Welcome back Leyton Orient

[CambridgeDon]

I really don’t get this anti ambitious non league teams attitude.

 

I regularly read on these pages contributors wishing that our owner would put his hand in his back pocket and support the manager.

 

Yet when owners of non league clubs do this very thing, I read endless posts of derision against their actions.

 

It seems to me that we want someone to do this very thing at Vale, as long as no one else does it.

 

Move with the times. If some non league owner wants his or her team to succeed, then so be it. It would certainly be one up on our current incumbent.

 

The problem is that there are no FFP rules in the National as far as I understand, which means that upstart clubs have a massive unfair advantage. Salford, of course, are the biggest offenders reportedly paying two of their players, including Adam Rooney signed from Aberdeen, four grand a week on average gates of about 2,500. Other National team supporters are not impressed.

[Wrex]

They deliberately try to get opponents red cards by conning referees. They cheat to try and gain an advantage. Hence, joke club.

Hopefully Stevenage and Crawley will go next season.

 

Fair enough. More joke team than joke club, but we don't have to worry about playing them again for a while.

[Jacko51]

This is a wonderful piece by Luke Edwards in the Torygraph.

 

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2019/04/29/leyton-orients-joyous-football-league-return-reminder-put-torture/

 

Leyton Orient's joyous Football League return is a reminder of why we all put ourselves through the torture of fandom

 

What is the point of supporting a football club? It is a question many supporters ask themselves at this time of year, when another season comes to an end and the vast majority of them have failed to live up to expectations.

 

Why do we put ourselves through it? Why do we invest so much time and energy in something which, for the most part, only leads to disappointment and suffering?

 

This is certainly true of my relationship with Leyton Orient, that infuriating, exasperating little club in East London that both began my love affair with football and has tested my affection for it almost constantly ever since.

 

Orient are not a successful team. They tend to lose more than they win, they have a proven track record in failure.

 

Since I went to my first game in 1982, Orient have been relegated five times, lost in three play-off finals and have never progressed beyond the Fifth Round of the FA Cup. They have most certainly never played in Europe.

 

I’m not alone; this is in no way unique. This is the reality for the vast majority of supporters up and down the country who did not cherry pick a club to support on the basis of how likely they were to win trophies.

 

Even those that did find they made their choice on shifting sands. The club that is dominant in your formative football years, is highly unlikely to remain so by the time you reach your 30s.

 

Supporting a football team is about suffering far more than it is about celebrating, whether it is a near miss at the end of an exciting campaign in league or cup, or being put out of your misery at the end of a torturously bad one. Football hurts, and if it is on a sliding scale as to how much and how often, Orient are on the more extreme end of the pain.

 

Yet, there is a reason we hang in there and it is for moments like this, that joyous, incredible high you feel when they do not fail. The euphoria that comes in a moment of triumph, when you share a special glorious time with your fellow supporters, laughing, singing, chanting and cheering and, for a brief moment, forget all your other troubles in the world. And that is what happened to Orient this weekend.

 

The fact the O’s were promoted from the Vanarama National League on Saturday may have passed you by, but they did with a drab goalless draw over Braintree Town and it was brilliant.

 

A day I shall remember for the rest of my life, just as do that day in 1989 when they beat Wrexham to win promotion from the fourth tier, just as I do that sensational day in 2006, when they won 3-2 away at Oxford United to gain promotion back to the third tier after another long stay in the basement division.

 

If anything, this promotion - their first as champions since they were promoted from the old Third Division in 1970 - is the best of the lot because, two years ago, we did not even know if there would still be a club to support.

 

I am loath to give the man responsible for a collapse that took us from the brink of promotion to the Championship to relegation from the Football League for the first time - a new low - just three years later a mention, but in every good story there has to be a villain so, to Francesco Becchetti, the Italian businessman who almost broke our spirit, as well as our club, this promotion is the final nail in the coffin of your reputation. You deserve your place in the ever expanding rogues gallery of disastrous, spiteful owners who should never have been allowed anywhere near running a football club. This is the end for you, you are forgotten.

 

This is to Nigel Travis, the lifelong fan and Kent Teague, the businessman from Texas who agreed to help him buy a club that was on the brink of going out of business two years ago. You saved Leyton Orient, but more than that, you have nurtured it, lovingly and caringly, back to health. Thank you.

 

This is to Justin Edinburgh, the former Tottenham player who, as manager, has guided the team to only the third promotion in my lifetime. Thank you.

 

This is to the players, superbly led by captain Jobi McAnuff, who at the age of 36, returned to Orient last season because he felt he had failed in his first spell at the club. You, along with the rest of the squad, have been amazing. You never gave up and that is all any supporter really asks. Thank you.

 

This is to my uncle Simon. You saw them go up again, when you were so ill, you didn’t even know if you would see the end of the season. I love you and keep fighting.

 

And this is to every fan. There is and always will be only one Orient. So be proud, be happy and enjoy it. Up the O’s.

[ramsgate valiant]

I am also pleased that Orient are back. They are a proper traditional club and i have always enjoyed watching games there. They are also only 35 minutes away from me so it's another nice little journey to see the Vale.

 

i am also pleased for more southern fixtures,maybe Southend will join

us as well.

[darren1810]

i am also pleased for more southern fixtures,maybe Southend will join

us as well.

 

Happy for a London club to be in, Sarfend, no thanks !!!

[Essex Vale]

I agree that the article by Luke Edwards captures the thoughts of so many of us. That is why I referred to Orient as a proper club.

 

I wish no ill on Southend but it would be great for me to see Vale play there, another nearby game. Southend , in the summer, is a good day out Darren.

[TheSage]

I think we can all emphasise with lower league supporters and share what Orient must have gone through.

With so many ex league clubs (over 20) marooned in the National League or below it must be a frightening prospect thinking that you'll never get back "to where you belong" ever again.

Pleased for them.

 

Selfishly I'd much prefer the likes of Solihull or Salford to come up but I don't live in the south-east so it must be a real bonus for those who do to be able to get to an away match within an hour, M25 permitting.

[Seamus O'Wye]

I'm sure many Vale fans have kept their eye on their progress and success this season, and their well-deserved promotion gives us a London weekend away to look forward to. Let's face it, we weren't that far off swapping places with them!

As the writer suggests, the tedious tripe we have to endure on a regular basis, makes the successful days/seasons all the more enjoyable and worth celebrating.

[TheSage]

Just an extra thought.

 

I've always enjoyed visiting these traditional football grounds over and above the Meccano/Lego modern 8,000 seater stadiums. I know they have their merits but there's something special about going to a ground that's been there for donkey's years and got some history and traditions, poor though the bogs might be and your view blocked by a pillar.

 

My favourite football club ground (the Vale excluded) is I think Aldershot. A proper place!

[philmpv]

The problem is that there are no FFP rules in the National as far as I understand, which means that upstart clubs have a massive unfair advantage. Salford, of course, are the biggest offenders reportedly paying two of their players, including Adam Rooney signed from Aberdeen, four grand a week on average gates of about 2,500. Other National team supporters are not impressed.

 

I could be completely wrong here but, if they are paying and living well beyond their means, won't that mean that they would be immediately in breach of the FFP rules should they gain promotion to the league?

[points-with-bone]

Good on the O's return

 

Myself and daughter number two saw them get tonked at home by Northampton in their 'out-of-the-football leagues' year, which was sad to see

 

However, I see that Tony Blair [remember him?] today has said that Brexit might just push Scotland into voting for independence and his solution to stop this is that we should amalgamate the English and Scottish football leagues

 

That'd chuck up some 'interesting' potential new fixtures

 

Plymouth versus Ross would be a delight for away fans on a Tuesday night

 

Points-with-Bone

[Aussie Rules]

This is a wonderful piece by Luke Edwards in the Torygraph.

 

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2019/04/29/leyton-orients-joyous-football-league-return-reminder-put-torture/

 

...I am loath to give the man responsible for a collapse that took us from the brink of promotion to the Championship to relegation from the Football League for the first time - a new low - just three years later a mention, but in every good story there has to be a villain so, to Francesco Becchetti, the Italian businessman who almost broke our spirit, as well as our club, this promotion is the final nail in the coffin of your reputation. You deserve your place in the ever expanding rogues gallery of disastrous, spiteful owners who should never have been allowed anywhere near running a football club. This is the end for you, you are forgotten...

 

Aup Jean, I think I've read a similar narrative in the Hamil Chronicles

 

Great article btw..

[CambridgeDon]

I could be completely wrong here but, if they are paying and living well beyond their means, won't that mean that they would be immediately in breach of the FFP rules should they gain promotion to the league?

 

Yes, I think you are right. I listened to a non-league supporter explaining this on a blog (which I can't find now) and he said it would be a major problem for them. Don't know how they could get round it.

[CambridgeDon]

i am also pleased for more southern fixtures,maybe Southend will join

us as well.

 

Not so sure they will...it was reported tonight that their ground was on fire!

 

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1121055/southend-united-fire-football-ground-essex-shrimpers

[LancyTony]

Sorry - can't join in this lovefest for Orient. Loathed them since the days of their ex-Chairman Barry Hearn's reign. For obvious reasons, I would always want to see more local teams in our Leagues. Just my opinion - to which I am entitled!!