Discover all you need to know, as we focus on Barrow's trip to Leyton Orient.
Leyton Orient vs Barrow
Saturday 14th January, kick-off 3pm
Brisbane Road
Sky Bet League Two
Opposition
The Leyton Orient we know today grew from humble origins, beginning in Homerton in 1881 as Glyn Cricket Club.
Evolving many times throughout 140 years, the Club has had to overcome great obstacles. We will of course always remember the three Clapton Orient players who made the ultimate sacrifice and lost their lives in WW1; Sargeant Richard McFadden, Private William Jonas, and Private George Scott.
Orient achieved Division Three success in 1969/70 starting a fruitful decade for the club with the closing seeing them reach the semi-final of the FA Cup in 1977/78, where they would be defeated by Arsenal 3-0 at Stamford Bridge. Ipswich would go onto win the FA Cup that season in front of a packed 100,000 at the old Wembley
In more recent years, the Club suffered at the hands of bad ownership and fell out of the Football League for the first time, relegated at the end of the 2016/17 season.
Whilst the effects were felt throughout the Club, under the stewardship of new owners Eagle Investments, led by boyhood Orient fan and now Chairman Nigel Travis, the club was able to stabilise and aim to bounce back.
Under the stewardship of manager Justin Edinburgh, the O's were able to gain promotion back to the Football League at the end of the 2018-19 season, however the celebrations were short lived, as Edinburgh tragically lost his life on 8th June 2019.
In 2020, the West Stand at The Breyer Group Stadium was renamed the Justin Edinburgh Stand, in a moment of "enormous pride and excitement" for his family.
The Venue
Brisbane Road has been home to Leyton Orient since 1937, although opened in 1890 with amateur football club Leyton calling it their home prior. 34,345 attended to see Leyton Orient welcome West Ham United in the FA Cup in 1964, the highest attended the match at the stadium. Orient battled out a 1-1 draw but would later be defeated in the replay at the Boleyn.
The ground has been host to international fixtures, with the Lionesses playing the USA in from 5900 in April 2011, winning the game 2-1. It has also hosted Ghana vs Zambia in 2009 and Jamaica vs Egypt in 2014.
With a capacity of 9271, it has been an ideal home for Tottenham Hotspur’s reserves as well as England youth fixtures in the past.
Head To Head
Leyton Orient achieved success over Barrow earlier in the season with goals on either side of the half from Smyth and El Minzouni extending Leyton Orients then unbeaten run, whilst they still find themselves now top of the tree in Sky Bet League Two
With both sides victorious last weekend this sets up for a potential cracker at Brisbane Road with The Bluebirds looking to bounce back from the defeat at SO Legal Stadium earlier in the season.
Referee
The man with the whistle at Brisbane Road will be Leigh Doughty. He’ll be assisted by Craig Taylor and George Byrne; Carl Brook has been assigned to Fourth Official duties for Saturday’s fixture.
Doughty began refereeing in 2007 and was handed the play-off semi-final between Salford City and Eastleigh in the National League in 2018-19.
The Freckleton-based official, arrived in the EFL at the start of the 2019-20 season, following his promotion to the National List of Referees after just one campaign in the National League.
In what was only his second season in the EFL, Doughty was promoted to the Select Group Two group of match officials and was predominantly refereeing at the Championship level.
His first game in the EFL Championship was in September 2020, when he took charge of Rotherham United’s 1-nil defeat at home to Millwall.
Doughty’s last refereeing appointment came between Stoke City and Preston where Preston walked away with a 1-0 victory, Ched Evans scoring the only goal of the game in the last minute of the game to take all 3 points back to Lancaster.
Tickets
Prices are as follows:
Adults - £23
65+ - £21
Student with Valid ID - £21
Under 18 - £11
Tciekst can be purchased from Orient's ticket office.
Live Streaming
We are not allowed to live stream games in the UK between the hours of 2.45pm and 5.15pm on a Saturday, so this weekend’s game will not be available to domestic supporters.
Barrow fans outside of the UK will be able to access a live stream via iFollow and you can purchase the match in the usual way ahead of kick-off
Live Commentary
We will be providing live online audio commentary from every game this season as we continue our link-up with BBC Radio Cumbria.
Fans will be able to listen to Adam Johnson & England goalkeeping coach Mick Payne to describe all the action as it unfolds.
You can purchase an Audio Match Pass for £2.50, an Audio Monthly Pass for £4.49 or sign-up for Audio Season Pass which provides all live commentary and video news for just £45.