Dagenham FanZoner Nick Murphy says the Rochdale game was not a totally negative experience.
Young fans were also shown the good side of football
Last Saturday, Dagenham & Redbridge held their annual, "Daggers Against Racism Day", that preaches for people of all backgrounds to come together and enjoy football. Fun activities are offered to children, prices are lowered to as low as 50p and it's generally sold as a day for the general community to enjoy.
Unfortunately, in the last couple of years the day has been tainted by unsavoury incidents. The previous season against Bradford, around 20 mindless idiots were ejected for subjecting racism to a group of Asian children. This season we saw Daggers right back Gavin Hoyte allegedly subjected to racist abuse from a Rochdale player. Hopefully it's dealt with accordingly.
But that's the problem isn't it? The problem with our game in general. People always like to focus on the negatives. Instead of parading any good that comes out of the game, the media are all over the negative aspect. In a sense, that's no fault of their own, it's their job and important incidents need to be highlighted. But it wouldn't hurt to give a bit of coverage to the positive aspects that came out of the day.
And for me, on Saturday afternoon - that came in the form of 20 children who could be no older than 11, cheering Medy Elito. The winger had scored the vital goal to give the Daggers the win and evidently he struck a chord with a posse of kids. And to me, that's fantastic. They were chanting his name with smiles on their faces and if that can't raise a smile on your own face, then there must be something wrong with you.
enjoyment
If Saturday's game and Elito's last minute winner have inspired these children to watch more live football, either here or elsewhere, then that's superb. That's what the day was designed to do and ultimately, the enjoyment of those it was designed for is paramount. Seeing their joyous faces proved to me that Saturday was in fact a success. If we've managed to inspire a group that wouldn't usually be at football to come back again, then that's all we can ask for, surely?
It shows that whilst these initiatives may have some negative aspects, there is in fact a great good to come out of the event. It brings people who wouldn't usually come to football, to enjoy the afternoon and the match that entails. But it extends much further than that. It lays the foundations for tackling important issues such as racism through something that everyone loves - football.
The result itself was also important, with the 2-1 victory ensuring the Daggers move up a place to 13th in League Two. With more important games coming thick and fast, the quest for a possible play-off place is well and truly on. Next up we are home to Morecambe and away at Plymouth, we really need to be trying to take maximum points to retain a level of consistency.
What I hope for most though, is that we see some of those faces we saw at home to Rochdale again. It's vitally important that we get people from different cultural, religious and ethnic backgrounds at Victoria Road. Saturday proved that football can be enjoyed by everyone, even at the lower levels of the game. If we see those kids again at some point in the season, then the initiative is working and all of those at the club can hold their heads high once more.
