It’s five years ago this week since fans of Leyton Orient and Blackpool were united in protest against the owners of their respective clubs.
Hundreds of Leyton Orient and Blackpool fans gathered together at Leyton’s Birkbeck Tavern to stand up for how their clubs are being run by their respective owners.
Marching down the streets through the borough along Oliver Road to the Matchroom Stadium both sets of fans chanted ‘we want our clubs back.’
A lifelong O’s fan, who spoke to the Waltham Forest Guardian, said it was the first time in 43 years he had saw a fan protest of this calibre.
Another Orient supporter Gary Graham said: “I have been going to Brisbane Road since 1968 and I will never go back to the ground again until Francesco Becchetti is gone.
“He is destroying 130 years of history. It is as simple as that. If we fall out of the league we won’t come back, that will be it.”
It has been a rough start to the campaign with the O’s only managing to record five wins in League Two.
The LOFT fan trust have said one of their main concerns is how owner Francesco Becchetti has spent the £6million he originally invested into the club.
‘Stand up for the Orient and ‘we want Oyston out’ were also a part of the chants.
“It is not about getting Becchetti out, it is about him letting the managers and the players do their job,” said Orient fan Christine Dewis who took part in the march.
“We want Orient back to what it was and eight managers in two years, that must be some sort of record.”
The Guardian asked Orient for a comment and their response was they would not be issuing a statement at this moment in time.
In the 18th minute of the game fans around the ground sang and stood to mark when the club was established in 1881.
The O’s went on to lose 2-1 to Blackpool in what was their eighth home defeat of the season.
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