Some may not know this, but for four years I have been a supporter of the East London football club Leyton Orient. This last Saturday a win for Leyton Orient and loss for title competitors Stevenage would lead to the O’s first title in 53 years. Leyton Orient would play Crewe Alexandra at home whilst Stevenage would play Mansfield away.
I go to Leyton Orient games with one of my friends and as we arrived at Leyton station we made our predictions. I said 2-1 Leyton Orient and he said 1-0. As we walked through Coronation Gardens, past the statue of iconic wing wizard Laurie Cunningham, we did not know what lay ahead of us on this most crucial of days. We walked around to the club shop to the sight of a large queue of Orient fans-all adorned with red and white scarves after being asked by manager Richie Wellens to do so after the O’s gained promotion. As we grew closer the reason for this became clear as we heard talk that Scottish winger Theo Archibald would be making an appearance inside. After looking through new promotion merchandise (the O’s were promoted in their last game) we headed towards our seats in the stand of the Brisbane road stadium which is on Brisbane road.
The view from our seats was incredible, almost in line with the half-way line with a great view of both ends. After half an hour’s wait the match began, with Orient fans in rapture singing “We are going up” with scarves being whipped about; a true joyous occasion. After having a chance saved and a penalty appeal denied, the noise of the Orient fans grew to fever pitch as news came in that Mansfield had gone 1-0 up versus Stevenage. Chances ensued for both sides but the first half ended 0-0, not enough to make the hosts champions.
The second half began, and Leyton Orient continued to dominate and as Paul Smyth slipped a pass inside veteran midfielder Darren Pratley put his body on the line and went down under pressure from a Crewe defender. PENALTY!!!! Up stepped George Moncur (a man whom I have never seen miss a penalty) and he slotted it into the bottom left corner, sending the Crewe goalkeeper the wrong way. As it stood, Leyton Orient would win the league. The crowd’s volume continued to rise and “Championes, Championes, Ole Ole Ole” echoed around Brisbane Road. I resisted the singing, what with me also being a lifelong Liverpool fan and knowing of title heartache and karma to those who sing this before its affirmation. Soon after Wellens made a change which would continue to put the tide in Orient’s favour as Ipswich loanee Idris El Mizouni came off to a chorus of “Don’t leave Idris” to be replaced by young midfielder Jordan Brown.
Brown’s impact was instant pressing in the midfield and clearing up at the back but it was another Leyton Orient player who surpassed expectations soon after. As Crewe launched a long ball up from the back, Scottish centre-half James McCart (who was stepping in for the suspended Omar Beckles) mistimed his jump to clear it and the ball sailed over his head and fell to Crewe Alexandra forward Chris Long. Long let the ball bounce in front of him before striking it goalward. Little did he know that as he watched the ball settle for him to strike, Orient shotstopper Lawrence Vigouroux rushed off his line and as Long’s shot looked to be going past him he performed an unbelievable stop clawing it back from behind his head at full stretch before McCart rushed in and cleared. With the Stevenage score unchanged, this act of heroism spurred on the Orient fans and the number of those singing grew around the stadium, seemingly certain that the title would be ours.
As the game progressed, Leyton Orient continued to create chance after chance to no avail. That was, of course, until Jordan Brown completed his act of heroism, sending a ball over the top of the Crewe defence for American striker Charlie Kelman to chase. This may seem to be a mundane act but it caused havoc in the Crewe backline as goalkeeper Dave Richards sprinted to the edge of the box to try and volley the ball away. This would have worked too, but a slight moment of hesitation after seeing a teammate (who was chasing Kelman) run in line with where he would try to clear it. Richards’ swung out his leg to clear, but kicked over the top of the ball, Kelman accelerated ahead of his marker, latching on to the ball and tapping it into the (now empty) net. 2-0 to Leyton Orient with just under a quarter of an hour remaining. The Leyton Orient fans erupted, any doubt of their Champion status eradicated.
The game continued the way it had been throughout with the O’s continuing dominance seemingly set in stone. Now when I mentioned earlier that Orient manager Richie Wellens asked all home supporters to bring their scarves. I too was intrigued but thought nothing of it. That was until the additional time was announced (four minutes added on) as Wellens turned his back to the game, walked back to the dugout and picked up his own scarf and began whirling it around in the air. This incited the same reaction from the fans who began bouncing up and down, whirling their scarves above their heads in accordance with their manager. This is one of the greatest shows of unity with a club, its manager and its fans, all bouncing around enjoying the special day as one; undivided.
As the full time whistle grew closer I noticed more and more home fans funnelling towards the pitch. This of course could mean only one thing. A post-match pitch invasion/celebration on the field. The full time whistle was blown, the stadium practically erupted and just fifteen seconds after the game had been playing, fans began to run onto the pitch to celebrate, to no protest from stewards or security. After the first rush had gone on, my friend and I took our chance and walked onto the pitch at Brisbane Road. Even now this seems surreal, fans began hugging each other and celebrating as one community. We videoed, sang and partied on the field for a good five minutes until a new burst of cheering began and Queen’s ‘We are the Champions’ came blaring out of the speakers. Stevenage had lost. Leyton Orient for the first time in over half a century had won a league title.
As I am writing this I still don’t know how long we spent on the pitch, it could have been half an hour, it could have been fifteen minutes but it was time enough to take in what was going on. The one connection between the thousands of strangers on the field had brought them together as though they were old friends. Younger fans tried scoring penalties with beach balls, whilst the more experienced tried to draw closer to get a glimpse of the players celebrating on the edge of the field.
As we left the stadium, my friend and I only then took in what had just happened. That we had stepped onto the hallowed turf upon which our team play our home games. Supporting Leyton Orient has taught me many things about football and it has been an honour to watch them turn around their fortunes from being a team who were always just about safe from the drop to being far and away the best team in the league. My throat hasn’t fully recovered from all of the shouting and cheering, singing and celebrating at the match on Saturday. This is what football is all about fans coming together (most time metaphorically but this time literally) to celebrate their club. Bigger teams may not be able to replicate what happened post-match at Brisbane Road, mainly because damage to people or property was seemingly inevitable. This experience will stay with me throughout my life as a memory of what football is meant to feel like.
Come on you O’s!
By Jake MacLeod
Comments