes later, forcing Travis Abrams into a difficult save. Martin fared better on 13 minutes, cutting the ball into the centre for Mark West, whose left-footed volley caught Abrams off his guard!

 

Parity was restored, and we were soon believing that we could take the lead. Daniel O'Reilly didn't do that in the 16th minute, as the Irish full-back was well off target. In the 30th minute, though, Josh Charles had to head behind a wicked cross from Soham wideman Steven Starbuck before it could bend its way into our net!

 

Josh and Luke formed part of a three-man defence in a 3-5-2 formation that I was using with Dagenham for the first time. My players were steadily getting to grips with that tactic, with Honeyball and Tim Beech both testing Abrams in the Rangers goal just before half-time.

 

Despite our encouraging end to the first half, I still wasn't impressed, and I let the players know that at half-time. They responded well early in the second half, with Matt Warren's long-range effort in the 54th minute drawing another save from Abrams. Less than a minute after that, West nodded the ball over Soham's defence for Sotiris Giangoudakis to run onto. Sotiris took the ball past the defenders, and then Abrams, before making it 2-1 to the Daggers!

 

Following that goal, we did a very professional job of not letting the Greens get back into contention. Indeed, Soham's quickfire opening goal would be their only shot in the entire game! We didn't rack up a third goal, however, until the 78th minute. Paul Hart's cross found the head of Bill Mooney, whose effort clipped the underside of the bar and bounced into the net!

 

Mooney would have three additional chances to score again before the final whistle blew. The first of them went off target, and the other two were saved by substitute Rangers goalkeeper Phil Henderson, but I was still satisfied with a 3-1 victory.

 

Soham Town Rangers - 1 (Kehoe 3)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (West 13, Giangoudakis 55, Mooney 78)

Friendly, Attendance 315

DAG & RED LINE-UP: S Flood (Ryder), Wilkinson (Tierney), Charles (Dalton), Gorman (Coton), Beech (Plummer), O'Reilly (Warren), McLean (Fraser), Harding (Boyd), Martin (Hart), West (Mooney), Honeyball (Giangoudakis). BOOKED: Honeyball.

 

Admittedly, we did not look like clear frontrunners in the League Two promotion race just yet, and the bookmakers seemed to agree. They placed the relegated quartet of Brentford (2-1), Exeter City (5-2), Mansfield Town and Morecambe (3-1 apiece) as the most likely teams to go back up. Yeovil Town were given odds of 8-1, while we were rated at 10-1 along with Tranmere Rovers, who finished 21st last season.

 

Our odds would perhaps be cut down somewhat if we could get a good result at home to parent club Fulham. The Cottagers qualified for the UEFA Champions League last season, and their captain Will Hughes had just returned from the United States with the small matter of the FIFA World Cup trophy.

 

18 July 2026: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Fulham

Dagenham goalkeeper Robbie Ryder knew all along that he wasn't going to have an easy day against the third-best team in England. In the 11th minute, Robbie made the first of several saves, parrying Aussie winger Jordan Martin's shot behind. Martin would test Ryder again from long range seven minutes later, and on that occasion, Robbie only just got his fingertips to the ball.

 

Our defence was by and large quite solid, and in the 25th minute, centre-back Gavin Dalton's interception from a Martin cross began a Daggers counter-attack. It didn't quite work out, as Paul Hart wasted a shot from distance.

 

Fulham's American striker Kane Ball had the last three scoring opportunities of the first half. Ball missed the target in the 28th and 44th minutes, but his 39th-minute scorcher was met by another fine reflex save from Ryder. Robbie was almost single-handedly keeping the scoreline at 0-0!

 

The Cottagers upped their efforts further in the second half. After 48 minutes, Joseph Daley - a Canadian midfielder recently signed from Shakhtar Donetsk - played a long ball upfield to Dino Kalava, who completely messed up his shot. Kelava had another go after 56 minutes, when Ryder made yet another brilliant save to turn the Croatian's drive away from goal.

 

On the attacking front, we finally started to give Fulham something to worry about after the hour mark. Their defenders conceded a couple of corners, and goalkeeper Oliver Hansson made his first save after 67 minutes to frustrate Mark West. The Cottagers were soon back in control, though, as they edged closer and closer to a breakthrough.

 

Ryder pulled off a magnificent point-blank save from Jordan Holder in the 71st minute. Two minutes later, Portugal defender Ricardo Santos headed just over from Will Hughes' corner. A minute after that, our hopes of replicating the 0-0 draw we got against Fulham last pre-season were finally extinguished. A display of skilful passing ended with the highly-rated 16-year-old Danny Goddard smashing the ball past Ryder at his right-hand post.

 

We tried to fight fire with fire after that, but we only ended up getting horribly burned. In the 79th minute, another promising striker in the visitors' ranks got his name on the scoresheet. Kevin Robson drove home a well-controlled pass from Daley, which meant Billy Davies' men were surely home and dry at 2-0 up.

 

The Cottagers still had one more goal up their sleeve - and it came from the man of the moment. After receiving an excellent long ball from Ibra Davey, Hughes dribbled to our penalty area and put the seal on a 3-0 win. As soon as the ball found the net, virtually everyone at Victoria Road - myself included - was up on their feet, applauding the 31-year-old midfielder who had six days earlier captained England to World Cup glory.

 

Sadly, Daggers fans would not have a goal to cheer about come the final whistle. Hansson made two further saves from West either side of Hughes' superb solo strike to shut us out.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

Fulham - 3 (Goddard 74, Robson 79, Hughes 87)

Friendly, Attendance 5,159

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder (Ryan), Beech (Charles), Dalton (Gorman), Coton (Wilkinson), Warren (O'Reilly), Roche (Parmenter), Fraser (Harding), Martin (Honeyball), G Flood (Ibrahim), Mooney (West), Hart (Cecere).

 

After a crushing defeat, I decided that winger Gareth Flood was not ready to hold down a regular starting place. I decided to loan the Irishman out to Conference Premier outfit Chelmsford City for the next six months.

 

While Flood made the short move across Essex, we stayed at home for a meeting with Queens Park Rangers, who have played in the Championship since 2018. QPR's new manager was Paul Cox, who had been persuaded to leave Mansfield Town after an eventful 15-year tenure at Field Mill.

[CFuller]

JULY 2026 (continued)

22 July 2026: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Queens Park Rangers

Incredibly, we took the lead over our Championship opponents after just six minutes. Tim Beech's cross was flicked on by Yasser Ibrahim to Dean Martin, who volleyed it home from close range! Dean was ecstatic to have scored his first senior goal for Dagenham… but our delight did not last.

 

In the 14th minute, Daggers goalie Daryl Ryan stretched to try and turn Scott Simpson's strike away from goal. All he could do was divert it to Czech striker Michal Bilek, who tucked in the leveller.

 

Bilek's strike partner Ian Giles was less prolific in the 17th minute, blasting high and wide from the edge of our area. One of Giles' fellow Welshmen came close to putting us 2-1 up after 22 minutes, but Geraint Harding's shot was pushed away by QPR keeper Mitchell Beeney.

 

Over the next ten minutes or so, Giles would have three excellent chances to send the Hoops in front. On each occasion, he was denied by a fine save from Ryan. Daryl stood firm again in the 40th minute to punch away Simpson's corner. In the last minute of normal time, though, our Irish custodian was nearly beaten by a cross from Bill Clarke. The former England Under-21s winger's delivery could easily have squirmed into Daryl's net had Luke Wilkinson not made a last-ditch clearance!

 

Clarke would trouble Ryan again barely two minutes into the second period. This time, Daryl was more composed, palming Clarke's angled effort behind. After one Irishman prevented QPR from going ahead, another set about trying to restore our advantage. In the 51st minute, Jonathan Roche played an excellent cross to Martin, whose header was sadly off target.

 

Roche was aiming for goal himself four minutes later. Harding found Marcelo Andrade in space down the left wing, and Marcelo duly drilled a cross into the Hoops' six-yard box, where Jonny dealt a major blow! 2-1 to Dagenham & Redbridge!

 

QPR boss Paul Cox quickly sent on another Welsh striker in the form of 20-year-old Alun Harding (no relation to Geraint). The sub had his first chance in the 61st minute, but he could only nod Craig Platten's cross wide.

 

On 71 minutes, veteran QPR winger Josh Carson won the ball off Daggers midfielder Matthew Fraser. The Northern Ireland international played a crossfield pass to Clarke, who then pumped the ball forward into our penalty area. Bilek took the ball and centred it towards Reece Hall-Johnson, only to see Wayne Coton cut out the delivery with a firm tackle. The ball was knocked on to QPR's Spanish midfielder Juan Daniel Ramos, who finished off the counter-attack.

 

Ramos got the better of Coton again in the 74th minute to connect with a Carson cross, but he completely misdirected his diving header. However, it was clear that our star defender was looking surprisingly vulnerable.

 

On 77 minutes, Wayne was unable to cut out Anthony Amoako's right-wing cross to Alun Harding, who knocked it across the goal line. In the space of six minutes, Rangers had gone from 2-1 down to 3-2 up.

 

To be fair to my boys, they never gave up on this match. However, Paul Hart's 79th-minute miss - along with QPR substitute goalie Andreas Linde's last-minute save from Mark West - meant that we fell to a courageous defeat.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Martin 6, Roche 55)

Queens Park Rangers - 3 (Bilek 14, Ramos 71, Harding 77)

Friendly, Attendance 2,579

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Beech (Johnson), Dalton (Tierney), Wilkinson (Coton), Warren (O'Reilly), McLean (Fraser), Harding (Clark), Roche (Parmenter), Martin (Hart), Ibrahim (Andrade), Mooney (West).

 

Most of our key players sat out our final friendly, which took place at Leylands Park in West Sussex. Burgess Hill Town reached the Isthmian League Premier Division play-offs last season, and although the Hillians were our easiest pre-season opponents on paper, they would surely not be pushovers.

 

25 July 2026: Burgess Hill Town vs Dagenham & Redbridge

In the 7th minute, Burgess Hill goalkeeper Bradley Watkins played a free-kick deep into Dagenham territory. Daggers defender Harry Gorman mistimed the jump for his interception, allowing Courtney Ironton to latch onto the ball and slot it home! The Hillians were already leading 1-0!

 

I had been irked no end, and when Ironton sent wide another shot in the 15th minute, I started to wonder if this was going to be a long old slog. Mitchell Clark could've restored parity for us with a promising 23rd-minute free-kick that Watkins superbly turned over his crossbar. He at least provided more of a threat to Burgess Hill's lead than our misfiring attackers.

 

The most attack-minded of our midfielders - Joel Honeyball - was booked in the 27th minute for a trip on Hillians defender Stewart Houghton. As for our strikers, Sotiris Giangoudakis snatched at a couple of shots after 33 and 34 minutes, and Gianluca Cecere hit a terrible effort just before half-time. If we were to avoid a shock defeat, I would have to bring out my big guns.

 

Bill Mooney took Cecere's place at half-time, and he was soon joined up front by another summer signing. Giangoudakis went off injured following a clash with Houghton in the 51st minute, and Portuguese winger Marcelo Andrade was thrown on as a makeshift striker. Three minutes after coming on, Marcelo got into the right place to tuck away Bill's centre from short range and level the match!

 

The floodgates could easily have opened after that equaliser. Matthew Fraser crashed a drive against the bar after 57 minutes, while his fellow midfielder Dean Martin curled the ball into Watkins' hands a minute later. Sadly, that would be it in terms of Dagenham chances.

 

We were unable to penetrate Burgess Hill's defence again, and the Hillians also lost their cutting edge going forward. After Leon Phillips smashed over a woeful shot in the 63rd minute, the game petered out into a bore draw.

 

Burgess Hill Town - 1 (Ironton 7)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Andrade 54)

Friendly, Attendance 346

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder (Kinsella), Charles (Simpson), Gorman (McLean), Tierney (Coton), Plummer (Johnson), O'Reilly (Bartley), Fraser (Boyd), Clark (Hart), Honeyball (Martin), Cecere (Mooney), Giangoudakis (Andrade). BOOKED: Honeyball, Martin, McLean.

 

This had definitely been my most disappointing pre-season at Dagenham & Redbridge. We'd lost three and won just two of our seven friendlies, conceding one goal more than we'd scored in the process. A bad pre-season does not necessarily mean a poor regular campaign, however, so I have no idea what to expect once the league action gets underway.

 

What I am certain of is that Harry Gorman and Gianluca Cecere are still a long way off being ready for the first-team. I've loaned those two out to non-league clubs - Harry to Milton Keynes Dons, and Luca to Kingstonian - until late January, when I'll assess them further.

 

As for Luke Wilkinson, his return to Dagenham was a very brief one. I passed on the opportunity to re-sign the much-loved defender - mainly due to his wage demands - and he instead moved to newly-promoted League One side Blackpool.

 

My final major decision ahead of the new campaign was to appoint my captain - and it was a no-brainer, really. The massive influence Mark West had on us last term, plus his previous experience as Bristol City skipper, made him the natural choice to replace the departed Aaron McEwan. Tim Beech would continue in his post as vice-captain.

[CFuller]

Dagenham & Redbridge squad - Start of 2026/2027 season

(All ages correct as of 1 August 2026)

GOALKEEPERS

1. Daryl Ryan (age 21, Irish)

Can Daryl make the number 1 jersey firmly his own after a difficult end to last season?

13. Robbie Ryder (age 28, English)

Robbie is the more consistent of our first-team goalies, but his decision-making can be suspect.

DEFENDERS

2. Tim Beech (age 24, English)

Tireless wing-back Tim is a marvellous asset to have, both in our defence and going forward.

3. Matt Warren (age 29, English)

Londoner Matt is a no-nonsense left-back - he's supremely professional and very intelligent.

5. Josh Charles (age 25, English)

Josh is a massive unit, so don't expect the tall Brummie to lose too many aerial battles

6. Thomas Tierney (age 22, American)

Thomas didn't have many chances last term, but he's determined to get back up the pecking order.

18. Gavin Dalton (age 21, English)

With his tactical awareness and his speed, centre-back Gavin was a shrewd signing last summer.

20. Wayne Coton (age 21, English)

Wayne's consistent performances have made the young center-back a Victoria Road favourite.

29. Daniel O'Reilly (age 18, Irish)

Daniel may not be ready to start regularly, but I've got faith in the strong-tackling left-back.

MIDFIELDERS

4. Geraint Harding (age 22, Welsh)

Geraint's marking ability and his positioning make him a very solid defensive midfield player.

7. Jonathan Roche (age 23, Irish)

Right-winger Jonathan provided nine league assists last season as he started to realise his true potential.

8. Paul Hart (age 19, English)

What else can I say about attacking midfielder Paul other than he's destined for big things?

11. Yasser Ibrahim (age 28, Egyptian)

I'm going to keep Yasser for now, but this is a make-or-break season for the enigmatic inside-forward.

14. Matthew Fraser (age 19, Scottish)

Matthew's an ambitious lad who will surely be a cracking deep-lying midfielder in the future.

16. Mitchell Clark (age 24, English)

Mitchell may be our highest-paid player, but his ability to play incisive long balls justifies that status.

17. Gareth Flood (age 19, Irish)

Gareth's a bit too inconsistent, so he will be playing on loan at Chelmsford City until mid-January.

19. Marcelo Andrade (age 21, Portuguese)

Marcelo is a blisteringly fast Portugal Under-21s winger whose crosses often find their target.

26. Dean Martin (age 18, English)

Dean is emerging as an exciting attacking midfielder, although he dwells on the ball far too regularly.

30. Theo Wharton (age 31, Welsh)

Theo is still some way off a return to first-team action after breaking his leg in April.

FORWARDS

9. Troy Hands (age 25, English)

Troy's composure and pace saw him poach a club-best 23 league goals in the last campaign.

10. Mark West (age 28, English)

Captain Mark, who scored 15 goals last term, is the archetypal big man in a strike partnership.

12. Bill Mooney (age 19, English)

Bill was in encouraging form in pre-season, and I hope the on-loan Manchester United star keeps that up.

15. Joel Honeyball (age 18, English)

Joel needs to work on his finishing and his technique if he's to make a major breakthrough soon.

 

RESERVE & YOUTH PLAYERS

Goalkeepers: Stephen Flood, Mick Kinsella

Defenders: Denis Bartley, Harry Gorman (on loan at Milton Keynes Dons), Zac Johnson, Dan Plummer, Will Simpson

Midfielders: Gordon Boyd, Michael Dunn, Lumumba McLean, Paul Parkinson, Wayne Parmenter

Forwards: Gianluca Cecere (on loan at Kingstonian), Sotiris Giangoudakis, Patrick Middleton, Richard O'Hara

 

BACKROOM STAFF

Manager: Christopher Fuller

Assistant Manager: Fabio Saraiva

Coaches: Mike Jones, Danny Keohane, John Potter

Fitness Coach: David Wheater

Goalkeeping Coach: Scott Carson

Physio: Sam Cutler

Scouts: Callum Donnelly (chief), Goma Lambu, Nicky Reynolds

[CFuller]

AUGUST 2026

Our opening game in League Two this season was at Kenilworth Road, where we faced a potentially tricky meeting with Luton Town. Our cause was helped by the fact that the Hatters didn't have the free-scoring Simon Killeen in their ranks anymore. Killeen had scored 36 league goals in each of the last two seasons for Luton, but he decided to leave on a free transfer in the summer.

 

1 August 2026: Luton Town vs Dagenham & Redbridge

18-year-old Dean Martin made his first league start for Dagenham, and after just four minutes, he hit a long-distance strike that was caught by Luton's new Australian keeper Darran Drury. Another of the Hatters' Antipodean players nearly put them in front on 17 minutes, as New Zealand international Jerome Whiston's curler whistled just past the post.

 

Whiston's next shot in the 21st minute took a deflection off Daggers debutant Matthew Fraser and fell safely to goalkeeper Daryl Ryan. Daryl caught another Whiston effort five minutes later, and then pumped the ball forward to Mark West. Mark's flick-on was fired wide from distance by Joel Honeyball, but the next link-up between our two strikers would be more devastating.

 

On 30 minutes, West received the ball from Martin and played it ahead of Honeyball. Our teenage tyro then drilled in the opening goal, much to the delight of our travelling supporters! That was all we needed to go into the break with the advantage.

 

Gavin Dalton attempted to make it 2-0 Dagenham in the 48th minute, but he couldn't direct his header from substitute Mitchell Clark's free-kick goalwards. Mitchell would get closer to the target from another free-kick in the 59th minute, putting it narrowly over the crossbar.

 

Dalton and his central defensive partner Josh Charles then headed wide a couple of corners from Paul Hart before Clark's next free-kick gave Luton a real fright. After Joel was tripped by new Hatters captain Gareth O'Brien in the 70th minute, Mitchell thundered his set-piece over the wall… and against the bar!

 

On the attacking front, Luton were clearly missing the presence of their former skipper Simon Killeen. They were unable to get near our goal until defender Calvin Knott blasted a terrible strike from just outside the penalty area on 88 minutes. That was off target, as was midfielder Ross Jenkins' attempt in the second minute of injury time. Another experienced midfielder - James Wallace - did force Daryl into a save later on, but the Hatters couldn't pull any rabbits out of their hat. We took the season's first three points back home to Essex.

 

Luton Town - 0

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Honeyball 30)

League Two, Attendance 8,217 - POSITIONS: Luton 19th, Dag & Red 7th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Beech, Charles, Dalton, Warren, Hart, Fraser (Clark), Martin (Roche), Andrade (Ibrahim), West, Honeyball.

 

In each of our previous two seasons, we had needed at least three games to register our first points, so it felt great to get off the mark straight away. The fact that we'd won away from home against a Luton side who'd defeated us twice last term was another boost to our confidence.

 

AFC Wimbledon also started the season with a 1-0 win - at home to Swindon Town. Simon Weaver's Dons would provide our opposition at a drizzly Victoria Road just three days later.

 

4 August 2026: Dagenham & Redbridge vs AFC Wimbledon

After a slow start, we went on to almost utterly dominate the first half. Target man Mark West and playmaker Paul Hart each went close to scoring from our first chances in the 13th and 18th minutes respectively.

 

Paul then drew a save out of Wimbledon goalkeeper Damian McHale after 20 minutes. McHale's parry almost fell perfectly for Marcelo Andrade, but Dons right-back Kenny Cairney knocked the ball behind just before our new Portuguese winger could strike. In the 28th minute, Hart's right-wing cross found West, whose header struck the wrong side of the post!

 

While we were carving Wimbledon open with some incisive passing, the visitors struggled to create any good chances of their own. Their first shot on target came after just over an hour, when Tommy Stabler's stab at goal was turned away by Daryl Ryan.

 

Daryl wouldn't have to make another save before half-time, by which point we still hadn't broken the deadlock! That was largely down to a couple of late saves from McHale, who kept out West's 43rd-minute half-volley and Joel Honeyball's low attempt in injury time.

 

John Whittington nearly gave Wimbledon a surprise lead less than a minute into the second half, with his shot going inches wide. Whittington's next two efforts, in the 54th and 55th minutes, were both saved by Ryan. Prior to those saves from Daryl, his opposite number McHale made another fine stoppage from Honeyball.

 

Getting the ball into the Dons' area was not an issue for us - the problem was finding enough space to create any clear-cut opportunities. To try and mastermind a breakthrough, we reduced the tempo for the final half-hour. That tactical change did not make much of a difference early on.

 

Wimbledon's defence - marshaled by their superb captain Christopher Bowden - refused to crack, and Joel was reduced to a series of poor strikes. One particularly bad miss came after 79 minutes, when Joel failed to hit the target following a great set-up from Hart. Honeyball had been playing up front with substitute Bill Mooney since the 60th minute, and the debutant took until the 81st to get up and running.

 

With time running out, Hart knocked the ball off Dons midfielder Bevis Mugabi's feet, and Mooney quickly got it forward to Honeyball. Bill then made a beeline for the Wimbledon penalty area in anticipation of Joel's through-ball. When Honeyball did slice the ball through the defence, Mooney knew just what to do next. A powerful finish left the home fans delighted, not to mention relieved that we had finally broken the deadlock!

 

The away side still believed that they could come away with something, though. Five minutes from time, substitute striker Darren Pearce's equalising attempt was kept out by what proved to be a crucial fingertip save from Ryan.

 

Daryl and our solid defence were as important a factor behind our second straight 1-0 victory as Bill. Mooney was actually unlucky not to give us a bigger win when McHale desperately kicked away his low strike in the last minute of normal time. Although we'd failed to score from 25 of an incredible 26 shots at goal, that odd one out proved to be decisive.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Mooney 81)

AFC Wimbledon - 0

League Two, Attendance 3,805 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 2nd, AFC Wimbledon 11th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Beech, Coton, Dalton, Warren, Hart, Fraser, Harding (Roche), Andrade (Ibrahim), West (Mooney), Honeyball.

 

I didn't know it at the time, but that was actually our 15th competitive game in a row without defeat - a new club record. (Our penalty shoot-out loss against Blackpool in May was officially considered to be a draw after extra-time.)

 

In the short-term, our solid start left us flying high in 2nd place. The only team above us were Chesterfield, who like us had started off with successive victories, albeit in a more free-scoring manner. Guess who we would be playing in our next away game?

 

That's right - Exeter City. The club that Leighton Baines famously led from the Conference Premier to the verge of the League One play-offs in just three seasons had recently fallen on hard times. Now managed by one-time England midfielder Jacob Mellis, Exeter dropped back into League Two in April, and they started this campaign with a couple of bore draws.

 

8 August 2026: Exeter City vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Exeter midfielder Alex Fahey picked up a groin strain just ten minutes into this match. That didn't prevent him from helping to set up a chance four minutes later for Grecians captain Hasney Little, whose shot was caught by Daryl Ryan. Mitchell Clark fired our first opportunity off target in the 23rd minute, and Mark West's 25th-minute punt was easily dealt with by Exeter goalie David Croft.

 

There was a scramble in the home penalty area after 29 minutes, during which Joel Honeyball struck the bar. Our own woodwork took a beating two minutes later from Tibebu Debebe - a 17-year-old French midfielder who had been loaned out to the Grecians by Manchester City.

 

In the 35th minute, Clark was booked for tripping up Fahey, who would be cautioned himself moments later after pushing Geraint Harding. Mitchell quickly put his yellow card out of his mind, and after 44 minutes, he tested Croft with a stunning free-kick that the keeper somehow palmed away. The score remained 0-0 as we went into the half-time break.

 

Paul Hart replaced Clark for the second half, while Wayne Coton came on for a nervous Josh Charles. Paul showed Exeter how threatening he could be from set-pieces, as he fired a free-kick narrowly over the bar on 48 minutes.

 

Over the next five minutes, the hosts lost two big summer signings to injury. Striker Scott Towers twisted his knee after a firm but fair challenge from Daggers defender Gavin Dalton, while Fahey aggravated his groin injury. Both players were substituted, and Towers' replacement Macauley Bonne blasted a shot well off course in the 63rd minute.

 

It didn't get much better on the attacking front for the Devon side, although Dagenham left-back Matt Warren gifted them an opening in the 74th minute with a poor pass that Bonne cut out. Bonne then played the ball across to left-winger Des Evans, and the on-loan Southampton teenager fired a long-ranger into Ryan's hands.

 

As far as our attacks were concerned, we only had one shot on target in the second half. That came after 56 minutes, when Croft nearly spilled Honeyball's strike to the feet of Marcelo Andrade, only to be bailed out by an interception from man of the match Craig Forster. This was not a high-quality contest at all, and the referee could hardly wait to call time at St James Park with the game still lacking goals.

 

Exeter City - 0

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

League Two, Attendance 5,703 - POSITIONS: Exeter 16th, Dag & Red 3rd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Beech, Charles (Coton), Dalton, Warren, Roche (Fraser), Clark (Hart), Harding, Andrade, West, Honeyball. BOOKED: Clark.

 

The 100% start was no more, but we were still in the top three, and we were now the only side in League Two who hadn't conceded any goals yet. All in all, we hadn't made a bad start, had we?

[CFuller]

AUGUST 2026 (continued)

I received some unwanted news on the eve of our League Cup Round 1 game at home to Millwall. Our most senior left-back, Matt Warren, had suffered another back strain during weight training, ruling him out for four weeks. That didn't give me enough time to draft in a replacement, so 18-year-old Daniel O'Reilly was thrown into the side for his first start of the season.

 

We were quite familiar with Millwall, as they'd knocked us out of last season's Football League Trophy on penalties. They went on to win the League One title, but after losing the first three games of their Championship return, the Lions' pride had been severely wounded. Could we cause an upset?

 

11 August 2026: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Millwall

Nine minutes into his first competitive start for Dagenham, Bill Mooney sent a shot over the crossbar. Another of our summer arrivals would only be on the field for another five minutes. Matthew Fraser was badly hurt in an unfair challenge from Millwall's Daniel Wyatt, so I decided not to risk keeping the Scottish midfielder on any longer.

 

On came Mitchell Clark, who in the 17th minute almost found Jonathan Roche with a long ball. However, Millwall's left-back - and Mitchell's namesake - Tristan Clark got to the ball first, heading it behind for a corner that the Lions comfortably dealt with.

 

By the 29th minute, the Championship side were firmly in the ascendancy. Winger Stewart Thompson slipped forward a wonderful pass that was tapped in by Tom Sherwood. That was a first professional goal for 22-year-old Sherwood, whom Millwall had signed from Guernsey in the Southern League.

 

The Channel Islander could've had his second goal after 42 minutes. Sherwood dribbled at our defence and aimed a shot for Daryl Ryan's bottom-left corner, but Daryl stuck a leg out to block it just in time. A minute later, Roche won us a corner off Lions midfielder Tony Johnston. Geraint Harding played an inswinger towards Wayne Coton, who flicked a header into the net! We had equalised just before half-time, and our League Cup dream was still alive!

 

In the 54th minute, Daryl showed exactly why he had kept three successive clean sheets up until this game. When Millwall striker Karl Collier raced past Josh Charles and knocked the ball into our penalty area, Ryan stood firm to block Collier's strike. Yasser Ibrahim powered a Dagenham shot over the Lions' crossbar not long after that, but another fierce effort from Bill Mooney in the 59th minute went much more wayward.

 

Midway through the half, I decided to rest Roche and give Wayne Parmenter another run in the senior team. The 19-year-old would make a major impact after 75 minutes. Wayne floated a cross into the Millwall area, and Bill's header from it looped over Lions goalkeeper Nigel Dodsworth before landing in the net!

 

Mooney had made it 2-1 to the Daggers… and when he added another goal three minutes later, we found ourselves on the brink of Round 2! This time, it was Yasser's turn to set up Bill with a clever through-ball that the loanee dragged past Dodsworth and into the target.

 

An incredible period of football almost became more unbelievable when, in the 84th minute, Paul Hart floated the ball over Millwall's defence towards Ibrahim. Yasser got to the ball just before the rushing Dodsworth, but his diving header bounced wide. That looked like being a pivotal moment, because about a minute later, Neil Scott pegged back a goal for the Lions with his header from captain Kyle Howarth's corner.

 

Scott's goal left me on edge for the dying moments as I desperately prayed for us to hold on. When the final whistle blew eight minutes later without the away team scoring again, I punched the air with a mixture of pure delight and total relief! We had knocked Championship Millwall out of the League Cup by 3 goals to 2!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (Coton 43, Mooney 75,78)

Millwall - 2 (Sherwood 29, Scott 85)

League Cup Round 1, Attendance 1,389

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Charles, Tierney (Beech), Clark, O'Reilly, Fraser (Clark), Harding, Roche (Parmenter), Hart, Ibrahim, Mooney.

 

After our first win in the League Cup for seven years, I hoped for a money-spinning home tie in Round 2 against a big team like Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur or West Ham United. Instead, we got a nightmare away game at Peterborough United - recently relegated from the Premier League.

 

24 hours later, there was a landmark moment in the career of 19-year-old left-winger Gareth Flood. Although Gareth was out on loan at non-league Chelmsford City, he was still handed his first senior international cap with the Republic of Ireland. The occasion was not a happy one, as Ireland suffered a heavy 3-0 defeat in Cyprus. Meanwhile, Sotiris Giangoudakis won his sixth Under-21s cap for Cyprus in a 4-0 win over the Faroe Islands.

 

The following day, I confirmed the signing of Crystal Palace left-back Odain Simmonds on loan for three months. Odain is only 5ft 6in tall, but the 18-year-old compensates for his lack of height with quick acceleration and a fierce determination to impress.

 

Simmonds went straight into the side that travelled to Edgar Street, where 5th-placed Hereford United were hoping to win their third home game in a row. Could we defy the odds to preserve our unbeaten start?

 

15 August 2026: Hereford United vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Hereford goalkeeper John Harkins was certainly kept occupied in the first ten minutes, when he caught shots from Paul Hart, Bill Mooney and Geraint Harding. Daryl Ryan's first piece of meaningful action in the Daggers goal came after 15 minutes. He met Rob Dunkley's stunning volley from Marc Bagan's cross with an arguably even more spectacular save.

 

Daryl would not be anywhere near as busy as Harkins, who pulled off a miraculous save during the 21st minute. The Scot turned Jonathan Roche's low drive against his far post, and the ball then bounced back across the goalmouth before Hugh Cargill knocked it behind for a Daggers corner. Harding's delivery was a disappointment, and in the 27th minute, we would be undone by a more productive set-piece from Hereford.

 

After Daggers defender Gavin Dalton barged into Keith Khan, Bulls captain Steven Hewitt set up a free-kick in a dangerous position… and hammered it into Ryan's top-left corner! Despite being in almost total control, we found ourselves trailing 1-0.

 

That didn't change before half-time, as Harkins was in fabulous form. Hart and Harding discovered that when the goalie pulled off two more strong saves from our midfielders in the 36th and 38th minute. The latter save led to another Dagenham corner, but Bill headed over from Geraint's set-piece.

 

It was a frustrated Daggers team that entered the away dressing room at half-time, but I reassured them that they had just been dreadfully unlucky. If we continued to play to our current standard, we would surely take something home from Edgar Street.

 

Hart had a mixed start to the second half. In the 47th minute, shortly after getting a booking for a foul on Bulls midfielder Kyle de Silva, Paul curled in a promising shot that Harkins somehow held onto. More great chances would come and go, including in the 56th minute, when Harkins secured a half-volley from our substitute left-back Daniel O'Reilly.

 

On 64 minutes, Harkins turned over another powerful drive by Harding. Hart's corner was initially headed out of the area by Conor Shaughnessy, but Paul quickly crossed the ball back into danger. The recipient of his follow-up was Mitchell Clark, who rose above Hereford defender Cyrus Christie to nod it home!

 

The hosts took some time to recover from losing their lead, and they were lucky not to concede another goal on 69 minutes. Shortly after joining Hart in the referee's notebook, Mark West passed the ball through space to find Paul, who was denied by yet another big save from Harkins.

 

A minute later, Hewitt had a chance to settle the home fans' nerves from another free-kick. This time, he drove it over the crossbar. The Bulls' last real attack came in the 78th minute, when Ryan pushed away Gavin Lee-Bulmer's byline cross. After that, Hereford were quite happy to play conservatively and hold on for a single point… but we weren't.

 

In the first minute of normal time, O'Reilly floated a cross to the far post. Christie missed his interception, allowing Yasser Ibrahim to meet the ball with a diving header that bounced into the far end of Harkins' net! After 13 shots on target, we'd finally clinched the points in dramatic fashion!

 

Hereford United - 1 (Hewitt 27)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Clark 65, Ibrahim 90)

League Two, Attendance 4,097 - POSITIONS: Hereford 11th, Dag & Red 2nd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Beech, Dalton, Coton, Simmonds (O'Reilly), Clark, Harding, Roche (Honeyball), Hart, Ibrahim, Mooney (West). BOOKED: Hart, West.

 

Hereford must be getting sick of playing us. This was our third victory in a row against the Bulls, and on each occasion, we came from behind to win in the dying moments!

 

Our next fixture was back at Victoria Road, and it also happened to be my 200th competitive game with Dagenham & Redbridge. Kieran Trippier's Tranmere Rovers were looking to spoil the occasion and continue their encouraging start to the campaign.

 

18 August 2026: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Tranmere Rovers

Marcelo Andrade showed a glimpse of his potential in the fourth minute, when he moved towards the edge of Tranmere's area from out wide. Sadly, he couldn't cue his shot correctly with his weaker right foot.

 

In the 9th minute, Rovers winger Paul O'Hanlon threatened us with his header from Derek Fish's cross. O'Hanlon's effort was kept out by a strong catch from his fellow Irishman Daryl Ryan. Tranmere goalie Drey Blackburn produced his first save two minutes later to stop Mark West's banana shot.

 

Birthday boy Joel Honeyball was off target with our next effort in the 29th minute, as was Paul Hart in the 33rd. Four minutes later, though, Paul did break his goalscoring duck for the season. He found the space to run onto 18-year-old Dean Martin's pass and slip it beyond Blackburn's reach. Paul's strike sent us into the interval leading 1-0.

 

Our incisive passing and creative ability ran Tranmere ragged again during the second half. The visitors needed former England Under-19s goalkeeper Blackburn to keep them in contention, as he made two more excellent saves early on to deny Mark and Joel. Daggers midfielder Matthew Fraser did beat Blackburn after 56 minutes, but his long-distance attempt also beat the crossbar.

 

As Rovers adopted a more attacking strategy, they left even more space for us to exploit. In the 71st minute, 19-year-old Honeyball dinked a delicate ball to West, who in turn played it first-time in front of Martin. Dean ran through the Tranmere defence and then powered in his maiden senior goal!

 

Dean's strike almost secured the win, which could've been even more certain had Paul not made a total pig's ear of a shot in the 79th minute. Unlike Hart, West would not get his first goal of the season this evening, and he came off in the closing moments as Troy Hands got a run-out after injury.

 

Rovers weren't completely vanquished, however. When Alex Wynter lifted the ball over Ryan in the penultimate minute of normal time, some sections of the Victoria Road crowd got a bit anxious. They didn't need to worry that much, as we professionally saw the win through.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (Hart 37, Martin 71)

Tranmere Rovers - 1 (Wynter 89)

League Two, Attendance 3,708 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 2nd, Tranmere 12th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Beech, Coton, Dalton, O'Reilly, Fraser, Hart, Honeyball (Roche), Martin, Andrade (Ibrahim), West (Hands).

 

Like a Duracell bunny, our unbeaten streak was going on and on and on! Would Wycombe Wanderers, who'd lost just one of their first five league matches, finally halt that run at Victoria Road, or would we further consolidate our place in the automatic promotion spots?

[CFuller]

AUGUST 2026 (continued)

22 August 2026: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Wycombe Wanderers

We were fired up for this match - perhaps too much so. Odain Simmonds and Yasser Ibrahim each picked up bookings in the first four minutes for their respective fouls on Aaron Griffin and Jordan Gray. As far as our attacks were concerned, I had plenty of reason for encouragement. Wycombe goalkeeper Tyrone O'Dea was twice tested early on by headers from Mark West and Josh Charles.

 

By the 20th minute, O'Dea had been beaten. Dagenham right flankers Tim Beech and Jonathan Roche showed great teamwork, exchanging passes before Tim's low cross was turned home by Jonny for 1-0!

 

Paul Hart looked to get us another goal five minutes later, but his strike was blocked by the Chairboys' defensive midfielder Karl O'Reilly. Geraint Harding then hit a poor shot in the 34th minute, just before Wycombe twice came close to equalising. Daggers keeper Daryl Ryan did well to divert Griffin and Dylan Dixon's attempts away from his goal.

 

Charles then skimmed the Wycombe bar with a header on 37 minutes. We had missed so many chances to move well clear of Wanderers, so the question was: would they come back to haunt us?

 

Unfortunately, the answer to that question was yes. We sat back a bit too deep in the 50th minute, as Wycombe winger Jake Charles got past Beech and sent the ball across our box for Rick Draper to volley home.

 

Seven minutes later, a deft flick-on from Charles set up another chance for Draper. When the energetic forward slipped past a limp tackle from our own Charles and hammered the ball past Ryan, we were left trailing 2-1. A game that looked to be firmly in our hands was slipping away.

 

Then, after 64 minutes, Wycombe's hero turned to zero. Draper appeared to catch Beech with an elbow as the pair tried to reach a long ball from Chairboys substitute Harry Songhurst. The referee summoned Draper… and brought out the red card! Wycombe were down to 10 men!

 

Manager Leroy Lita decided to preserve his team's lead by not fielding a centre-forward for the rest of the match. Lita's conservatism almost backfired a minute after Draper's dismissal, as Josh hit the woodwork from Geraint's corner.

 

In the 70th minute, Daggers captain Mark West had an unsuccessful penalty claim after an apparent foul in the area from Gray. It would be another goalless outing for Mark, who was later replaced with Bill Mooney. Bill did make O'Dea save a header from Marcelo Andrade's flick-on after 78 minutes, but that would be our last decent attempt to remain unbeaten. We had lost a home game that we most certainly shouldn't have.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Roche 20)

Wycombe Wanderers - 2 (Draper 50,57)

League Two, Attendance 4,458 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 3rd, Wycombe 4th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Beech, Dalton, Charles, Simmonds (O'Reilly), Clark, Harding, Roche, Hart, Ibrahim (Andrade), West (Mooney). BOOKED: Simmonds, Ibrahim.

 

That long run without a competitive defeat had ended after 18 games and nearly six months. We dropped down a place to 3rd and were now three points adrift of early pacesetters Chester.

 

Next up was a daunting trip to London Road, where we took on James McArthur's Peterborough United in Round 2 of the League Cup. I didn't expect us to defeat the 6th-placed team in the Championship, so I took a largely second-string side to Cambridgeshire.

 

25 August 2026: Peterborough United vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Peterborough gifted us a chance to take a shock lead in just the second minute. Daggers striker Bill Mooney cut out a backwards header from Dean Sohier, took the ball past defender Andre Winch, and then tried to lob the ball over goalkeeper Josh Armstrong-Ford. Sadly, Bill got his shot all wrong.

 

Our goalie Robbie Ryder kept out a powerful strike from Posh striker Henry Bauress a minute later, but the hosts would soon make another defensive nightmare. In the 10th minute, Peterborough captain Sheridan Turner underhit his backpass to Armstrong-Ford, allowing Troy Hands to head in his first goal of the season! To the shock of many at London Road, we were 1-0 up!

 

Peterborough looked to striker Darko Baturina for a swift equaliser, but his 13th-minute header touch went over off the bar. Our defence continued to hold firm, with Ryder pushing away Bauress' attempt in the 20th minute.

 

Three minutes later, Hands burst through on the Posh goal. Armstrong-Ford just about got his fingers to Troy's shot, and then watched Thomas Tierney head wide from the resulting Marcelo Andrade corner. Peterborough didn't know what was hitting them, and by the 34th minute, we had an improbable two-goal cushion! Dean Martin continued his emergence with a lovely through-ball to Mooney, who slotted the ball past Armstrong-Ford from an acute angle!

 

Our Championship opponents had several opportunities to hit back before half-time. Robbie remained resilient, palming away Baturina's strike after 40 minutes to keep us in the ascendancy.

 

James McArthur was clearly getting desperate, as he made two of his three substitutions during the break. He played his final card just three minutes into the second half as his team continued to sink. When Bill stroked the ball home from Troy's pass to move us three goals clear, I thought things could not get any better. I could not be any more wrong.

 

The Posh defence had another brain freeze in the 54th minute, as Mooney took the ball off the woeful Winch and raced past the equally terrible Turner. A stunning strike brought up Bill's hat-trick - and the incredible scoreline of Peterborough United 0 Dagenham & Redbridge 4! It would now take an almost unprecedented comeback to prevent us from reaching Round 3 of the League Cup!

 

Croatian forward Baturina tried to set the ball rolling for Peterborough in the 59th minute, but Ryder safely caught his latest attempt. A minute later, Daggers winger Marcelo Andrade came off with a broken toe sustained in a rough tackle from Peterborough substitute Eddie McShane. Another Posh sub would make a more positive impact after 63 minutes, when Greek forward Dimitris Pagalis finally got his team on the scoreboard.

 

Robbie wasn't too concerned about losing his clean sheet, as he showed with comfortable saves from Baturina and Sohier in the next four minutes. With 15 minutes to go, and the score still 4-1 in our favour, I decided to take off Hands and bring on Gavin Dalton as an anchorman. The extra midfielder solidified our position, and Peterborough were unable to break us open again. After Baturina and Czech youngster Michal Krajcik wasted efforts in the closing stages, we secured a famous victory!

 

Peterborough United - 1 (Pagalis 63)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 4 (Hands 10, Mooney 34,48,54)

League Cup Round 2, Attendance 4,126

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Charles (Plummer), Tierney, Coton, Simmonds, Parmenter, Fraser, Martin, Andrade (Ibrahim), Mooney, Hands (Dalton).

 

For the first time in our history, Dagenham & Redbridge were through to Round 3 of the League Cup. The draw took place on Friday afternoon, and we had to wait until the very end to discover that we would be playing against…

 

…Chelsea, at Stamford Bridge. The Premier League giants would be almost unbackable favourites, but we could hardly wait to rub shoulders with their superstars on 22 September. It was sure to be a memorable night.

 

Shortly after the draw was completed, I brought in a temporary replacement for left-winger Marcelo Andrade, who would miss the next two months with a broken toe. In came 29-year-old Plymouth Argyle wideman Christian Abbey on a three-month loan deal. I had initially tried to loan in Abbey almost exactly 12 months ago, but he opted to join Luton Town instead.

 

The month concluded with another away game, against Kidderminster Harriers, who were one of only three unbeaten teams left in League Two. Victory for the Harriers would knock us out of the automatic promotion places, but after that astounding result at Peterborough United, our confidence could not be any higher.

 

29 August 2026: Kidderminster Harriers vs Dagenham & Redbridge

In what was a very cagey start, Kidderminster captain Mitchell Warden was booked after ten minutes for clattering into Dean Martin. Rising star Dean had our first shot in the 18th minute, but he could only fire it into the hands of Harriers keeper Darren Conneely. Kiddy quickly launched a counter-attack, which ended when ex-Daggers striker Stuart Gould hammered the ball over.

 

Harriers midfielder Steve Millar was also wildly inaccurate with his strike on 25 minutes, but the home team did improve gradually. Gould struck the bar with a cross in the 29th minute, and then forced Daryl Ryan into a tricky save three minutes later.

 

Although the score was still 0-0 at the break, I was very concerned. Our strikers Troy Hands and Bill Mooney saw so little of the ball that they were virtual spectators, and that could not possibly continue if we wanted to take anything from Aggborough.

 

Mark West replaced Mooney during the break as we adopted a more direct strategy. In the 48th minute, Mitchell Clark delivered an excellent long free-kick towards West, and Mark's header was met by an even better catch from Conneely.

 

Two minutes later, my other half-time substitute - Josh Charles - conceded a free-kick near our area for unfairly obstructing Gould. Millar played it cleverly to Harriers centre-back Frank Newby, who opened the scoring with a strike Daryl didn't get close to.

 

Ryan was more dependable when called upon to make saves from Bryn Morris and Isak Ssewankambo either side of the hour mark. The last half-hour was about our attempts to draw level, but those Daggers fans who'd travelled to Worcestershire would leave disappointed. Mark had a 72nd-minute shot blocked by man of the match Newby, and Mitchell's direct free-kick on 78 minutes was easily caught by Conneely. A second straight league defeat saw us drop to 4th, with Kidderminster replacing us in the top three.

 

Kidderminster Harriers - 1 (Newby 50)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 0

League Two, Attendance 4,409 - POSITIONS: Kidderminster 3rd, Dag & Red 4th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Beech, Dalton (Charles), Coton, O'Reilly, Hart, Clark, Martin, Simmonds (Abbey), Mooney (West), Hands.

 

After seven league games, the good news is that we are firmly among the leading pack, and we're not conceding too many goals. The bad news is that we are struggling to replicate our ruthless goalscoring form from last season. If our bright start isn't to be a false dawn, we need captain Mark West to end his goal drought sharpish.

[mark wilson27]

Chelsea - not a bad draw...Looking good so far this season mate, hopefully it carries on

[CFuller]

Chelsea - not a bad draw...Looking good so far this season mate, hopefully it carries on

Chelsea will be the first really big team I've managed against in this save. We'll probably get thrashed, but I'm determined to enjoy it.

As far as the league goes, we've made a strong start, even though we've lost our last couple of games. If we can get back on form in September, I can definitely see us challenging for automatic promotion.

[CFuller]

SEPTEMBER 2026

Although we had ended August by losing back-to-back league games, I decided not to make any new signings before the transfer window closed. As I saw it, there wasn't a single position on the pitch that we needed to significantly improve.

 

Anyway, I spent the last three days of the transfer window at home, with a rather bad ear infection and a sore throat. I'd started feeling ill on the way home from Kidderminster, and I wouldn't be well enough to return to work until Wednesday. By the time we visited Yeovil Town on the following Saturday, though, I was over the worst of my illness.

 

There were two significant absentees on the coach trip to Somerset, as Daryl Ryan was with the Republic of Ireland's Under-21s and captain Mark West was dropped due to his dip in form. Yeovil were in 9th place, and leading their frontline was a very familiar face to Daggers fans - Ahletdin Israilov.

 

5 September 2026: Yeovil Town vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Ex-Yeovil striker Troy Hands scored twice for us on his return to Huish Park six months ago. 11 minutes into this game, he haunted his former employers again. Troy latched onto the ball after Glovers defender Kevin MacDonald made an unconvincing interception from Paul Hart's aerial pass, and he bulleted it past goalie Mason Springthorpe!

 

Our early lead would twice come under threat over the next seven minutes. Stuart Smith and Ahletdin Israilov each had headers at goal, but Robbie Ryder kept out both of their efforts. Yeovil's next chance, in the 25th minute, was thrashed well wide by winger Tommy Thompson.

 

On 34 minutes, Ryder produced two more saves in a matter of moments. Not long after saving Tareiq Holmes-Dennis' free-kick, Robbie tipped away another dangerous effort from Israilov. Although we didn't have any more shots in the first half after Troy's goals, we remained ahead at the break.

 

The second half was largely very dull, with Yeovil unable to consistently keep possession and Dagenham struggling to open up the defence. In the 64th minute, Israilov got his name taken off Mitchell Clark's Christmas card list with a trip from behind that earned the Kyrgyzstani a yellow card. Our right-back Tim Beech was also booked seven minutes later, albeit more controversially. Glovers sub Marc Allison appeared to dive over Tim's outstretched leg, but the referee saw the incident as a foul and cautioned Beech.

 

The match then heated up over the final ten minutes. With seven left to go, Joel Honeyball tried to bend the ball past Springthorpe from a tight angle, and he struck the bar. Yasser Ibrahim then crossed the rebound to Paul Hart, who skimmed the outside of the post.

 

Yeovil had their last rolls of the dice shortly afterwards, but Warren Rush and Keith Xiourouppa were both off target with poor shots. We scraped a 1-0 win from what was a frankly terrible game, and moved back up to 2nd.

 

Yeovil Town - 0

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Hands 11)

League Two, Attendance 4,556 - POSITIONS: Yeovil 11th, Dag & Red 2nd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Beech, Charles, Coton, Simmonds, Clark, Harding, Honeyball (Roche), Hart, Abbey (Ibrahim), Hands (Mooney). BOOKED: Beech.

 

In the following week, I opted to send one of our youth-team players out on loan to gain some first-team experience. Goalkeeper Mick Kinsella will spend the next three months at our feeder club Dulwich Hamlet, who now play in the Isthmian League Premier Division.

 

A Wednesday night victory for Bristol City at Dartford saw the Robins knock us off 2nd place. We would take that back three days later if we ended City's unbeaten start to the league campaign at Victoria Road.

 

12 September 2026: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Bristol City

Bristol City's main goal threat was still Ryan Wilks, and after 15 minutes, he almost found the net for the fifth time this season. Midfielder Christian Embry sent Wilks through with a wonderful ball over our defence, but Daryl Ryan came off his line to deflect the striker's effort away.

 

Four minutes later, the man Wilks replaced at City dealt his old team a major blow. Mark West snuck behind the Robins defence before meeting Christian Abbey's deep cross with a delicate flick that turned it into Stuart Moore's goal! The Daggers captain could not have opened his account for the campaign at a more appropriate time!

 

West quickly went from famine to feast, scoring a second goal in the 25th minute! Moore charged towards the edge of his area to clear Joel Honeyball's ball away from the run of West, only to see it intercepted by Paul Hart. Paul then played through the backline to Mark, whose first-time shot gave us a 2-0 advantage!

 

Bristol City tried to get a goal back right away, but veteran forward Frank Nouble was off target shortly after the restart. Moore then needed to make a fantastic save to prevent Geraint Harding from making it 3-0 after just under half an hour.

 

On 31 minutes, Robins winger Leeroy McKenzie lifted the ball into space and found Wilks, who outpaced Wayne Coton and just had to slip the ball past Daryl. He went mightily close, hitting the side netting. That was a clear chance for Bristol City, as was Nouble's close-range attempt in injury time. The 34-year-old ran onto Eddie Williams' through-ball and struck it fiercely, but Ryan punched the ball away and kept us 2-0 ahead.

 

West narrowly missed out on his hat-trick in the 50th minute, curling the ball just over Moore's bar. After 62 minutes, Daggers substitute Dean Martin looked to force Tim Beech's right-wing cross goalwards with a deft header, though it didn't cause Moore too much bother. Another local youngster failed to test him in the 64th minute, when Joel's piledriver went well wide.

 

Bristol City's young manager Jack Redshaw made a big call before the final 20 minutes, taking off Wilks and giving a run-out to the very promising Kevin Wells. At just 17 years of age, Wells had already been capped once at senior level by Wales. In the 76th minute, he showed why many of the Robins' fans were crowing about him.

 

When Ryan's throw to Josh Charles went long, Wells cut it out and played a clever one-two with McKenzie. Wells met McKenzie's return pass with a left-footed volley that Daryl initially saved, but he turned in the rebound with his right peg. That was not Ryan's finest hour.

 

Our Irish goalkeeper had cost us half of our lead, and in the 81st minute, he nearly lost the other 50%. Nouble ran through our defence and then beat Ryan to City left-back Frank Higgins' deep cross, flicking it just over the top. After that scare, we had to play more cautiously to try and stop our advantage from slipping away. The Robins couldn't score again, so they suffered their first defeat in League Two this season - and their first ever loss against the Daggers!

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 2 (West 19,25)

Bristol City - 1 (Wells 76)

League Two, Attendance 4,242 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 2nd, Bristol City 3rd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Beech, Charles, Coton, Warren, Clark, Harding (Fraser), Honeyball (Roche), Hart (Martin), Abbey, West.

 

We stayed at home for our next game, which was against 8th-placed Cambridge United. Since we and Cambridge returned to the Football League two years ago, we had not lost any of our meetings with Rio Ferdinand's side.

 

15 September 2026: Dagenham & Redbridge vs Cambridge United

Cambridge's bid to put right their poor recent record against us started brightly. After four minutes, captain Rossi Millard picked out strike partner Ashley Furniss, whose shot struck Daggers defender Josh Charles and went out for a corner. That corner didn't lead to much, and the match would remain largely uneventful until midway through the first half.

 

We saw the worst of Jonathan Roche after 20 minutes, when he tripped up U's left-back Dwight Campbell in trying to reach Tim Beech's cross. Roche was booked as a result, but just three minutes later, we saw the best of him.

 

Jonny intercepted Zac Fagan's clearance from a Matthew Fraser corner, and blasted the ball through a crowded Cambridge area to find the net! Cambridge goalkeeper Chris Simpson seemed particularly stunned that Roche had opened the scoring, and there would soon be worse to come for the visitors.

 

United had a chance to equalise after 25 minutes, after Daggers right-back Tim Beech was booked for tripping their on-loan Burnley left-winger Mark Jerome. Their right-winger Lloyd Howard lifted in the free-kick, which Ryan clawed away to prevent him from erasing our lead.

 

On 35 minutes, after Roche found his overlap, Beech took the ball forward and crossed into the U's area. His intended target was Bill Mooney, but Fagan tripped Bill up from behind, prompting the referee to award us a penalty! Our new spot-kick king Paul Hart took full advantage of his opportunity, and we led 2-0 at the interval. That said, Ryan did have to make late first-half saves from Max Ashraf and Furniss to keep Cambridge stuck on nil.

 

In the first three minutes of the second half, Mooney and Charles each fired wide chances to put us 3-0 ahead. We wouldn't have to wait very long for that moment. Hart rounded off a clever passing move from the Daggers on 49 minutes by tapping Roche's killer ball past the hapless Simpson.

 

We were now so comfortable that a fourth goal looked on the cards in the 56th minute, when substitute defender Thomas Tierney headed Paul's wicked free-kick just wide. Cambridge clearly had to stop Hart in his tracks to prevent a landslide.

 

After 64 minutes, Paul was cut down by a mistimed tackle from Ashraf and injured his thigh. Hart was substituted in order for his injury to be fully assessed, and we would spend the rest of the game defending our lead.

 

Daryl was determined to keep a clean sheet, as he showed in blocking Lubomir Satka's close-ranger in the 73rd minute and tipping over Jerome's header in the 75th. Furniss did eventually beat Ryan with a scrappy finish from Jonathan Lamb's cross, but that was in injury time, and most of the U's supporters were on their way back to Cambridge by then. Although Daryl missed out on his shutout, we won a league match by more than one goal for the first time this season.

 

Dagenham & Redbridge - 3 (Roche 23, Hart pen36,49)

Cambridge United - 1 (Furniss 90)

League Two, Attendance 3,447 - POSITIONS: Dag & Red 2nd, Cambridge 12th

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Beech (Tierney), Dalton, Charles, Simmonds, Fraser, Hands, Roche, Hart (Honeyball), Ibrahim (West), Mooney. BOOKED: Roche, Beech.

 

The prognosis of Paul Hart's thigh strain was not great, but with only a three-week absence expected, it could've been worse. The same could be said of our league standing. After starting September with three straight wins, we were flying high in 2nd spot, even though we hadn't yet moved out of second gear.

[dohers10]

Great reading! I have read through your story this past week and its been really enjoyable.

If there is anything I have learnt it's;

- Play offs must hurt!

- There seems to have been plenty of LBs signed over time

Good luck in the new season, its a great start at least .

[CFuller]

Great reading! I have read through your story this past week and its been really enjoyable.

If there is anything I have learnt it's;

- Play offs must hurt!

- There seems to have been plenty of LBs signed over time

Good luck in the new season, its a great start at least .

Good to have you on board, dohers!

Yeah, I hate the play-offs. If you really want to see the full extent of my play-off heartache, though, may I suggest that you read my previous story "Welcome to Romford", assuming you haven't already?

It's interesting that you've noticed the high turnover of left-backs in my team. I've got a solid right-back in Tim Beech, but I've never really found a left-back who can settle in and play consistently well. Matt Warren is genuinely a quality player for League One, though, let alone League Two, so he'll probably be my first-choice LB for a good few years to come.

[CFuller]

SEPTEMBER 2026 (continued)

For our last league game before our big trip to Stamford Bridge, we made the long journey to Vale Park in Stoke-on-Trent. Awaiting us were Port Vale, who weren't looking too shabby in 9th spot.

 

19 September 2026: Port Vale vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Declan Ferran fired an early warning shot for Port Vale after two minutes, blazing the ball high and wide. In the 13th minute, the Valiants gave us a noticeably sterner test. Moments after Dean Martin put over a drive that might've given us the lead, Vale striker Grant Harrison turned past Thomas Tierney and fired his team into the ascendancy. It was not great defending from Tommy and co, and it left me shaking my head.

 

Dean then missed the target with a couple more long-rangers in the 14th and 25th minute, as his accuracy failed to match his youthful enthusiasm. On 30 minutes, Ryan turned away a spectacular effort from Valiants midfielder Connor Waters. When Martin was booked two minutes later for diving, I suspected that we were going to lose the first half.

 

Then, in the 38th minute, we got some much needed assistance from Bond - Barry Bond. Vale's 21-year-old Everton loanee tried to head Josh Charles' deep cross behind, but the defender's clearance fell to one of our loan stars. Christian Abbey smashed home his first Dagenham goal from a tight angle, and it was 1-1 at the break!

 

I was aware of the potential threat posed by Port Vale's homegrown left-winger Chris Whitehead, who was already a first-team regular at 18. Josh didn't seem to be, as in the 54th minute, he allowed Whitehead to glide past him an enter the penalty area. Thankfully, the local lad bent a terrible shot well off target, and we stayed level.

 

After 66 minutes, we did get a significant advantage - on the player count. Port Vale had already made all three subs when full-back Alan Byrne came off hurt, leaving them a man light. With Vale boss Darrell Clarke now adopting a narrow 4-3-2 formation, I sensed an opportunity to exploit his team's weaknesses down the flanks.

 

On 77 minutes, winger Jonathan Roche floated an encouraging cross to Mark West, whose header was caught by Roscoe Fryatt. Our aerial advantage led to another chance with three minutes left in normal time. Joel Honeyball's corner was headed wide from point-blank range by Wayne Coton, who would be named man of the match for his defensive efforts. Joel then struck the bar with a cross in added-on time, but there was only to be one point for us at the end.

 

Port Vale - 1 (Harrison 13)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Abbey 38)

League Two, Attendance 4,845 - POSITIONS: Port Vale 13th, Dag & Red 2nd

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryan, Charles (Beech), Tierney, Coton, Warren, Clark, Harding, Roche, Martin (Honeyball), Abbey, Mooney (West). BOOKED: Martin.

 

Now it was time for the match Daggers fans had been anticipating for weeks. We went to Stamford Bridge for our first ever competitive meeting with Premier League behemoths Chelsea - in Round 3 of the League Cup.

 

Chelsea had a proud record in the League Cup, winning it six times, most recently in 2025. They also made it through to last year's Final, only to be beaten by Aston Villa at Wembley.

 

The Blues, and their manager Aykut Kocaman, decided to give us the utmost respect with their team selection. Legendary captain Alison Brito Neves was part of a formidable team that also included the likes of Holland winger Ronald Pot, Brazil right-back Ratinho, and ex-England international Wilfried Zaha. Chelsea had not won any of their last four games, and Kocaman was determined not to make it five in a row.

 

With regards to my strategy, I adopted a 3-5-2 formation to try and stop Chelsea from dominating the middle. Our three centre-backs - Wayne Coton, Gavin Dalton and Josh Charles - would face the unenviable task of trying to keep the Blues' attackers quiet.

 

22 September 2026: Chelsea vs Dagenham & Redbridge

Chelsea's captain and midfield maestro Alison Brito Neves was the subject of some rough treatment as we sought to limit his influence. In the fourth minute, Troy Hands floored Neves with a sliding tackle that left the Portuguese midfielder in agony.

 

Three minutes later, Troy caused more pain for the Blues with a through-ball to Matthew Fraser. The Scottish youngster was clean through, and when he coolly drove his shot beyond goalkeeper Valentín Castillo, the scoreboard incredibly read Chelsea 0 Dagenham & Redbridge 1! The impossible suddenly looked possible!

 

In the 9th minute, Castillo caught an effort from Hands that might've sent us even further into dreamland. Chelsea did finally get their act together after 18 minutes, when Neves found Burkay Bosnak just outside our area. Turkey midfielder Bosnak's shot was met by a first save of the night from Daggers goalie Robbie Ryder. I gave Robbie the nod ahead of Daryl Ryan because of his experience, and that decision was looking very shrewd.

 

As Chelsea's stylish passing game came together in the 28th minute, Ryder retained his composure to keep out a vicious effort from Ronald Pott. Another impressive save from Robbie came when he turned Neves' low drive around the post on 42 minutes. His centre-backs also did their bit, with Wayne Coton and Josh Charles proving particularly adept at heading away Chelsea's aerial balls. By half-time, one of the biggest shocks in League Cup history seemed to be in the making. Could we hold on?

 

The Blues' first shot of the second half was a disappointing one from former Spain Under-21s striker Roberto Santos shortly after kick-off. Bosnak also failed to trouble the target with a half-volley in the 51st minute. Bosnak's next effort, on 54 minutes, was tipped wide by Ryder, as was Pot's attempt a minute later.

 

When the subsequent Chelsea corner broke down, Fraser played a crossfield pass to Joel Honeyball on the halfway line. When Joel played in Troy, who in turn fed the ball towards Mark West, our counter-attack was in full swing. Mark only had to fire past Castillo to leave us with a 2-0 lead… but his edge-of-the-area shot bent past the far post at just the wrong time.

 

About half a minute later, in the 58th minute, our resistance was finally broken. Blues left-back Grzegorz Piatkowski squared the ball to Bosnak, who teed up a simple finish for Portuguese substitute Casca.

 

Worse was to come, as Tim Beech conceded a penalty just before the hour mark for tripping up Pot. Up stepped another substitute in the form of the incredibly experienced Viktor Fischer. Ryder did his best to try and reach Fischer's penalty, but the Dane's strike was too powerful, and we were 2-1 down.

 

A possible lifeline emerged after 67 minutes, when Fraser curled in an excellent free-kick to Charles in Chelsea's six-yard box. Josh struck the ball venomously, but Castillo tipped it behind to keep the Blues ahead. Santos then wasted two more chances to effectively finish us off before we next threatened to equalise.

 

Joel's 78th-minute corner was headed towards goal by the excellent Coton, but Castillo's catch left Wayne a frustrated man. Four minutes later, Ryder got his gloves to another Santos strike as he tried to keep us in contention for as long as possible.

 

Then, after 88 minutes, we pushed forward for one final attack. Geraint Harding picked out his fellow Daggers sub Bill Mooney with a lovely pass, but Bill repaid him with a disappointing finish. There was to be no massive upset at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea had ended our best ever League Cup campaign at the third hurdle, but we had pushed them all the way.

 

Chelsea - 2 (Casca 58, Fischer pen61)

Dagenham & Redbridge - 1 (Fraser 7)

League Cup Round 3, Attendance 22,577

DAG & RED LINE-UP: Ryder, Charles, Dalton, Coton, Beech (Plummer), O'Reilly, Fraser, Clark (Harding), Hands, West (Mooney), Honeyball.

 

I could not have been any prouder of my boys after that performance. This was a world-class Chelsea team we were playing against, and we led them for most of the game. Kocaman acknowledged that when we shook hands after the final whistle, saying that he'd given his team a much tougher test than he'd bargained for.

 

Although we hadn't quite made it to Round 4, we did get a much-needed boost to our finances. Our share of the gate receipts from Stamford Bridge was around £200,000, and that certainly helped to reduce our substantial debt.

 

As soon as the excitement surrounding the Chelsea game died down, we turned our focus back towards the league. We may have been flying high, but that could change if we failed to perform in our next two games against sides who had started the season poorly.

[EvilDave]

Great effort against Chelsea in the cup, and looking good in the league too - just need to stay away from those pesky play-offs! This continues to be a great and easy read, very much enjoying the Daggers' progress.

[dohers10]

Good to have you on board, dohers!

Yeah, I hate the play-offs. If you really want to see the full extent of my play-off heartache, though, may I suggest that you read my previous story "Welcome to Romford", assuming you haven't already?

It's interesting that you've noticed the high turnover of left-backs in my team. I've got a solid right-back in Tim Beech, but I've never really found a left-back who can settle in and play consistently well. Matt Warren is genuinely a quality player for League One, though, let alone League Two, so he'll probably be my first-choice LB for a good few years to come.

Its been great mate, good result against Chelsea.

The play off heart ache has added to the stories in my opinion, I found myself urging you to succeed because of it .

The left back thing was funny and maybe because I read it on one sitting ( to an extent haha) I noticed it moreso than you normally would. I will take a read of the Prequel too, I did piece bits together through this story ( and yearly review of them).

I had a random urge to get back into FM after many years off ( you can probably tell by my profile creation and posts with that) and I really enjoy writing. This story has inspired me to give something similar a crack . Now it is just the daunting task of relearning how it all works ( FM that is) with the million additions since about 5-10 years ago when I last played!

(sorry for long post!)