The fall and rise of Leyton Orient
East End grit fuels Championship ambitions after years of turmoil
“Resilience - I like that phrase, that sums up the club well. When you’re always underdogs, that’s something you have to have in abundance.”
Davis Watson
Leyton Orient Club Historian
The back of the East Stand of Leyton Orient's Brisbane Road stadium. Photo: Tom Place
The back of the East Stand of Leyton Orient's Brisbane Road stadium. Photo: Tom Place
Ticket price guide and the Brisbane Road stadium map. Photo: Tom Place
Ticket price guide and the Brisbane Road stadium map. Photo: Tom Place
25th May, 2014.
The League One play-off final.
Chris Dagnall walks up to the penalty spot.
“It seemed like a done deal, even before the game there was such confidence - this is it, we’re going to do it,” says Davis Watson, the club’s official historian.
Dagnall’s weak effort is easily saved by Adam Collin.
Rotherham United go up. Leyton Orient stay in League One.
Brisbane Road. Photo: Tom Place
Brisbane Road. Photo: Tom Place
11 years later, and Orient have just lost in the League One play-off final again, this time a 1-0 defeat to Charlton Athletic.
The years between these defeats have been a rollercoaster ride, with Orient playing non-league football for the first time since 1905, a 112 year Football League stay ending in 2017.
But under new ownership, and with steady hands on the managerial tiller, the O’s have fought back, and despite the weekend’s dispiriting loss are built to go one better next year.
“It was one of the most devastating experiences”
Davis Watson on the 2014 playoff final defeat.
Plaques honouring Leyton Orient and Stanislaw Gerula, a former Orient goalkeeper, on the West Stand at Brisbane Road. Photo: Tom Place
Plaques honouring Leyton Orient and Stanislaw Gerula, a former Orient goalkeeper, on the West Stand at Brisbane Road. Photo: Tom Place
Laurie Cunningham's plaque on the East Stand, Brisbane Road. Photo: Tom Place
Laurie Cunningham's plaque on the East Stand, Brisbane Road. Photo: Tom Place
Davis, 21, has been going to Orient since he was 9, and has season tickets with his father in the Justin Edinburgh Stand. He’s been the official Club Historian since 2021.
“I got the bug straight away, and haven’t stopped going since, for better or worse,” he says.
The Rotherham defeat came two months after Davis’ first game. Less than two months later, the club was sold to Italian businessman Francesco Becchetti.
Three years, eleven managers, and two relegations later, the O’s were facing non-league football, and Becchetti sold the club to businessman Nigel Travis.
Enter Justin Edinburgh, who dragged Orient back into the Football League in 2019 at the second time of asking, before tragically passing away following a cardiac arrest less than two months later.
The West Stand was renamed in his honour the following year.
Davis says: “He was the one who got back on level footing, even more than the new owners.
“We needed something on the pitch to show that Orient were stable, and he brought us that. He had an exuberance, a confidence, he made you feel we’re going to be ok.”
A sticker honouring Orient cult hero, Omar Beckles. Photo: Tom Place
A sticker honouring Orient cult hero, Omar Beckles. Photo: Tom Place
The ownership has certainly helped, and there is confidence amongst the fans that the previous owners made the right choice in selling to new majority shareholder David Gandler in April.
“The relationship between the board and the fans is the strongest since I’ve been going, and I imagine for a lot of fans that would be the same,” says Davis.
Previous offers had been turned down, the owners wanting to pass the reins to someone they could trust to do the best for the club.
“Right from the start they wanted stability and sustainability”, says Davis.
“After the rough waters under Becchetti they wanted calm terrain - rather than going high handed from the start, they wanted the fans on board.”
“If you go back to 2014 and told us we’d be near the top of League One, not many would be surprised, but you wouldn’t have expected us to drop down to the depths of the National League.”
Davis Watson
There's Only One Orient. Photo: Tom Place
There's Only One Orient. Photo: Tom Place
Gates at the back of the East Stand at Brisbane Road. Photo: Tom Place
Gates at the back of the East Stand at Brisbane Road. Photo: Tom Place
After two midtable seasons in League Two, the club appointed Richie Wellens.
Wellens has revolutionised the club. He has identified and nurtured talent with far fewer resources than clubs that Orient have since surpassed.
“Look at the budgets in this league, Birmingham, Wrexham, Wycombe - how can you compete with that?” says Davis.
After League Two promotion and a midtable League One season, Orient narrowly fell short this season, and now find themselves at a crossroads.
Key players are out of contract, loan players are returning to their parent clubs, the budget is relatively low.
Is a rebuild on its way? Davis remains optimistic.
“The new owners give us a new opportunity - to attract better players, to build a new training ground,” he says.
“Big teams are keen to get their players to us - if you can show you’re one of the clubs who can take loan players, develop them, play them, and give them an environment to thrive in, it’s beneficial to all parties.”
“The aim will be for the playoffs again - we’ve got the momentum. This year was almost a free hit, but next year we know we can achieve it.
“It’s given us confidence, a goal to reach for that we know we are capable of - second time lucky!”
So where does Davis see Leyton Orient in five years time - on and off the pitch?
“I see us as a Championship club - we’ve got the foundations to do it now.”
“In recent years when we have got close we’ve been punching above our weight, and there’s still an element of that now - we’re not a Championship club yet in terms of facilities and finances.”
“But a squad and staff like this don’t come along often - you can see Wellens has success written in his future, beyond a doubt, and I think Orient could be the club to do that for him.”
“We’ve always been underdogs, and that’s still the case now, but to see them playing that football with such an exciting squad - this group is so exciting and young. The energy, flair, and confidence - that’s what makes it special.”
Leyton Orient are a tough club.
They embody the East End, the working class, the underdog spirit.
Orient were the first English club to enlist en masse during the First World War - three of their players lost their lives during the Battle of the Somme.
In the 1960s, amid severe financial trouble, Orient players collected money for the club, standing in the lobbies of local theatres holding buckets to raise much-needed funds.
Leyton tube station, East London. Photo: Tom Place
Leyton tube station, East London. Photo: Tom Place
They aren’t like the other London clubs - there is true sense of community between the team and it's fans.
At Brisbane Road, you are within touching distance to the pitch.
You can feel that these are your players, in your hometown.
This is a town of Alfred Hitchcock, of the Blitz.
This is a place of community.
This is Leyton Orient.
A mural featuring Omar Beckles in Warren Road, Leyton. Photo: Tom Place
A mural featuring Omar Beckles in Warren Road, Leyton. Photo: Tom Place
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