Vince Nicoll Goalkeeping Schools

The Club was formed in May 1960 by the father of Tony Adams and was originally called Dagenham Sports Club and incorporated a variety of sports within its setup.

For nearly 50 years football has been at its heart and has been played in various leagues ranging from Waltham Forest, Barking Youth, East London and Essex and now our teams play in the Echo League.

Players such as Tony Adams (Arsenal & England) and Steve Potts (West Ham) started their careers at the Club as have thousands of others.

In 2001 the Club had five teams and when Keith Rothon took over as Secretary from the retired Steve Millar it was decided that mini soccer teams were vital to the Club's survival and the re-building began.

In 2004 the Club signed a 20 year lease with the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham for a plot of land in Dagenham East called 'Manor Road Sports Ground'.  In what was one of the biggest clean-up operations, volunteers from within the club worked tirelessly to turn a derelict piece of land into an area that now hosts one 11 a-side pitch, two mini-soccer pitches and a floodlit cinder area for training.  Planning  permission has been obtained to erect a clubhouse and a new artificial pitch with floodlighting and parking facilities.

Also in 2004, the Club approached Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club to extend their Youth set-up at under 16 and under 18 levels. Past managers such as Lenny Clarke, Kevin Hayward and Ricky Jackson have all been successful in the Eastern Alliance League bringing players from within Dagenham United onto a bigger and better stage.

In 2006 Alex Fowler (President) and Paul Marsh (Chairman) two of the Clubs' key personnel, retired from their posts,  In recognition of the contribution to the Club, both were appointed Life Presidents in 2007.

In January 2007 the Club were awarded the Charter Standard by the Football Association and are currently working towards achieving Community Club Status.  In March we were awarded Charity Status and were successful in applications to the Football Foundation for "The Barclays Spaces for Sport Coaching Pack" and "junior Kit Scheme".

In the February Half-Term, we held our first holiday Soccer School and now hold a Saturday Soccer School every week at Manor Road.

In June we joined up with Essex FA to deliver their 3Lions Initiative which gives girls the opportunity to play football.  Coaches from within the Club have been delivering girl only sessions within three Dagenham Schools during curriculum time and the Club now holds a Saturday Soccer School for Girls.

Dagenham United will boast 24 teams from September 2009. This is roughly 300+ members from the ages of six to sixteen, boys and girls of all abilities.  The majority live within Barking & Dagenham, but our membership includes those from neighbouring boroughs including Newham, Redbridge and Havering.

We now have over fifty volunteers, all who dedicate their time to ensure that the young people have a rewarding experience within the Club.  All our Managers and Coaches are FA Qualified, have attended a Child Protection Workshop, Emergency First Aid and have a valid Police CRB Check.

Our dream now is to develop Manor Road, to turn our plans that have been on our wall in our run-down portakabin into a reality.  We aim to raise between £50,000 and £100,000 towards the cost of what is a £500,000 project to re-develop the site and give football a real home in Dagenham.

The rest is History...................Our latest venture is our partnership with Vince and Jon Gildersleeve of Vince Nicoll Goalkeeping Schools.