A question I regularly get asked by other fans and think about from time to time, who are the O's rivals and which club stirs our blood the most? In this article I'll be talking about who I think our rivals are from my perspective, hope you enjoy the article and comment your thoughts or if there's any clubs I've missed, let us know!
Every club has rivalries, some stronger than others, a game that means more than just 3 points or bragging rights, growing up an O I've rarely seen an atmosphere and energy as bad as something like Rangers v Celtic or West Ham v Millwall, but there are a few clubs Orient fans don't get along and share a disliking with.
The A13 Derby vs Southend United
Before the mid 90s, the two clubs didn't really have any negative feelings towards each other, at the time Southend being in Division 2 and us in Division 3 and in the years before we would be in a higher division than them, in 1998 Southend were relegated to Division Three (now League Two) and with the Seasiders main rivals Colchester United competing in Division 2/Championship at the time for over 10 years Orient were Southend's closest rivals geographically. The derby over the years was named the A13 Derby (an Inter-Regional derby) as both clubs were at the opposite end of the road which connected South Essex and East London, the distance between the O's and the Essex club is 34 miles. The first game back in 1998 ended 2-2 at Roots Hall, the first of 26 games between them within 18 years, the last being a pre season friendly in 2015 which Orient won 1-0 at Roots Hall following the Os' relegation to League Two. Out of the 26 meetings since 1998 Orient have won 13 times, drawing 8 and loosing 5.
The most heart-breaking of those 5 defeats being a defeat in the Johnston Paint Trophy Semi Final at Roots hall in March 2013, loosing a narrow game 1-0 at Brisbane Road the Seasiders went through on aggregate after drawing 2-2 at Roots hall in a game Orient should've won, the O's missing out on a winnable final against League Two Crewe Alexandra (Orient were in League One at the time). This lead to a pitch invasion by home supporters and gave it to the 1800 away supporters at full time, twice the support they brought to E10. Southend went on to lose the final 2-1 to Crewe at Wembley. It's gutting to see Southend now two divisions above us, considering how far above them we were only a few years ago, in our pitch invasion protest in our last season in the Football league, orient and Colchester sang Stand up if we hate Southend together uniting both sets of supporters, followed by the U's singing Becchetti out. The Power of Football and Rivalry. Southend are considered The O's main rivals, where Southend see them as secondary behind Colchester United (The Essex Derby).
London Lower League Cross City Derby (West-East) vs Brentford
Historically the two clubs have faced each other every couple of years but were mainly in different divisions, mainly in the Second and Third Divisions (Championship/League One) and 2 meetings in League Two and the Johnston Point Trophy. Since 2004 the rivalry has heated up with two being the closest competitive clubs, for a period of 3 years (2007-2010) Brentford were in League Two and the O's ranked higher than them. The Two London neighbours are separated by 18 miles, from West- East (Cross City), this rivalry doesn't have an official name but it probably is the most attractive London derby in the lower leagues, not saying this because I am an Orient fan. Brentford and Orient have won 5 games each, drawing three times, however Orient have beat Brentford more times in the league 5 to the Bee's 4 who won their 5th recorded win In the JPT. The most memorable recent win over Brentford was a 2-0 win at The Bee's in September 2013 live in front of the SKY Sports cameras, goals from David Mooney and Shaun Batt sealing The O's 7th consecutive win of the season after that amount of games. Then in the reverse fixture the Bee's took all 3 points from Brisbane Road with a win assisted by a poor referee again live to the nation on SKY, this result saw Brentford go above Orient into the automatic promotion places and we couldn't make up for that result and The Bee's went on to gain promotion via 2nd. I feel if we would've won that game tings would be so different now......
East London Derby vs West Ham United
Two clubs that have never really been the best of neighbours, competing against each other in the Second Division, an old east London Derby has always created a spark and an electric atmosphere. West Ham have won 15 times against The O's, most wins coming at Upton Park, Orient winning 11 and the fixture producing 6 draws. The last competitive game between the two sides was a 1-1 draw with West Ham at the Boylen in 1987, since then the clubs have been in different divisions. During the 90s the O's financial problems saw them hit the basement division League Two, in 1994 West Ham reached the Premier League and by the 2000s established themselves as a yo-yo club (a team who consistently gets relegated/promoted from the Championship). West Ham don't see the O's as their main rivals, who are the likes of Millwall, Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Crystal Palace. Both Clubs played in the pre season of 2007 at Brisbane Road, drawing 1-1.
This rivalry has always been quite a minor one, not a massive hatred involved, but in 2011 the rivalry became heated when West Ham was given the tenancy to the 2012 Olympic Stadium which is located less than a mile from Leyton Orient who were a strong force in League one at the time. Barry Hearn, former O's chairman took Hammers Owners Gold, Sullivan and Brady to court as in Football League Regulations no club can not relocate within 1.5 miles of another Football League club, former Mayors of London Ken Livingston and Boris Johnson didn't want the stadium becoming a 'white elephant' and not being regularly used so in 2014 following Orient's playoff defeat to Rotherham. West Ham secured the Tenancy and completed their move to the now called London Stadium in 2016. Its gutting seeing them down the road as now we have to share transport (tubes, busses) also pubs and pie and mash restaurants because they are not allowed in Westfield, but the move is killing their club so hopefully it continues and they end up in the Championship playing in an empty athletics stadium fighting amongst themselves like they do. Almost like Karma
I know it might look like I'm being harsh but if you look back at the comments on Twitter when Orient lost the playoff final and got relegated to the National League, West Ham fans flooded the comments with vile tweets mocking our demise. So I share no sympathy for them or Dagenham who have a strong affiliation with West Ham and who also mocked us last season on social media, many West Ham fans see Dagenham as their second club.
Our Minor Rivalries:
Dagenham & Redbridge
The merger of Dagenham (an eighth tier team) and struggling Conference team Redbridge Forest created Dagenham & Redbridge In 1992, in their first season they met Orient in the 1st round of the FA Cup, Orient winning 5-4. After a decade of 3 meetings in the FA Cup, Orient met the Daggers for the first time in a League game in 2010 when the Essex side were promoted to League one (something they never live down), Dagenham beat the O's at Victoria Road thanks to goals by future O's fan favourite Romain Vincolet but were beaten at Brisbane Road confirming their relegation back down to League Two. In 2015/16 the two teams met again in League Two, Orient winning both occasions and an 87th minute winner from Aramand Granduilet confirmed Dagenham's relegation to the Conference after 7 years In the Football League, one my phone I still have this funny mug shot of Dagenham fans smoking and downing their sorrows in booze following the final whistle. In the 2017/18 season Dagenham and Orient would meet again, failing to score against the o's in al 4 games against Orient in all competitions.
Out of the 13 meetings, Orient have won 7, Dagenham 3 and 4 Draws; I wouldn't call this a derby, I don't think any O's fan would, we've always been bigger than Dagenham they've always been a Conference team and since we've dropped into the National League they think they are bigger than us and get so hyped every time we rock up in Urban Essex. Also they like to refer themselves as an East London club which is just a stupid statement, in my opinion anything with an E postcode like E10 is East London, anything with a RM or IG postcode like Dagenham RM8 is Essex. The National League also call this fixture the East London Derby to make their tin-pot league more interesting, sorry if this is a bit of a rant I really hate Dagenham being considered part of London and on our level, I felt I just needed to get this out there. Also they have a strong link with West Ham who's fans see Dagenham as their second club, at the end of the month West Ham are playing a strong team at Dagenham to raise money for the Daggers as they have fallen on hard times financially.
In 2018, Orient brought over 1,400 to Dagenham for a league game, the official attendance was 2,900.
Brighton and Hove Albion
The clubs are worlds apart now but it wasn't as long ago these two were competing with each other, in 2011 both clubs played in League one when the Seagulls were managed by former Chelsea and Spurs midfielder Gus Poyet. Orient and Brighton aren't rivals geographically or now competitively but once upon a time these games created an intense atmosphere, a pitch invasion (on one occasion one of which was naked). I remember playing Brighton the most when they went through a series of ground shares with Gillingham back when the Albion were in League One with Orient in the 90s/2000s. Since the last meeting in 2011 Brighton reached the Premier League in 2017 and have moved into the American Express Community Stadium (AMEX).
Millwall | Colchester United
Again, much like the Brighton games it isn't really a derby but these games provide great atmospheres and classics, a 5-2 victory away at The Den back in 2007 will be a day O's fans wont forget for years to come, The O's used to meet The Lions in Second Division/League One and provided some great games, I remember soon after we built our flats in our ground Millwall fans started offering out residents and lobbing things up at them. Also the East/South London rivalry had an aspect into the game and this fixture was more of a battle of who hated West Ham more, hence the song- We hate West Ham more than you.
The Colchester United game used to be considered a derby as both clubs are situated on the opposite ends of the A12, like the Southend derby, it should be called the A12 derby but apparently that's the name for the Colchester v Ipswich Town game. The O's beat Col U at the Weston Homes Community Stadium last year, a rare victory under Alberto Cavisan as Jay Simpson lead us to a 3-1 victory, in the reverse fixture the pitch invasion delayed the game up to nearly 2 hours and saw peace restored between both sets of fans and now both clubs share a healthy, friendly relationship. Plus we both hate Southend!