These are letters that I have received from people that have written, they can be from anywhere in the World and not necessary supporters of Dagenham & Redbridge. If you would like to write, you too could be on this page.
Received on the 15 July 1998
Having visited the site today in eager anticipation of the start of the new season - and yes pre-season friendlies are getting a bit out of hand it seems as they begin so far ahead of the start that you probably dare not get too attached to any of the players in case they don't sign/or move elsewhere - i agree wholeheartedly with the tenor of the article. As a former Gravesend resident and still long suffering supporter of the Fleet I had been troubled for most of the 30 or so years since I emigrated to Australia to find material on the club.
Can you imagine the progress in technology in that time?
1970: Aging copies of the Sunday Times and Observer (minimum 3 months old) with Southern League results (no tables, of course), paying a lot for a little.
1980: Latest issues of The Times at an exhorbitant price just to find out the occasional score. Forget midweeks, scorers, tables, attendances etc
1990: Launch of UK Mail, International Express, Weekly Telegraph, British Soccer Week in Australia, subsequently Premier Division results, scorers, attendances, tables, all on Wednesday after the game. No fixtures and occasional minimalist midweek results service, bare results from Div 1 and lower, erratic at best.
1998: Publicity about Soccernet by UK Mail, ventured into net and found oh wonder of wonders, non league heaven, club web sites results almost as they happen and you know the rest.
Yes indeed expatriot supporters (and curious others, who chance upon the joy that is the Non-League scene) have struck gold after years of scrabbling around in the dirt to find the bare bones left behind by the mainsteam media. I, like many others, will search and search to find out more and more about our beloved game and the people playing and, more importantly, watching it. Dagenham, like so many other unsung web sites being accessed from the distance of 12,000 miles will indeed be unsheathed by a host of friendly folk.
Paul Goodwin