Leyton Orient

Ground: Brisbane Road

Visits: 1

Date: 29th December 2023

Match: Leyton Orient - Wycombe 0-0 (League 1)

Attendance: 8 648

For various reasons I have not been to England since February 2022. With the last weekend of 2023 offering the chance to visit Leyton Orient, my only remaining ground in League 1, I decided it was finally time to head back to England. Apart from Leyton Orient I would also visit the derby in National League South between Dartford and Welling. My journey to London started on Thursday afternoon as my SAS flight left Copenhagen and after a minor delay I landed at Heathrow around 16.30. Since my last visit to London the new Elizabeth line has opened and it is now possible to go direct from Heathrow to central and eastern London. With hotel prices being sky high I looked at hotels away from the worst tourist areas and in the end I booked a Premier Inn in Farringdon. With Farringdon being a stop on the Elizabeth line it was an easy journey from Heathrow to the hotel.

With Friday being a working day, although plenty of people seem to be off work, kick-off was not until 19.45. I started the day with getting the tube to Leyton from where I made the relatively short walk to Brisbane Road, the home of Leyton Orient. I was actually at Brisbane Road in January 2009 for the FA-Cup game between Leyton Orient and Sheffield United. 90 minutes prior to kick-off that game was called off due to a frozen pitch and I had to hurry to another game. With the temperature being around +10 °C there was no risk of a frozen pitch this time around though. I took a few exterior pictures before going to Westminster and Big Ben. It was more than 20 years ago since I was last there and I thought I could go back to have a look. The roads and pavements around Westminster were packed with tourists and I promised myself this was to be my last visit to this crowded part of London! After my visit to Westminster I headed to London Bridge where I had lunch with my friends Daniel and Romina who are in London for five matches around the New Year.

After a short rest at my hotel I headed back to Brisbane Road and with home tickets being almost sold-out I was looking forward to a great night under the lights. Brisbane Road itself is a great ground with four separate all-seated stands and a total capacity of around 9,200. The impressive main stand is named after former manager Justin Edinburgh who tragically died, aged 49, in 2019. My seat was in the South Stand and from there I had a good view of the action. Wycombe brought 1,019 fans to Brisbane Road tonight and those fans were in the East Stand to my right. The total attendance was 8,648 but it was to be a disappointing evening for those of us present. Wycombe didn't have a shot on target during the game and Leyton Orient were only marginally better. It deservedly ended 0-0, not the result I wanted but at least I have now re-completed League 1 and thereby the top three divisions in England. The ride back to my hotel went smoothly and once there I quickly fell asleep.