Orient Revival

After five years in mothballs I got the understandable urge to revive the blog I used to write about Orient. Back in 2012 I’d found it difficult to find things to write about every week and instead of being enjoyable it became a bit of the chore that I didn’t look forward to anymore. If that isn’t the perfect segue into Leyton Orient in 2017 I don’t know what is. Plenty to talk about and twitter isn’t quite enough to express it.

In the briefest of moments on Wednesday night possibly one of the most important decisions in Leyton Orient’s history was taken via a show of hands by 200 supporters. The Ex-Servicemens Club in Leytonstone was an appropriate venue for a club with a proud history both on and off the pitch.

Contradictorily, the decision appeared to be a no brainer but was based on trying to guess the next move of the predictably unpredictable Francesco Becchetti. It was also a decision not to be taken lightly as it affected not only the 200 Leyton Orient Fans Trust members present and the wider support. Leyton Orient still employ a number of excellent staff who have continued working in the club’s best interests under extreme conditions for the last 2 and a half years. Just as they have a duty of care towards the club, so the fans owe them a duty of care when taking decisions that could affect their employment and lives. The Trust have put in incredible hard work to understand the situation the club is in and explore the options available to the fans. Those fans owe them gratitude and constructive contributions.

Ultimately the Trust felt it was left with no other option. Personally I was relieved that there were options that could help to keep the club alive. The idea that Becchetti could decide to cut his losses, not attend the hearing and allow the club to be liquidated was scary to say the least. That scenario is entirely possible if he has decided that he isn’t going to find a buyer willing to meet his terms and isn’t prepared to put any more money into the club. The news that LOFT and other shareholders can try to convince the court to appoint an administrator who could sell the club to new investors was more important than the pledge by Waltham Forest Council about the future of the ground.

Orient’s creditors would also be able to make their own representations to the court. The nature of their submissions would depend on whether they believe their financial interests are best served by the club continuing or for it to be liquidated and its assets sold to service the debts. I don’t know whether the court would entertain any submission from the biggest creditor in all but name – Francesco Becchetti.

All of this would only come to pass in the event that Becchetti does not appear in court to either pay the tax bill or seek an extension to allow himself the time to do so. No one knows exactly how likely that is. I think that Becchetti is the only one who can put a convincing case to the court that it would be worth their while adjourning the case to a later date. Any appeal for a delay by LOFT would give the impression that talk of potential investors hasn’t got any further than that – just talk. It is clear to me that LOFT cannot afford to be sitting on its hands should the winding up petition not be contested because by then it would be too late, there would be no club to save.

One of the side-shows at the LOFT meeting was on the point of points. We all want a viable football club playing at the highest possible level. A phoenix club starting from scratch after liquidation could find itself as low as the Essex Senior League, with a rubbish name like AFC Orient. There are no guarantees it would even get off the ground, let alone come back up the leagues. If it goes into administration Leyton Orient could have 12 points deducted this season or next season or face multiple deductions as it goes in and out of administration. It would still exist to try to win the points back on the pitch. It would still exist to employ people and we’d still have a team to watch at Blackpool in May and AFC Fylde in 2017/18.

The Fans Trust cannot afford to allow the current situation on the pitch to affect thinking about the long term future of the Club. A decision on administration must be taken at the right time to ensure the club continues and that needs to be the only consideration. The club can still survive if it is relegated to the National League but not if it has been condemned to the history books.

Every step that is taken now is based on an assessment of the risk of doing something compared to the risk of doing nothing. We can’t sit and hope any more, everyone must, together, stand up for the Orient.