Opinion: What does KSI’s minority stake in Dagenham and Redbridge mean for non-league football?

 

Dagenham and Redbridge’s Victoria Road stadium has a capacity of 6,078 – less than 0.02% of KSI’s total YouTube subscriber count

 

Such is the confidence of KSI, his first official interview as a minority shareholder at Dagenham and Redbridge included him proclaiming that he wanted to take the club, currently languishing in the sixth tier of English football, to the Premier League.

“I'm so excited to start this journey”, he told the club’s website. “It's gonna be a rollercoaster for sure but I hope to bring Dagenham & Redbridge back to the glory days.

"And once we reach that point, I want to go even further. Reaching the Premier League would be a dream. And I believe it is 100% doable.”

The YouTube megastar is no stranger to the limelight, being one-seventh of the most successful group of YouTube personalities in the country, The Sidemen, as well as being a chart-topping musician, the co-founder of a boxing promotion company and the co-owner of several businesses.

Oh, and he’s also a judge on Britain’s Got Talent.

KSI has said that he wants to take Dagenham and Redbridge to the Premier League

 

KSI, real name Olajide “JJ” Olatunji, joins former England striker Andy Carroll in investing in the Victoria Road side, following the recent takeover by Happy Fan Group Limited.

While Carroll joined the club in July, he has made just 12 appearances due to a combination of injuries and external legal issues.

The Daggers, a mainstay in non-league who are no strangers to EFL football, were a League One club as recently as 2011, having been victorious in the 2010 League Two Playoff Final to ensure the club’s highest position since forming in 1992 – as the result of the merging of several established non-league clubs.

This year is their first in the sixth tier since 2000, and at the moment lie 13th in the National League South table – they have just an outside chance of returning the National League for next season.

KSI brings business know-how to Victoria Road, as well as a reported net worth of around £100 million, but also tens of millions of social media followers and YouTube subscribers. At the time of writing, his two main YouTube channels have a combined 42.2 million subscribers – more than the same population of Canada.

This move would have piqued the interest of those aware of him, which means that all of a sudden, the eyes of the world are on this football club from East London, with a stadium that seats six thousand. Incredibly, within 24 hours of KSI arriving at Victoria Road, Dagenham had reportedly sold around £3 million worth of replica shirts.

Eyes on The Daggers also means eyes on non-league football as a whole, particularly the National League South. While critics worry that celebrity-owned clubs gain an unfair financial advantage, this move will undoubtedly bring media revenue and the attention of media around the world.

 

After the announcement of KSI as a minority shareholder, Dagenham and Redbridge’s social media accounts saw around a 15% increase in followers

 

“It will take a long time, so to the Daggers fans, please be patient”, KSI went on to say, referring to his earlier comments about wanting to take Dagenham to the Premier League.

"I want you to know that I am fully committed to making sure Dagenham and Redbridge is a team that everyone will know worldwide, and will be an exciting team to watch and support."

KSI is certainly ambitious, but we’ve seen it done before at Wrexham, so why not Dagenham and Redbridge?

To quote an old YouTube series of his, the Road to Division One starts now.

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