Full name | Leyton Orient Football Club |
---|---|
Nickname(s) | The O's, Orient |
Founded | 1881 (as Eagle Cricket Club) |
Ground | Brisbane Road |
Capacity | 9,271 |
Chairman | Nigel Travis |
Manager | Justin Edinburgh |
League | National League |
2016–17 | League Two, 24th of 24 (relegated) |
Website | Club website |
Leyton Orient Football Club /ˌleɪtən ˈɔːriənt/ is a professional football club in Leyton, London, England. They play in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system, following relegation from the Football League in the 2016–17 season. They are known to their fans as the O's, and club's home colours are all red.
Leyton Orient have spent one season in the top flight of English football, in 1962–63. In 1978, they reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup for the only time in their history, under the management of Jimmy Bloomfield. Between October 1993 and September 1995, Orient did not win a single away game in the league, leaving them bottom of Division Two in 1994–95.
Leyton Orient's home ground Brisbane Road is officially known as the Matchroom Stadium after former club chairman Barry Hearn's sports promotion company. Hearn became chairman in 1995 after the club was put on sale for £5 by then-chairman Tony Wood, a period covered by the television documentary Orient: Club for a Fiver, made by production company Open Media for Channel 4. In 2014, Hearn sold the club to Italian businessman Francesco Becchetti, who achieved two relegations in three years under 11 managers. British-born businessman and Leyton Orient fan Nigel Travis took over the club in 2017.