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Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club is an English football club based in Dagenham, in the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham, London, England. It was formed in 1992 after a merger between Redbridge Forest and Dagenham. The team, after playing in Football League Two having been promoted as champions from the Football Conference in the 2006–07 season, will play in Football League One for the 2010-11 season after defeating Rotherham United in the 2010 League Two play-off final.

History
Dagenham and Redbridge was formed in 1992 via a series of mergers between clubs.
 * Ilford FC (1881 - 1979) + Leytonstone FC (1886 - 1979) = Leytonstone/Ilford FC (1979 - 1989) renamed Redbridge Forest FC (1989 - 1992)
 * Walthamstow Avenue FC (1900 - 1988) = merging with Leytonstone/Ilford
 * Dagenham FC (1949 - 1992) merged with Redbridge Forest FC (1989 - 1992)

Beginnings
Dagenham and Redbridge was formed in 1992 following the algumation of Redbridge Forest FC and Dagenham due to decreasing attendances and financial reasons. In their debut season, they entered the English league pyramid at the Football Conference finishing in 3rd position with 67 points. They also qualified for the FA Cup facing local rivals Leyton Orient in the first round proper 5-4. They also lost in the FA Trophy in the second round to Bromsgrove Rovers 3-1. After a promising start, things started to go downhill between 1994-1997. In the Football Conference, the final league positions fell from the promising 3rd achieved in their debut season to 6th, 15th and then finally being relegated to the Isthmian League Premier Division by finishing last in the 1995/96 Football Conference.

Despite being relagated, things started to look up. During their time in the Isthmian League, they never finished below 4th, and in the 1999/00 they finished 1st and got promoted back to the Conference after 4 years of trying. They also made surprise run to the FA Trophy final in the 1996/97 season and lost to Woking in the final 1-0.

In the 2000/01 reason they matched their debut season finish back in 1993 by finishing 3rd, below Yeovil FC and Rushden and Diamonds. They also had success in the FA Cup, reaching the third round before taking Charlton Athletic to a replay which they lost only by a goal margin.

Close calls and mid table obscurity
The following season, the club was only narrowly beaten to the title by Boston United on goal difference. Boston United was subsequently found guilty of inappropriately making illegal payments to its players in its title-winning season, following which Dagenham & Redbridge unsuccessfully attempted to have itself declared Conference Champions, and hence take Boston's contentious place in The Football League. This season they also reached the FA Cup third round but were soundly beaten by Ipswich Town 4-1.

After the introduction of playoffs in the Conference for the 2004/05 season, the Daggers finished 5th and qualified for the playoffs. They beat Morecombe on penalties after a 3-3 aggregate score, but lost the final to Doncaster Rovers by virtue of a golden goal scored by Francis Tierney. They reached the 4th round of the FA Cup beating Plymouth Argyle along the way before loosing to Norwich City 1-0.

The Daggers then declined somewhat, finishing the 2003–04, 2004–05 and 2005–06 seasons in mid-table. On 27 February 2004 the club was beaten 9–0 at home by Hereford United, equalling the record highest winning margin in the Conference.

Promotion to the Football League
The 2006–07 season saw Dagenham & Redbridge battle it out with Oxford United for the top of the league spot. Despite Oxford quickly racing to the top, a collapse in Oxford's form combined with an excellent run for the Daggers saw them overtake Oxford in the league. On 7 April, Dagenham & Redbridge beat Aldershot Town 2–1 to be declared Conference Champions, meaning the club would play in the Football League for the first time in its history.

Dagenham & Redbridge played its first ever match in The Football League on 11 August 2007, a 1–0 defeat to Stockport County. The club won its first Football League game at home to Lincoln City on 1 September 2007. The Daggers finished the season in 20th place, ensuring a second season of Football League competition. Promotion to the Football League meant that Dagenham & Redbridge could compete in the League Cup for the first time. The club lost in the First Round to Luton Town.

The following season, the Daggers reached their highest ever position of 8th. They just failed to make the League Two play offs after losing to Shropshire side Shrewsbury Town at home on the last day of the season.

2009-2010 season
The Daggers started the season in Football League Two, and began with a win against Crewe Alexandra, doing this despite losing nine first team players, but manager John Still found several new faces to complete a good side. During this season the Daggers also sold Solomon Taiwo for a club record fee of £200,000 to Championship side Cardiff City. Dagenham & Redbridge also completed work on a new 1200 all seater away stand, which now meets Football League requirements. This was fully opened during the month of November.

The club finished the regular season in seventh place in the division, the last play-off position. In the play-offs it won the first leg of its semi-final against Morecambe by six goals to nil, a result almost guaranteeing a place in the play-off final to play a deciding match for promotion to the third tier of English football, currently known as League One. With this win, the Daggers also claimed the record for the highest ever first leg score in the Football League Play Offs. The Daggers lost the second "semi-final" leg 2-1, but won 7-2 on aggregate therefore progressing to Wembley.

Dagenham & Redbridge faced Rotherham in the final and won the promotion deciding game 3-2 with goals from Paul Benson, Danny Green and Jon Nurse, meaning League One football in the 2010/2011 season - the first time in the club's history.

Colours and Badge
The club's traditional colours are red and blue, to represent the merger teams colours. In the early days the club used red for the home shirt and blue for the away shirts, normally red and white vertical stripes for the home and blue and white vertical stripes for the away. In recent times the kit has gone under a large transformation. The stripes have been replaced with solid colours. The away colours are now yellow with blue trim.