If you want to talk about clubs merging, then our FA Cup opponents are the people to ask; Dagenham & Redbridge is the product of no less than four clubs from that area of East London. Between them they can muster an FA Trophy win, seven Amateur Cup wins, and no less than 32 titles in five different leagues - including 18 wins in the Isthmian League - under seven different names.

If this sounds complicated, well it is - but the Football Club History Database (linked here) makes it easier to unpick.

The oldest of the clubs was Ilford: founder members of the Southern League back in 1894, they didn't last long there and went on to help found the Isthmian League a few years later. There thay stayed until 1978/9, picking up three titles and a couple of Amateur Cup wins along the way. At that point, they merged with Leytonstone after selling their ground.

Leytonstone had been around almost as long as Ilford, helping found the Spartan League before transferring to the Isthmian. They won eight titles and three Amateur Cups there before the merger, including a purple patch in the late 1940s and early 1950s that saw them win five titles in six seasons.

The merged club, Leytonstone/Ilford, won a further two Isthmian Titles and also won the Division 1 title twice. Promotion to the Conference was denied though, as their ground was not up to scratch.

The next team to come on board was Walthamstow Avenue, founder members of the Athenian League in 1929 and five times winners of that competition as well as three Isthmian titles and a couple of Amateur Cups. In 1988, a year after they suffered relegation for the first and only time in their history, they threw their lot in with Leytonstone/Ilford. Shortly after, the team's name was changed to Redbridge Forest.

Under that name came yet another Isthmian Championship and promotion to the Conference, but it was soon time for yet another coming together. Unable to play at their own ground, they were forced to ground-share with another side in order to secuire their place - so they played at Victoria Road, the home of Dagenham. Dagenham, who had helped found the Metropolitan and District League (and won it) before helping found the Delphian League (three titles), had arrived in the Isthmian League (winning Division 2) via the Corinthian League (one title), and had won the FA Trophy to boot. It wasn't long before the inevitable happened, and the two clubs merged.

This is the club we see today as Dagenham & Redbridge. Playing at Victoria Road, they have had a good amount of success in both Conference and FA Cup: they've come close to getting promotion on a couple of occasions, most notably when Boston just beat them to the title and were then found to have financial irregularities. In the cup, their most memorable tie saw them come close to beating Charlton in the 3rd round before a deflected equaliser in the last five minutes took them to a replay and eventual defeat.

Although they've reached the fourth round once and the third round on two further occasions, the number of league teams they've beaten in the FA Cup is surprisingly small. It was 2000/1 before their first Giant-Killing when Lincoln were the victims in Round 2; Exeter were beaten at the same stage the following year after a replay; and the third and last team to lose out to them was Plymouth in Round 3 back in 2002/3.

At the moment the Daggers seem to be in a rebuilding phase. Under John Still - their first manager post-merger, now back at the club - there's more of an emphasis on youth, meaning that their form hasn't been consistent enough to make them challengers for the top. While Pools will be favourites for the win however, teams from the Conference aren't usually pushovers and, as always, we can't afford to take them too lightly. Mind you, I thought the same about Aldershot last season.....

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