| Full name | Redbridge Forest Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Founded | 1979; 47 years ago (1979) (asLeytonstone/Ilford) | ||
| Dissolved | 1992 (merged withDagenham) | ||
| Ground | Victoria Road,Dagenham | ||
| 1991–92 | Conference National, 7th | ||
Redbridge Forest Football Club was an Englishfootball club, founded in 1979 asLeytonstone & Ilford F.C., which in 1989 merged withWalthamstow Avenue and the following season adopted the name Redbridge Forest. In 1992 the club merged withDagenham to form the presentDagenham & Redbridge.
Leytonstone/Ilford F.C. was founded in 1979 by a merger ofLeytonstone F.C. (founded in 1886) andIlford F.C. (founded in 1881).
They were somewhat successful in non-league football, while under the name Leytonstone & Ilford, they were crownedIsthmian League champions during 1981–82. The following season the club finished as runners-up in the same league. At the end of the season, they changed their name toLeytonstone/Ilford F.C..
Another merger was incorporated in 1988 whenWalthamstow Avenue were incorporated. Initially there was no name change, and the club won theIsthmian League that season; they were due to be promoted to theFootball Conference, but were denied due to ground problems, as the Green Pond Road ground at Walthamstow had already been sold to developers so was not worth upgrading. The club moved toVictoria Road, home ofDagenham F.C., but found the same problem as their ground too was now not up to Conference standard. Leytonstone & Ilford remained in the Isthmian League Premier Division.
For the 1989 season, the name of the club was changed to Redbridge Forest, in preparation for a move to a new site bordering both Redbridge and Waltham Forest borders. However, the move to a new site collapsed and the club remained at Victoria Road. Incidentally, Dagenham and Redbridge Forest were both in the Isthmian League Premier Division for that season and the two matches between landlord and tenant saw 2–2 and 1–1 draws between the clubs, clubs that now play as one. Redbridge Forest won the Isthmian League in 1990–91 and with the ground now passing Conference regulations, the club were now allowed to move up to the Conference for the 1991–92 season.
Redbridge Forest were in the Conference for one year and achieved a seventh-place finish during the1991–92 season. For the1992–93 season, they merged with Dagenham (the club whose ground they were sharing) and becameDagenham & Redbridge. The new club reached theEnglish Football League at the end of the2006–07 as Conference National champions, and won promotion toLeague One in 2010 via play-offs.
The club's colours were red shirts and blue shorts with white trim,[1] the red taken from the Leytonstone colours and the blue from Ilford. The colours did not change after the merger with Walthamstow Avenue, whose colours were light and dark blue.
As Leytonstone/Ilford F.C
As Redbridge Forest F.C
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
