Not all American investors dipping their toes into the English soccer waters have set their sights as high as the Premier League

Stateside eagerness to earn a share of the juicy Premier League pie continues after murmurings of potential American investment in Chelsea and Newcastle.

If Portland Trail Blazers and Seattle Seahawks owner Paul Allen does indeed complete a mooted billion dollar-plus takeover of Chelsea, he would be following a well-trodden path. John W Henry, Malcolm Glazer, Stan Kroenke, Randy Lerner, Ellis Short and more have all been understandably attracted by the wealth, fanaticism and global interest in the Premier League product.

But not all American investors are setting their sights so high.

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A seven-strong consortium involving former USA and Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard and New York Yankees shareholder Peter Freund completed a takeover of English fifth-tier outfit Dagenham & Redbridge last month. It was the second episode of American investors entering the National League in just over a year.

Even for lifelong supporters and those responsible for the day-to-day running of Dagenham, there’s an element of make-believe to the stars and stripes adventure. The Daggers are facing a battle to avoid relegation from the National League, let alone earn promotion back to the Football League, while their average attendance last season failed to top 1,500.

“I was aware that people were interested and a group of Americans were coming over to look at the club back in July, but I have to say I was a little bit gobsmacked that such renowned people were coming into our club,” says Mark Odams, the representative of a group of fans who retain a 20% stake in Dagenham.

Even Dagenham managing director Steve Thompson is still struggling to process the sequence of events which has seen Freund’s consortium complete a Transatlantic takeover of the east London club.

“It is a really strange thing. I’m not even sure how it happened myself,” Thompson says.

For Thompson, the takeover is the culmination of a two-and-a-half-year chase. When Dagenham played Everton in the 2016 FA Cup, their Premier League opponents were in the midst of discussions with American investors. As a consequence of boardroom chin-wagging, he was introduced to Steve Horowitz, a partner with New York-based consultants Inner Circle Sports.

Horowitz had been involved with Fenway Sports’ acquisition of Liverpool and offered to help Dagenham out if they ever required future investment. That came last season when the need for a cash injection became critical after then majority shareholder Glyn Hopkin decided he could no longer keep them afloat.

Thompson’s initial enquiries in December came to naught, but after he was urged to persist by Dagenham-born Portsmouth chief executive Mark Catlin – a club who themselves were taken over by an American, former Walt Disney chairman Michael Eisner – he approached Horowitz again during the summer.

This time, there was a potential buyer waiting in the wings.

“He said he had just the person who could help us. That person was Peter Freund,” Thompson recalls.

Freund already boasted shares in the Yankees, ownership of the minor league Memphis Redbirds and had begun to dip his toe into soccer by forming USL outfit Memphis 901. Howard has been involved in the launch of Memphis 901, while another member of the Dagenham consortium, Craig Unger, is the Tennessee side’s president.

The seven-strong group promptly bought out Hopkin and purchased the majority 58% stake, of which Freund boasts the biggest chunk.

Speculation at the end of last season suggested that Freund was interested in a £75m acquisition of Aston Villa. It may well be that he uses Dagenham as a testing ground towards acquiring a club further up the English footballing pyramid.

But Freund and co are not the only Americans to have surprisingly bought into a National League club over recent months. Last year, Dagenham’s neighbours Leyton Orient were sold to a consortium led by London-born Dunkin Donuts chief executive Nigel Travis, who secured investment from Texan multi-millionaire Kent Teague.

The notable difference between the two clubs is that Travis was a lifelong Orient fan. The new Dagenham principal owners have no previous affiliation with the club. Given the past record of some American owners, that could be a cause for concern, but Odams has been heartened by his early conversations with the new arrivals.

He says: “One or two American owners have not made a great fist of it, but others have done and I think Peter and co are the right kind of people. We know Tim Howard has a great knowledge of England football. Smaller clubs can go a long way with the right kind of people in charge and the right investment.”

Having a ‘football person’ of Howard’s pedigree and experience has provided reassurance that the club will avoid damaging snap decisions or wasteful moves in the transfer market. After recruiting a youthful squad when the financial situation was in question during the summer, there is not expected to a rapid overhaul of the players at the disposal of manager, former Leicester City boss Peter Taylor.

But presuming they can avoid the drop this season, there is understandably a determination to return to the Football League, where the Daggers spent nine years before their demotion.

“It’s a long term project. We are looking at doing some improvements around the stadium and want to consolidate where we are. There is no rush to bring in a lot of new players, you can’t just throw out a lot of players that you’ve just recruited,” Thompson says.

What will change over the short-term is the incorporation of initiatives from Freund’s Stateside clubs, such as marketing and promotion. The half-time refreshments do not necessarily need an overhaul though.

Thompson concludes: “We already do a very nice hamburger!”