With just a few weeks until the UK officially leaves the EU, allegedly, perhaps, maybe, and with uncertainty about who, including footballers, will be able to move here, I thought it was worth taking a look at all the ‘talent’ that Orient has recruited over the years from our European partners and what we might potentially be missing out on.
NOTE: I’ve tried to select only one player from each country to maximise diversity and my choices deliberately reflect some of the best and worst recruits from years gone by]
GK: Marek Stech – Czech Republic
Two appearances as cover for Jamie Jones during a short-term loan from West Ham in the latter part of the 2011-12 season. The stopper then moved to Yeovil, before returning to the Czech Republic to play for Sparta Prague. He's now back in the UK at Luton Town in League 1.
RB: Jason Demetriou – Cyprus
OK – he was born in Newham. But he chose to represent Cyprus at international level. After graduating from the Brisbane Road youth ranks he made his debut in 2006, at the age of 18.
He went on to make over 170 appearances and score 12 goals for the Os over the next 4 seasons. Despite being linked with English clubs in the higher divisions, he stayed with the Os before moving to AEK Larnaca in order to stand a better chance of playing international football.
After 3 years with Larnaca he moved to Anorthis Famagusta where he stayed for two years before returning to England to sign for Walsall. After less than a year at the Bescot Stadium he moved to Southend where he still plies his trade. Originally a winger for the Os, he now tends to operate at right back for the Shrimpers and Cyprus.
CB: Jens Janse – Netherlands
Signed with what seemed like a reasonable record in Italy's Series B but a catalogue of errors suggested he was ill-suited to the rough and tumble of League 2. A goal at Blackpool on our last day in the football league prompted the creation of an “I was there when Jens Janse scored” t-shirt.
CB: Terry Mancini – Republic of Ireland
A legendary Irish centre-half who made well over 150 appearances for the Os between 1967 and 1971. Mancini started at Watford before a spell in South Africa with Port Elizabeth City.
After 4 years with the Os, including winning Division 3 in 69-70, he moved on to QPR and then Arsenal. Other stints include Aldershot, Barnet and Los Angeles Aztecs in the twilight of his career.
Mancini made five appearances for the Republic of Ireland, occasional featured as a presenter on the Big Match and spent a few years as a coach. Now, Mancini works in the travel industry.
LB: Andrea Dossena – Italy
Liverpool, Napoli, Sunderland, then, most importantly, Leyton Orient! Eyebrows were raised when the Italian signed for the Os in 2014 but, honestly, nobody could have cared less when he departed at the end of the season.
RM: Wim Walschaerts – Belgium
The tough tackling Belgian was a popular figure at Brisbane Road between 1998 and 2001 – winning the fans Player of the Year award in his first season with the O's. He was signed by Tommy Taylor on a Bosman from KFC Tielen in the Belgian 2nd division and went on to make 125 appearances, scoring 9 goals.
Walschaerts formed a very solid partnership with the diminutive right-back Matt Joseph which helped take the Os to the play-off final in Cardiff in 2001. Wim was released following the final and he returned to Belgium, playing for a number of clubs before retiring in 2010. Lately rumoured to be considering a career in politics in his homeland.
CM: Ahmet Brkvic – Croatia
A skilful and classy midfielder, the Croatian joined the Os in 1999 after five seasons in Croatia with his hometown club Dubrovnik. In his 2 years with Orient he made over 80 appearances, scoring 9 goals, and helped the O's to a 3rd Division play-off final at Cardiff, where he came on in the second half. After his contract expired he moved on to Luton Town and helped them to promotion to the Championship in 2004-05 before finishing his career at Millwall.
CM: Zan Benededić– Slovenia
Another signing that epitomised the insanity of the Becchetti era. Arriving at Orient after graduating from the AC Milan youth academy, Benededic had a brief loan spell at Leeds and 16 appearances in Serie B.
Departing the club at the end of the season, the Slovenian made a two minute appearance as a sub at Hartlepool in the league and 81 minutes in the Checkatrade trophy against Brighton under-23s. Remarkably now playing in the Slovenian 1st Division with Celje and has featured for his national under 21 side.
LM: Sandro Semedo – Portugal
The magnificently named Sandro Emanuel Goncalves dos Reis Pires Semedo was actually born in Guinea-Bissau but qualified to play for Portugal through his parents. After playing for various youth set-ups in Portugal he moved to the UK, spending time with Stoke and Colchester before moving to the Orient academy in 2013.
Semedo made his debut in July 2015, aged 17, and after loans with Welling United and Chelmsford City went on to make almost 50 appearances for the O's during the tumultuous Becchetti era. Sandro was one of the youngsters who formed the mainstay of the team during the catastrophic 2016-17 campaign, memorably scoring a last-minute winner away to Plymouth that briefly rekindled hopes of avoiding the drop out of the football league.
After following his old Orient boss, Alberto Cavasin, to Santarcangelo in the Italian Serie C he was last spotted scoring for Zimbru Chişinău in the Moldovan first division.
ST: Amara Simba – France
The veteran striker joined the Os in 1998 at the age of 37 after training with the club to keep fit whilst on holiday in London. His signing was quite a coup given his track record – having played for PSG, Monaco, Caen and Lille in Ligue 1.
Born in Senegal, but electing to play for France, Simba earned three caps and scoring once before injury prevented him from playing in Euro 1992. After leaving France he spent two years playing in Mexico for Club Leon before returning to Europe and spending an unlikely stint at Brisbane Road.
A classy forward who did things with the ball that were hardly seen in the Third Division, Simba made almost 40 appearances for the Os and scored some crucial goals on the way to the play-off final against Scunthorpe in 1999.
Simba left the Os in 2000 and signed for Kingstonian – helping them to victory in the FA Trophy final at Wembley. After brief spells in non-league with Kettering, Barnet, St Albans and Billericay he finally retired in 2002 at the grand old age of 41.
ST: Adrian Patulea – Romania
The colourful Romanian arrived at the Os in the summer of 2009 after a successful season with Lincoln City in League 2. However, after a reasonable first season at Brisbane Road a change of manager saw his first team chances limited and, after a spell on loan with Hayes & Yeading, he left by mutual consent in January 2011, then signing for Hereford.
From there the striker returned home to Romania and yo-yo’ed between there and the Cypriot leagues – scoring an impressive amount of goals for several clubs in the process. Currently hitting the onion bag fairly regularly for Omonia Aradippou in the Cypriot 2nd Division.
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