Leyton Orient

A cricket team gave Leyton Orient its first shape. What began in 1881 as Glyn Cricket Club became Eagle Cricket Club five years later, and only in 1888 did the players turn to football, taking the name of the shipping line one of their number worked for, Orient Steam Navigation Company. The Clapton name followed in 1898, tied to the district the club then called home, before the postwar years settled it as Leyton Orient in 1945. A brief, unloved spell as plain Orient F.C. came in 1966, forced by financial trouble and the merging of local boroughs, and it lasted until 1987, when supporters pushed for the old name back.

Brisbane Road, now carrying the sponsored name BetWright Stadium, holds 9,271 and has stayed the club's home through all of that renaming. The O's, as they are known, play in red.

Silverware has come in short, sharp bursts rather than long reigns: the Third Division title in 1969–70, promotion via the League Two championship in 2022–23, and the National League crown in 2018–19, the same season Orient reached the FA Trophy final. The deepest FA Cup run remains the semi-final of 1977–78, still the club's high-water mark in that competition. Laurie Cunningham began his career at Orient before his move to West Bromwich Albion and Real Madrid, and before becoming the first Black player capped by England.

Rivalries have shifted with the fixture list more than tradition dictates. West Ham United supplies the East London derby, and Dagenham & Redbridge often gets folded into that same rivalry, but it is Southend United, met in what fans call the A13 derby, that carries the sharper edge in recent seasons. Charlton Athletic has added fresh grievance to old history, Orient's supporters still carrying the sting of the 2025 League One play-off final defeat.