Trinity Sports Holdings Adds East London Football Club

Trinity Sports Holdings, whose interests include the Williamsport Crosscutters, Memphis 901 FC and the Memphis Redbirds, among others, has taken over ownership of Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club in England's National League.
 

Under the newly-created Victoria Road Football, LLC, Principal Owner Peter B. Freund, President Craig Unger, and soccer legend Tim Howard will pilot the club, which is based in East London, England. The trio is coming off the successful launch of Memphis 901 FC, the Division II club based at AutoZone Park in Downtown Memphis.
 
Freund and Unger bring years of experience operating professional sports franchises throughout North America, and Howard lends expansive knowledge of English football from his 13 years playing in the English Premier League for Manchester United and Everton and is one of the most famous soccer players in American history.
 
"September has been a thrilling month, as we unveiled Memphis 901 FC in front of a sellout crowd in Downtown Memphis, continued the Redbirds' run towards another Pacific Coast League championship, and have now completed the acquisition of Dagenham & Redbridge FC," Freund said. "As Trinity Sports Holdings continues to grow, we are strengthening our commitment to owning and operating professional sports franchises both here and abroad. The opportunity to acquire a storied club like the Daggers and plant a flag in the English Football system is an exciting next step for all of us."
 
"Connecting the City of Memphis, through Memphis 901 FC and the Memphis Redbirds, with the City of London in this way is huge for our entire region," Unger said. "In addition to the Memphis Convention & Visitors Bureau having representatives in the U.K., to have these world-renowned cities now linked through sports, specifically soccer, is a game-changer, and will make the distance 'across the Pond' seem significantly shorter."
 
Trinity Sports Holdings portfolio includes Major League Baseball's New York Yankees, Minor League Baseball's Memphis Redbirds, Charleston RiverDogs and Williamsport Crosscutters as well as the recently formed Memphis 901 FC who begin play next year in the United Soccer League. The company was named Organization of the Year by Ballpark Digest in 2017.
 
Dagenham & Redbridge FC, nicknamed the Daggers, was formed in 1992 following a merger of two clubs, Dagenham and Redbridge Forest. The club can trace its ancestry back to 1886, as Redbridge Forest was an amalgamation of the famous clubs Leytonstone FC and Walthamstow Avenue.
 
While currently competing in the fifth division of the English football system, the National League, the Daggers have competed as high as the third division in the English Football League's League One and also spent almost a decade in the EFL's League Two.
 
Dagenham & Redbridge plays its matches at 6,078-seat Victoria Road, known as Chigwell Construction Stadium for sponsorship purposes, and is currently managed by Peter Taylor. Taylor, a storied English player and former manager of the England National Team, has been engaged in soccer for over 40 years. He made David Beckham captain while with the National Team, and he also had two spells managing England's under-21 club as well as numerous other clubs.

For more information on the Daggers, visit www.daggers.co.uk.