Football clubs that combine the names of two places seem particularly suspect to me. The two will presumably be near neighbours. If either of them had any pride, or had a football club that was any good, a joint venture would surely be the last thing they’d want.
No doubt this is a lingering hangover from Oldham’s 1-4 defeat at Rushden & Diamonds in 2004. I’ve also seen them lose repeatedly at Brighton & Hove Albion. In two previous league fixtures with Dagenham & Redbridge they are unbeaten, but it’s going to take a lot to erase the Rushden & Diamonds fiasco. After all, that doesn’t even sound like two places; a small town and a bingo hall, perhaps.
Dagenham and Redbridge aren’t actually near neighbours, so visiting fans shouldn’t be tempted to get a tube to Redbridge. If they do, they will at least get a chance to enjoy a remarkable station. It has a circular ticket hall and an odd control tower tacked on. There are also clocks with London Underground symbols where you would normally expect numbers. Since the onset of digital clocks, nobody can tell the time anymore so this will probably strike people as less eccentric than otherwise.
No, Dagenham East on the District Line is the closest station. Alternatively, there’s Chadwell Heath on the Elizabeth Line.
That second option leaves a fairly long and not especially appealing walk to the ground, but it takes you past Valence House Museum. Here, the website proclaims proudly, you’ll find one of The Guardian’s 50 Best Things to do in London Free.
The road down from Chadwell Heath railway station – now proudly purple to reflect its Elizabeth Line distinction – is notable first for some odd, arcing streetlamps. Across Freshwater Road these give way to more conventional lights on a tree-lined dual carriageway with a grassy median strip. Then you’re into metroland and Valence House comes as a particular surprise.
It is billed as the only surviving manor house in Dagenham. That sounds as if it might be a very low bar. But about a quarter of the circuit of a moat remains, and ornamental gardens, and a very old, very odd sculpture called the Dagenham Idol.
The Idol is a wooden figure dated at about 2250BC – older the Stonehenge, and said to be one of the earliest representations of a human figure (albeit lacking in the arm department) in Europe. It’s about 18ins tall and made of Scots Pine.
Other highlights include a classic Ford Capri constructed entirely of metal and glass and allowed to rust; Medieval wall-paintings; and a celebration of the Dagenham Girl Pipers.
Across the park and through more housing estates, it’s still a fair stride to the football ground. But if you miss the stretch of Rainham Road up from Dagenham East station you miss nothing, trust me. The only point of vague interest around the ground itself is the name of the road leading to it: Bury Road, a name to send a shiver down the spine of any supporter of low-achieving Lancashire football clubs. As recently as 1999, it was reported in The Guardian that talks to combine Oldham, Rochdale and Bury FCs were in progress…
Dagenham & Redbridge 0 Oldham 1
Victoria Rd, 20 Nov 2010
A Tourist's Guide to Football Towns