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Americans take over at Dagenham & Redbridge

Dagenham and Redbridge are currently struggling in the National League but this has not deterred an American consortium that also involves former Manchester United and Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard from taking them over: Purchase

Victoria Road LLC, a group jointly owned by the businessmen Peter B Freund and Craig Unger, have purchased a majority of shares in the club. Freund is the principal owner of Trinity Sports Holdings, which holds interests in Major League Baseball's New York Yankees and the recently formed Memphis 901 football club.

What interests me is the thinking behind this takeover. Smaller clubs in London can have a struggle. Leyton Orient are now playing in the National League, admittedly after a disastrous period of ownership.

Barnet have yo-yoed backwards and forwards between the Football League and the top tier of the non-league pyramid. Last season they were relegated to the National League once again. Barnet were first promoted to the Football League in 1991, after winning the 1990–91 Football Conference under manager Barry Fry. In 1993 they reached the Football League Second Division, then the third tier of English football, but were relegated after one season. They were relegated back to the Conference in 2001, but returned to the Football League four years later after winning the 2004–05 Conference National. They then spent the next eight seasons in League Two before being relegated to the Conference once again in 2013. In 2015, they returned to the Football League once more, after winning the 2014–15 Conference Premier.

Last year Dagenham & Redbridge had an average attendance of 1,464 in the National League. Their immediate catchment area is one of the less prosperous parts of London. Quite a lot of those interested in football support West Ham, although they have sometimes treated Dagenham & Redbridge as a second team.

No doubt they were not expensive to acquire, but writing a strategy for success on and off the pitch would be a challenge.

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