Following Saturday’s thrilling 3-2 victory over Maidenhead United, FC Halifax Town are now gearing up for the return of the midweek fixtures, this time in the form of a trip to Leyton Orient.
Goals from Adam Morgan and a brace from the returning Matty Kosylo were just enough to seal the three points at the MBi Shay Stadium, leaving Town currently on a five-match unbeaten run before what is arguably their toughest fixture so far.
Considering the trip to the Matchroom Stadium, here are ten things you may not have known about our hosts for the evening:
- Leyton Orient FC were formed back in 1881 as Eagle Cricket Club. They had several name changes including Orient Football Club in 1888 and Clapham Orient ten years later, until identifying as their current name after the Second World War.
- Orient sat 24th in the list of oldest Football League clubs before their relegation last season, being 136 years old.
- Their relegation to the Vanarama National League for the 2017/18 season ended a 112 year stay in the Football League.
- Orient have played their home games at Brisbane Road, known as the Matchroom Stadium for sponsorship reasons, since the 1937/38 season. Their previous home ground was Lea Bridge Stadium, used between 1930 and 1937 when the club identified as Clapham Orient.
- The sponsorship of Brisbane Road was brought in by former club chairman Barry Hearn, who took over in 1995. As the owner of Matchroom Sport, it made sense to promote his own company through the stadium.
- Hearn spent nineteen years as chairman of the club, before stepping down in 2014. His takeover was documented in Channel 4’s Orient: Club for a Fiver, after the previous owner, Tony Wood, put the club on sale for £5.
- Following Hearn’s departure, Italian businessman Francesco Becchetti took over in time for the 2014/15 League 1 season. It turned out to be disastrous for Orient, as three different managers took charge before December 2014, and the club saw themselves relegated at the end of the season.
- In the previous season, The O’s enjoyed a twelve-game unbeaten start to the season. With eight wins in a row, two draws and then a further two wins leaving them top of the table before losing to Coventry in mid-October 2013. They finished third by the end of the season, and eventually lost to Rotherham United in the play-off final on penalties.
- The club have spent just the one season in the top flight of English football back in the 1962/63 season. They finished bottom out of the 22 teams competing in the old First Division, relegated along with Manchester City. That season, the Shaymen were relegated from the Third Division.
- Orient’s squad includes former Premier League player Jobi McAnuff, who featured in the top flight with Reading during the 2012/13 season. Before that, he had also featured in the Premier League with Wimbledon and West Ham United as well as playing predominantly in the Championship with the likes of Cardiff City and Watford.
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