Leyton Orient

Leyton Orient F.C. are an English professional football team from east London, currently playing in League One of the Football League. The team is known by its fans as Orient or simply The O's. To find a flat or house to rent near Leyton Orient, London c

Leyton Orient F.C. are an English professional football team from east London, currently playing in League One of the Football League. The team is known by its fans as Orient or simply The O's.

To find a flat or house to rent near Leyton Orient, London contact the Black Katz London Bridge office. Black Katz have flats and houses to rent near Leyton Orient and across London. If you are a landlord wishing to rent out your property contact Black Katz.

Leyton Orient's home stadium, Brisbane Road, is situated in Leyton, in the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It is officially known as the Matchroom Stadium after chairman Barry Hearn's sports promotion company. Barry Hearn became chairman in 1995 after the club was famously put on sale for five pounds by the then-chairman, Tony Wood OBE, after his coffee-growing business in Rwanda was destroyed by that country's civil war. The period of the club's near-closure was covered by the television documentary Orient: Club for a Fiver (made by Open Media for Channel 4). The documentary is commonly but incorrectly known as Yours for a Fiver.

Historic rivals included neighbours Leyton F.C., and the now disbanded/merged clubs Leytonstone F.C., Walthamstow Avenue F.C. and Wanderers F.C.. The Leyton F.C. rivalry dissolved decades ago due to Leyton F.C. being of a lower status and not a full-time professional football club. The O's geographically closest professional club rival is West Ham United. This local derby rarely takes place as the clubs have spent most of their history in different divisions. Orient's biggest rivals at the moment are Southend United with whom they spent many years in League 2. The other main local professional rivals are now Millwall who play in Bermondsey South East London.

Leyton Orient have spent one single season in the top-flight of English football, in 1962-63. Though the O's were immediately relegated, they had three memorable victories within the space of twelve days against rivals West Ham, eventual champions Everton, and Manchester United. In August 1974, they were Manchester United's first opposition in the latter's only post-war Second Division campaign. In 1978, Orient reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup for the only time in their history, under the management of Jimmy Bloomfield. Between October 1993 and September 1995, Orient did not win a single away game in the league. This terrible run of form saw them finish bottom of Division Two in 1994-95.

The club's current manager is Martin Ling, who took over from Paul Brush in October 2003. Notable former managers include Billy Holmes, Alec Stock, Johnny Carey, Jimmy Bloomfield, George Petchey, Frank Clark, Pat Holland and Tommy Taylor. Famous fans include Bob Mills, Julian Lloyd Webber and his brother Andrew Lloyd Webber.

History

Leyton Orient was originally formed by members of the Glyn Cricket Club in 1881, many of whom were former students of Homerton College. The team has had several name changes since, first as Eagle Cricket Club in 1886 then as Orient Football Club in 1888. History books written on the Club by its Historian Neilson N Kaufman suggest that the choice of the name Orient came about at the behest of a player (Jack R Dearing) who was an employee of the Orient Shipping Company (later to be taken over by P&O). The club's name was changed again to Clapton Orient in 1898 to represent the area of London in which they played. However, some historians think the name Orient was simply chosen due to its oddity and has no connections to them being an East-End club.

The name Leyton Orient was adopted following the conclusion of the Second World War. The club had moved to Leyton in 1937. A further rename back to simply Orient took place in 1966 after the Borough of Leyton was absorbed into the London Borough of Waltham Forest. That renaming followed a financial crisis (one of several to hit the club, and by no means the first or last) and restructuring of the company behind the club; this is remembered for a "pass the bucket" collection that took place at a special meeting of supporters in the East Stand, when complete closure was claimed to be a definite possibility.

The club finally reverted back to Leyton Orient in 1987, shortly after Tony Wood took over as chairman and at a time when a supporters campaign was taking place in the Leyton Orientear fanzine to reinstate the Leyton part of the club's name.

The O’s are the second oldest Football League club in London and the south-east of England behind Fulham. They played in the 2nd Division of the Southern League in 1904, joined the Football League in 1905 and are the 24th oldest club currently playing in the Football League.

The 1914-15 season was the last football season before the League was suspended due to the outbreak of the First World War. 41 members of the Clapton Orient team and staff joined up into the 17th Battalion Middlesex Regiment (the Footballers' Battalion) the highest of any football team in the country and the first to join up en masse.[2] At the final game of the season - Clapton Orient vs Leicester Fosse, 20,000 people came out to support the team. A farewell parade was also hosted, but not before the O's had won 2-0. The British Film Institute hold a brief recording of this historic match and parade in their archives.

During the Battle of the Somme, three players gave their lives for King and Country: Richard McFadden, George Scott and William Jonas. Though they were the only Orient staff to have died during the First World War, many others sustained wounds, some more than once and were not able to resume their football careers after the war. Prior to the First World War, O's striker Richard McFadden had saved the life of a boy who was drowning in the River Lea as well as rescuing a man from a burning building. History was made on Saturday April 30 1921 when the Prince of Wales, later to become King Edward Vlll, visited Millfields Road to see the O's play Notts County. The Orient won 3 - 0 and this was the first time a member of royalty had attended a Football League match. The royal visit was to show gratitude for Clapton Orient's patriotic example during the Great War and there is now a plaque erected on the site of the Millfields Road Stadium to commemorate this historic event.

The story of the club's major involvement in the First World War has been told in a 2005 book entitled 'They Took The Lead', by Stephen Jenkins (the deputy chairman of Leyton Orient Supporters' Club). In July 2006 Steve Jenkins, assisted by Les Bailey took a party of one hundred and fifty Leyton Orient Supporters and members of the Leyton and Manor Park Royal British Legion over to the Somme region of northern France, to visit the WW1 war graves and in particular to pay their respects at the resting places of Richard McFadden, William Jonas and George Scott - this was the first official visit to the O's war graves for 90 years. The trip was so successful that a second visit to the Somme took place the weekend of July 12/13 2008, this time one hundred and eighty three O's supporters and members of the RBL made the historic pilgrimage. Media interest is growing concerning this amazing and proud period of the Orient's history. Chris Slegg a BBC London reporter travelled with the party and footage of the Somme trip was shown on every local news bulletin throughout the day on the Monday following the trip. It is hoped that a documentary or film will one day be made on Clapton Orient's proud service during the Great War.

Orient's golden years were in the 1960s and 1970s. In the 1961/62 season Orient were promoted to the top tier of English football, the First Division (now the FA Premier League), for the only time in their history, after finishing second in Division Two under the management of Johnny Carey. The team struggled in the top flight and were relegated from the top division the following season. Nonetheless, they did defeat West Ham United in a famous 'double' victory (home and away wins). They spent the whole of the 1970s in Division Two. In 1978 Orient were defeated in the semi final of the FA Cup, the furthest they have progressed in that competition.

Leyton Orient were Division Three South champions in the 1955/56 season and Division Three champions in the 1969/70 season. They were also the Anglo-Scottish Cup Runners up 1976/77.

In 1978 the club was indirectly responsible for the album Variations (album) composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber for his brother, the cellist Julian Lloyd Webber. This reached No.2 in the pop album charts. Variations came about as the result of a bet between the two brothers on the outcome of Orient's final game of the 1976/77 season against Hull City.

Leyton Orient were promoted in the 1988/89 season, when under manager Frank Clark they were promoted in the Division Four Play-Off Final after a 2-1 aggregate victory over Wrexham F.C.. More recently, under manager Tommy Taylor, Orient were defeated in the 1999 and 2001 Third Division Play-Off Finals, played at Wembley Stadium and the Millennium Stadium respectively. The latter final saw the fastest ever club goal scored to date at the Millennium Stadium, as Orient's Chris Tate scored after just 27 seconds.

Leyton Orient's most recent promotion was in the 2005/06 season, finishing in 3rd place and gaining automatic promotion to the Football League One under the direction of manager Martin Ling. This was the club's first automatic promotion in 36 years, and ended a period of 11 years in the English league's bottom division. This promotion season also saw an excellent FA Cup run, with Leyton Orient progressing to the 4th round after beating Premiership side Fulham F.C. . Promotion was only secured in the final minutes of the final game of the season, away at Oxford United; with the score tied at 2-2 and Orient seemingly destined to miss out yet again on promotion, news came through of a late goal scored against promotion rivals Grimsby Town F.C. that would potentially promote Orient, and the Orient fans were still celebrating this when - some 14 seconds later - Lee Steele scored to confirm Orient's promotion. The result also relegated Oxford to the Football Conference.

In 2006-07, Orient endured a difficult season in the third tier, having spent most of the season in or around the relegation zone, and were bottom of the table at times in the first half of the season. An improvement in fortunes after Christmas - including memorable wins against Millwall, Tranmere Rovers and a vital win at eventually-relegated Bradford City near the end of the season - helped them finish in 20th place, one spot above the relegation zone. Most of the promotion-winning side left at the end of the season, through a combination of players released and some rejecting new contracts, and while the club's longest-serving player Matthew Lockwood did sign a new contract, he moved to Nottingham Forest for an undisclosed sum later in pre-season.

Recent Seasons

2007-08 was better, as Orient finished 14th with 60 points. The O's began the season in fine form, not dropping out of the top 7 until after Christmas. But due to the size of the squad when injuries became apparent the team began to struggle because they had nothing in reserve so started to slowly fall down league and only recording 3 wins from the last 12 games ending the season in respective 14th place.

Leyton Orient kicked off the 2008-2009 season with a 2-1 win over Hereford United at home. Dean Beckwith put Hereford ahead before JJ Melligan and Adam Boyd gave Orient the win. Orient then continued the season with multiple poor results and performances throughout September and October and their only wins were away matches against Walsall and Southend United in the Football League Trophy first round. However Orient were knocked out of the football league trophy in the following round in an away match at Brighton & Hove Albion. They are currently in 22nd position in the Football League One table. Orient booked a place in the second round of the FA Cup after beating Colchester United 1-0.Two Goals from Jason Demetriou and Danny Granville in a 1-2 away victory against Bradford City put Orient through to the third round of the FA Cup. They will play Sheffield United at home.

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Club crest

Orient's crest is made up of two wyverns facing each other over a football. The wyvern symbol was introduced in 1976 and is believed to incorporate Orient's links with the City of London (the wyvern is the symbol of the Thames, it is believed to be the defender of the Thames) and with the sea, through the old Orient Shipping Company.

Previous club crests have included a version of the Borough of Leyton's coat of arms, and a single red dragon.

Stadium

A second EGM was held in May 2006, where it was agreed to sell further land behind the North and South Stands to SBLL for £1.25 million, the proceeds to be used to fund the building of the North Stand. The plan was to commence building the North Stand in July 2006 and for it to be open by Christmas 2006, however Waltham Forest council initially rejected the revised planning application for the stand and its adjoining additional flats. A revised application was submitted, and passed in early 2007, and construction began towards the end of the 2006/07 season. The stand - which has become the Family Stand - was completed before the 2007/08 season, giving the O's a four sided ground once more with a capacity just under 9,300. The modernisation of the East Stand is a more distant prospect.

It is unknown what effect London gaining the 2012 Olympics will have on Leyton Orient's long-term stadium development, given the amount of sports stadia construction that will take place in East London. Orient has lodged an interest in moving into the main Stratford Olympic Stadium, which would have a capacity of about 25,000 after the Games. Leyton Orient remains the most likely football club to move into the stadium now that other clubs - in particular West Ham - bidding to move in have dropped out of the running. Also, there are concerns among supporters about the presence of a running track around the pitch, not to mention the financial implication of moving in.

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Manager

Orient are currently managed by Martin Ling, a former Youth Team Manager and Leyton Orient player, who was appointed in September 2003, and is currently the 7th longest serving manager in England. He was granted a testimonial year for the 2007/08 season, after having spent 11 years at Orient in various roles. Martin Ling also played in the Premiership for Swindon Town. The assistant manager is Dean Smith, another former player who captained the side. He returned to the club after a season and a half absence playing for Sheffield Wednesday and Port Vale. The Youth Team Manager is former O's striker Kevin Nugent, who was appointed in summer 2007 after Andy Scott left to join Brentford as assistant manager.