My Dagenham & Redbridge Football Shirt Collection - Jakob de Freitas

Jakob is a 26 year old football fan who attends matches home and away to watch his beloved Dagenham & Redbridge play, he has also managed to collect ALMOST every shirt the club have played in since their creation in 1992!

Why Collect Dagenham & Redbridge Shirts?

I first went to a Dag & Red game back in 1995, it was an FA Cup 1st round qualifier against local rivals Hornchurch, we won 4-0 and I have been a fan ever since. I travel to games home and away when I can and I even went a number of seasons without missing a game.

I've seen them play in the Isthmian league all the way to to the dizzy heights of league one, only to see them relegated on the final game of the season! Eventually we ended up in the conference where we have remained since 2016.

How Many Shirts Do You Have In Your Collection?

I now have 701 football shirts, 81 of those are Dagenham & Redbridge shirts.

I also collect shirts from each FIFA nation. I now have 210 of the 211 official FIFA recognised countries, I only need Sudan to complete the collection, unfortunately for a lot of these countries they don't make replica jerseys so I have to rely on trying to find matchworn or match issue shirts which isn't easy!

The rest of my collection is made up of other clubs that I have visited and bought a shirt from their club shops, or any other bargains I have found along the way!

What Was Your First Shirt?

The first shirt I remember owning as a kid was the 1999-01 Dagenham and Redbridge home shirt, but as most Mum’s do, the shirt was given to the charity shop along with a few others.

Once I realised I wanted to collect every shirt the club has used I bought a 1997 FA Trophy Final shirt from Classic Football Shirts and the rest I got from friends, eBay, CFS again and with help from the Football Club itself!

The first FIFA nations shirt I bought was a 1998 Norway World Cup Home shirt, it's probably still one of my favourite shirts that I have.

What's Your Favourite Shirt?

Although not a Dagenham and Redbridge or FIFA shirt my most prized possession is a match worn Vatican City National Football Team full kit (Yes, they actually have a team!). It cost me a pretty penny but I still think it was worth it!

My favourite Dag & Red shirt is the Match-Worn Paul Gothard Goalkeeper shirt from the 1997 FA Trophy Final defeat to Woking. Paul had a great game and I believe won MOTM for his performance making this shirt even sweeter to own.

What is the shirt that you don't have in your collection yet but would most like to add?

The shirts I would most like to add would be the only missing Dagenham and Redbridge shirt which is the 98/00 away shirt, unfortunately it's very rare and proving to be extremely illusive!

Would you like to join the CFS Collectors Club?

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