To be a Dagger . . .

Discuss all matters related to Dagenham and Redbridge
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Ian Ayris
Posts: 15
Joined: Thu Dec 05, 2013 7:00 am

I've been thinking about this for a few days - what is it to support the Daggers, prompted by those that still seem to feel some benefit might be gained to use the Aldershot game to protest the recent goings on.

Supporting the Daggers means something different to us all.

I just want to give my take on it, to help me understand what it means to me.

My first match was in 1977. I was seven years old. We (Dagenham FC) lost to Scarborough in the final moments of the Amateur Cup Final at Wembley. My little heart was broken, and made whole, that day.

The Daggers have meant more than I can put into words ever since. But I'll try. They have been one of the few constants in my life. Following the Daggers has allowed me to experience a depth of feeling I would never have been able to achieve without them. I have memories, moments, that will stay with me forever - beyond eleven players knocking a ball around a pitch.

The Charlton away game, the Doncaster play-off final - such despair, but such pride. Rotherham - blimey - still get tears in me eyes just thinking about it. And Everton? Who will ever forget Everton. Plus a million more memories.

To support the Daggers - or any club - is never about individual players. If it were, Whitehawk might have gained a few supporters over the last day or so, and Boreham Wood - even Orient. But they haven't. I would suspect none of us will be packing our bags to follow Scotty Doe, Sam Ling, or Morgan around the country. Because - it is never about individual players. Players come and go. It is never about the players.

To support the Daggers is also never about the manager, otherwise we'd have ex-Luton supporters among our number, ex-Bristol Rovers, Maidstone, Barnet, etc. Managers come and go. It is never about the manager.

So it is for board members. They are NOT the club. In the great scheme of things, they mean nothing. They perform an administrative function at the club - like all employees everywhere - to varying degrees of competence.

To support the Daggers is to throw our working class lives into the hands of whoever wears the shirt. And whatever comes from it after ninety minutes - whoever is wearing the shirt, whoever the manager is, who the board is, whatever division we are in, whatever the result - I will always support my team.

Because they are MY team. Just as they are yours. They mean something different to us all. But those moments over the years, and those moments yet to come, when our hearts beat in a way only supporting the Daggers can make do - it is those moments that bring us together. Friends, strangers, fathers, sons, wives, girlfriends, daughters - all of us.

That is what it means to me to be a Dagger - the all of us, walking into the storm, standing together with the eleven players who wear the shirt,

And in all the loss and all the chaos, during all the bad times and the good, I wouldn't change it for the world.

Pretentious? Probably. But it's been an emotional week, you know :)
Last edited by Ian Ayris on Sat Feb 10, 2018 1:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Tony B
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Feb 07, 2018 8:03 pm

Well said Ian. The club is bigger than any individual. The time is to get behind the team.
Ian Ayris
Posts: 15
Joined: Thu Dec 05, 2013 7:00 am

Cheers, Tone.

Exactly what I was trying to say. Just you've said it much more concisely.

Ah, the curse of a rambling mind . . . :)

COYD!!!!
BB-Dagger
Posts: 606
Joined: Mon Feb 03, 2014 8:32 am

Ian Ayris wrote:I've been thinking about this for a few days - what is it to support the Daggers, prompted by those that still seem to feel some benefit might be gained to use the Aldershot game to protest the recent goings on.

Supporting the Daggers means something different to us all.

I just want to give my take on it, to help me understand what it means to me.

My first match was in 1977. I was seven years old. We (Dagenham FC) lost to Scarborough in the final moments of the Amateur Cup Final at Wembley. My little heart was broken, and made whole, that day.

The Daggers have meant more than I can put into words ever since. But I'll try. They have been one of the few constants in my life. Following the Daggers has allowed me to experience a depth of feeling I would never have been able to achieve without them. I have memories, moments, that will stay with me forever - beyond eleven players knocking a ball around a pitch.

The Charlton away game, the Doncaster play-off final - such despair, but such pride. Rotherham - blimey - still get tears in me eyes just thinking about it. And Everton? Who will ever forget Everton. Plus a million more memories.

To support the Daggers - or any club - is never about individual players. If it were, Whitehawk might have gained a few supporters over the last day or so, and Boreham Wood - even Orient. But they haven't. I would suspect none of us will be packing our bags to follow Scotty Doe, Sam Ling, or Morgan around the country. Because - it is never about individual players. Players come and go. It is never about the players.

To support the Daggers is also never about the manager, otherwise we'd have ex-Luton supporters among our number, ex-Bristol Rovers, Maidstone, Barnet, etc. Managers come and go. It is never about the manager.

So it is for board members. They are NOT the club. In the great scheme of things, they mean nothing. They perform an administrative function at the club - like all employees everywhere - to varying degrees of competence.

To support the Daggers is to throw our working class lives into the hands of whoever wears the shirt. And whatever comes from it after ninety minutes - whoever is wearing the shirt, whoever the manager is, who the board is, whatever division we are in, whatever the result - I will always support my team.

Because they are MY team. Just as they are yours. They mean something different to us all. But those moments over the years, and those moments yet to come, when our hearts beat in a way only supporting the Daggers can make do - it is those moments that bring us together. Friends, strangers, fathers, sons, wives, girlfriends, daughters - all of us.

That is what it means to me to be a Dagger - the all of us, walking into the storm, standing together with the eleven players who wear the shirt,

And in all the loss and all the chaos, during all the bad times and the good, I wouldn't change it for the world.

Pretentious? Probably. But it's been an emotional week, you know :)
This sums everything up doesn’t it, well written Ian
len
Posts: 316
Joined: Fri Oct 18, 2013 8:26 pm

Very well said Ian, I along with many others I know have supported the Daggers for many years and as you say it is a big part of your life. Only two weeks ago my only concern was if we would make the playoffs and now that seems the last thing to worry about not knowing if the club will
indeed survive.
Everyone now needs to get behind the club in order to get out of this mess we find ourselves in and move forward.
RayleighDagger1986
Posts: 807
Joined: Tue Oct 13, 2015 7:01 pm

It all depends on whether we can live within our means going forward. Rumours of wages for February not being paid will have knock on effect for things like tax bills etc etc.

Hartlepool supporyers have chipped in to help there club!

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theg ... ities-hmrc
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