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Local referee Oliver Langford has passed the Brisbane Road pitch fit for tonights derby duel between the Orient and Southend United.
BLUES
Southend will be without Alan McCormack (groin) and the suspended Peter Clarke. Lee Barnard faces a late fitness test, while Damian Scannell could make his first appearance since returning from a loan spell at Brentford.
Francis, I'm sure, will remain at centre half, where he looks a better player than he has all season at full back!
Assistant boss Paul Brush, speaking to the Southend Evening Echo, said: "We must forget all the side issues and concentrate on the pitch where it will be 11 against 11 as normal. We want to start being solid away from home and stop conceding goals in the first half of games. We had plenty of fight (at Stockport) and the players out there were proud to wear the shirts which is what we want to see. I think the supporters felt the same and that's why they stayed to the end to applaud us off."
Brushy continued about the lack of new faces with Stanislas haven gone back to the Hammers: "We thought we had a couple lined up but they've fallen through. It's frustrating but we're working incredibly hard because we know we are short of numbers and, at times, we have been preparing to only have four subs tonight."
Blues striker Alex Revell told BBC Essex: "We've got a massive couple of weeks ahead of us. We know we're good players and a good team, but it's just a matter of getting that first win [of 2009]. If think when we get that then we'll kick on from there."
The Shrimpers will again be roared on by a huge number of travelling supporters with close to 1,000 tickets having been sold before the game.
OPPOSITION
Striker Sam Parkin has returned to Luton even though his loan spell officially ended on Friday. He has been recalled by the Hatters due to their Johnstone's Paint Trophy semi-final against Brighton tonight.
Wayne Gray (cruciate knee ligament) is Orient's only major injury concern as he continues his rehabilitation.
Defender Danny Granville could be intention after recovering from a thigh injury.
| 18 | Swindon Town | 25 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 19 | 24 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 17 | 21 | 5 | 9 | 11 | 36 | 45 | 24 | -9 | ||||
| 19 | Yeovil Town | 25 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 14 | 19 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 18 | 5 | 9 | 11 | 23 | 37 | 24 | -14 | ||||
| 20 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 24 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 15 | 21 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 12 | 15 | 5 | 8 | 11 | 27 | 36 | 23 | -9 | ||||
| 21 | Leyton Orient | 25 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 18 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 16 | 5 | 7 | 13 | 19 | 34 | 22 | -15 | ||||
| 22 | Hereford United | 24 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 17 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 5 | 25 | 5 | 5 | 14 | 22 | 36 | 20 | -14 | ||||
Charlie Daniels hardly set Brisbane Road on fire when he played on loan from Spurs last season, and didn't leave Gillingham fans gagging for more during a spell there this term. However, it's a measure of Orient's currently limited ambition that left-sider Daniels was ex-manager Martin Ling's first signing in the transfer window, and further arrivals will no doubt depend on fringe players being shipped out first.
After appearing capable of crawling away from the relegation zone, largely due to centre-back Tamika Mkandawire's return to fitness and midfielder Sean Thornton looking interested again, a run of truly dire performances has plunged the O's back into trouble. They would have to win tonight to climb out of the bottom four and rise to 18th place.
Leyton Orient 1 Bristol Rovers 2 (played on Saturday January 17th)
Bristol Rovers secured their second away win of the season as they came from behind to beat Leyton Orient. Rovers had the better of a drab first half, but Orient took the lead after the break when striker Adam Boyd headed in Jason Demetriou's corner.
The Gasmen levelled when left-back Charlie Daniels lost possession and Jeff Hughes found the net 15 minutes from time. Five minutes later, Alton Thelwell gave the ball away and substitute Darryl Duffy raced clear to score.
PREVIOUSLY
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REF
The man in the middle is rookie Ollie Langford from Darlaston .
GROUND
At one end is the single tiered, South Stand (capacity 1,336 seats), that was opened in 1999. This stand replaced a former open terrace. An interesting feature of this covered area is that it is raised above pitch level, meaning that you have to climb a small set of steps at the front to reach the seating area. The old Main (East) Stand, which was originally opened in 1956, has been reduced in length, but is still a fair size. This partly covered stand is now all seated after having seating installed on the former front terrace. Unfortunately, it has several supporting pillars and the roof doesn't quite cover all of the front seating. It does though have an interesting gable on its roof which has 'Leyton Orient' proudly emblazoned across it and gives a nice link to the Club's history.
Opposite is the new West Stand which was opened for the 2005/06 season. This all seated stand which has a capacity of 2,872, has an unusual look about it, as above the seating area is a tall vertical structure that houses the Club offices. In fact to be honest it looks more like an office block that has some seats installed on a large viewing gallery, rather than a football stand. It also has some corporate hospitality areas, which look a little precarious, as the outside seating area of these overhang the lower tier. If you carry on with the office theme, then you can almost imagine these being used by the window cleaners to clean the office windows. At the very top of the stand is a fair sized viewing gallery for television cameras and press and the roof of the stand contains a lot of perspex panels to allow more light to reach the pitch.
At the North End is the ground is the most recent addition to the stadium. The North Stand was opened at the beginning of the 2007/08 season and replaced a former open terrace. This simple looking covered all seated stand, has space for 1,351 spectators and looks similar to the South Stand. The ground also has a set of four modern looking floodlight pylons
Tuesday, 20 January 2009; Peterborough v MK Dons (19.45).
BET
For all the footy odds go here: www.oddschecker.com/football/english/league-one.
TRANSPORT
A last minute decision, go on, go for it! All the maps and info you need to get to the Matchroom Stadium, Last Call to Orient here: www.thelittlegazette.com/news/loadsngl.asp?cid=EDW4&id=427705
PUB AND PIES
For a selection of the best pubs and to grab a pie go to Last Orders in Leyton here: www.thelittlegazette.com/news/loadsngl.asp?cid=EDW8&id=427708
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. 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 succesful 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 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 and now plays with the Farmers.
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.
This season has been one lost struggle, going down hill since their 3-0 defeat to the Blues at Roots Hall with Martin Ling being sacked on Sunday.