VENUE #79 LEYTON ORIENT Matchroom Stadium, Brisbane Road

SKY BET LEAGUE TWO

Saturday 15th October 2016

@Matchroom Stadium
Brisbane Road, London

Ground Capacity:-  9,271

Kick Off:- 15:00

Entry Fee:-  £22

Programme:-  3.00

Venue 79

      As usual used the train to get to this venue catching the Birmingham train into London's Euston station and fumbling around the underground system to arrive at Leyton which is only a 5 to 10 minute walk away from the ground.  As you leave Leyton station turn right along high road and cross the road at the pedestrian lights and carry on straight up until you come to Buckingham road then turn left and take the first right into Brisbane road and the ground is on your left hand side.

     The stadium seems typical of the London grounds encased in buildings these ones being flats that run around the two ends of the ground, it may be a way of raising capital to update the place but for me it doesn't look like a football ground more like an housing estate or part of                                                                                     one.

     The ground, which many fans still refer to as its original name of Brisbane Road has seen a lot of re-development in recent years, with the construction of three new stands. Finance for this has chiefly come from the proceeds of selling part of the Brisbane Road site to a property developer. In this ground breaking development, the corners of the ground have been filled with blocks of residential apartments, which certainly gives the stadium a unique look. Some other clubs are looking at the scheme with interest and I wouldn't be surprised to see something similar take place at another league ground at some point in the future.

     At one end is the single tiered, Tommy Johnston (South) Stand (capacity 1,336 seats), that was opened in 1999. This stand replaced a former open terrace and is named after the club's leading all time goal scorer. An interesting feature of this covered area is that it is raised above pitch level, meaning that you have to climb a small set of steps at the front to reach the seating area. The old Main (East) Stand, which was originally opened in 1956, has been reduced in

length, but is still a fair size.  This partly covered stand is now all seated after having seating installed on the former front terrace. Unfortunately, it has several supporting pillars and the roof doesn't quite cover all of the front seating. It does though have an interesting gable on its roof which has 'Leyton Orient' proudly emblazoned across it and gives a nice link to the Club's history. 

     Opposite is the new West Stand which was opened for the 2005/06 season. This all seated stand which has a capacity of 2,872, has an unusual look about it, as above the seating area is a tall vertical structure that houses the Club offices. In fact to be honest it looks more like an office block that has some seats installed on a large viewing gallery, rather than a football stand. It also has some corporate hospitality areas, which look a little precarious, as the outside seating area of these overhang the lower tier. If you carry on with the office theme, then you can almost imagine these being used by the window cleaners to clean the office windows. At the very top of the stand is a fair sized viewing gallery for television cameras and press and the roof of the stand contains a lot of perspex panels to allow more light to reach the pitch.

     At the North End is the ground is the most recent addition to the stadium. The North Stand was opened at the beginning of the 2007/08 season and replaced a former open terrace. This simple looking covered all seated stand, has space for 1,351 spectators and looks similar to the Tommy Johnston Stand. The ground also has a set of four modern looking floodlight pylons.

LEYTON ORIENT ... 1   LUTON TOWN ... 2

     I remember a couple of years ago when I visited Luton's Kenilworth Road ground when they played Braintree and needed a win to secure a place in league football once again but things didn't go to plan as they lost the game by 3 goals to 2 but got they're well deserved promotion within the week anyway.  The crowd that day was electric as they were today, the Luton fans can't half generate some noise.

     Both sides missed easy chances early on Ollie Palmer from six yards when it was easier to score and Cameron McGeehan got on the end of a Jordan Cook free kick only to be foiled by Alex Cisak in the Orient goal.

     But it was McGeehan who opened the scoring on the half hour when Jack Marriott won the ball from Jay Simpson in the Orient half his shot was blocked by Cisak but ran cruelly to McGeehan to slot home from six yards.

     Orient were looking for a way back into the game in the second half but fell further behind in the 74th minute when Jack Marriot and Danny Hylton combined to create a chance for Hylton to smash the ball into the centre of the net from twelve yards.

     Ollie Palmer raised the hopes of the home faithful five minutes later when he hit the ball from the right side of the Luton penalty area across the goal and in of the far post but it was a mere consolation as the Hatters held on for victory quite comfortably in the end.

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