Dagenham & Redbridge supporters are hoping that Youtube superstar KSI is the real deal. The National League South club has had some strange recent owners. The fans who made the trip to Enfield hope KSI is the real deal.
Optimism Returns to Dagenham
Optimism has returned with the arrival of KSI. KSI, whose real name is Olajide Olatunji, is arguably one of the most recognisable people in the country to anyone under the age of 30. Happy Fan Group, a consortium headed by the American businessman John Grabowski, bought Dagenham off Club Underdog last month.
The supporters have heard this kind of bluster before. “You’re promised the world and you’re just given a ham sandwich,” said Liam Roberts before kick-off in north London.
Carroll Invests Alongside KSI
The 32-year-old YouTuber turned rapper turned boxer, also a judge on ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent, attended the 1-0 home win against league leaders Dorking last weekend. He sat alongside the former England striker Andy Carroll, another to invest since Happy Fan Group bought Dagenham off Club Underdog last month. Carroll is on the books as a player but hasn’t played since December owing to injury.
Dagenham Look to Climb the Ladder
There was a sense of two clubs with varying ambitions. Enfield, who boast about being England’s first fully fan-owned club, are losing their fight for survival. Dagenham are now nine points off the playoffs. There is an expectation they will start climbing the ladder, pronto.
Dagenham have had a string of underwhelming, and occasionally bizarre, investors in recent times. Club Underdog oversaw their relegation to the National League South at the end of last season. This time last year, after he invested, the Egyptian social media star Marwan Serry dreamed of taking Dagenham to the Premier League too. Within five days, he announced his complete withdrawal from the club.
Relegation to the sixth tier followed, and the club announced they had been taken over by a private Qatari consortium. That fell through as well.
The model is Wrexham, who are reaping the rewards.