O look who it is

Our season preview continues with the team that stopped us getting to Wembley in May

Jul 15, 2025

Tuesday 15 July 2025

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THE SCARF MY FATHER WORE 2025-26 CALENDAR: Having been to all 56 County games this season, I’ve taken thousands of photos. I’ve put together calendars for next season, featuring some of my favourite photos from the last year, plus some other County bits and bobs. £10 each. Get in touch if you’d like one.

Dear County fans, Stopfordians, Leyton Orient supporters, and anyone else from The Football Family joining us today, a very warm welcome to your Tuesday edition of The Scarf My Father Wore.

Aynsley Taylor from The Leyton Orientear joins us today, offering his thoughts on how the O’s might respond following their Wembley heartbreak in May.

Today’s edition is sponsored by Mark Diamond and Andrew Smirthwaite from The Agency UK. A big thank you to both!

Finally, I’m currently walking every street in Stockport to raise money for mental health charity Mentell. If you’d like to make a donation to help me reach my target, please click here.

Total distance so far: 253.75 miles

Total steps so far: 418,084

Total raised so far: £2,312

Total completed streets so far: 474 (Click here for the full list, which includes reports and photos from every day of the walk.)

Further information on the walk can be found by clicking here.

Des Junior

The O’s beat County on penalties in May to reach the League One play-off final (Photo credit: Leyton Orient FC)

Last win at our place: Saturday 19 September 2009, League One, 2-1

Last win at their place: Saturday 1 February 2025, League One, 1-0

Today’s Ladbrokes title/promotion odds: County: 12/1 7/2 Leyton Orient: 25/1 8/1

Top story in the local news today: ‘Hunt underway for attacker after boy, 17, attacked in Leyton’

Huddersfield away on the opening day. Burton at home on the final day. Thoughts?

If we win up at Huddersfield then something magical might happen this season. They've been spending big, we've been a bit slow as usual, and I fancy we won't have that many up there with it being the holidays and us having visited only a couple of months ago. That's my way of saying I don't have high hopes for that fixture.

If we need a result from the final game then you'd have to be happy with that one being it. On the other hand, it could be the deadest of dead rubbers. Mind you, after last season maybe we could do with a nice quiet end to this next one.

Which team do you most want to beat this season?

Charlton! But I think they got promoted somehow, so I'll say Stevenage. I suppose there’s some kind of rivalry originating from the promotion tussle of 2022-23, but mainly because it's about time they got dispatched back to the basement where they belong.

We’re all from Stockport, who the fuck are you?

We're Leyton Orient – you played us four times last season so you really should know that by now.

There’s been a little bit of controversy at Glastonbury this summer. What’s the worst song/chant Orient fans have ever sung?

We're generally a pretty inoffensive bunch – most of our rancid stuff is derived and adapted from other clubs, which to be honest makes it even more deplorable. “Tits, Fanny and Orient” may not be the absolute worst chant ever, but it is one that still gets an airing from time to time, so I'll say that – not because it's the most offensive thing we've ever sung, but because it’s so very very pathetic.

In terms of your summer transfer business so far, where have Orient been shopping?

Vinted, because we're definitely in the market for “pre-loved” players who maybe got a bit troublesome and high maintenance for their previous owners, or were just taking up too much space in their wardrobes.

Which Orient player is most likely to end up in League One’s team of the season?

Azeem Abdulai. He’s so talented, but couldn't really get an extended run in his best position last season. With such a rebuild happening this summer, he should be much more central to our plans.

Which former Orient player is most likely to come back and bite you on the arse this season?

Jordan Brown would be the obvious answer, as he somewhat surprisingly bailed on us for Blackpool this summer. Most of the other departees at least had the decency to move to a club playing at a higher level – and most of the others that have left in recent years have had to drop down to League Two (or worse).

Josh Koroma could well be problematic for us, I guess – in spite of his wage demands, League One looks to be the place he'll end up again.

I’m a member of the Stockport Sippers Society, who always enjoy a trip away every season. Last year we had a fantastic weekend in Exeter. Why should we choose Leyton for a couple of nights this season?

You know the answer to this already! London is the best city in the world, and Leyton is less than half an hour from most of the best bits. Leyton itself has really come up this last decade and now has loads of good places to eat and drink, and still just about combines the traditional terraced houses vibe that should surround a football club with loads of different and good things brought by people from all around the world. We used to call it diversity, but that's a dirty word now for many football fans – that type would be best advised to stay away… we don't need them.

Spud Bros have been all over social media recently after sponsoring Preston’s shirts. If you could choose any food place in Leyton to be on the front of your shirts, what would you go for?

We could go for FIGO – a local Italian restaurant that might invoke shades of a Portuguese great – or Five Lads, which is where the players often like to munch. Traditionalists might prefer Michael's Fish Bar, poncy newcomers might go for the Jay Rayner endorsed Burnt, but I'm going to plump for Temisans Kitchen – the only place in E10 where you can get gizzards. I don't suppose there's many Stopfordians who dig Nigerian food, but it's getting 4.9 on Google reviews, so they deserve a bit of love.

What’s your early predictions for promotion and relegation in League One?

Look, this isn't fair – you're asking me weeks before all the transfer activity will be completed. But if you insist… Huddersfield, Bolton and Reading to go up; Wycombe, Stevenage, Burton and Northampton to go down.

“Leyton Orient Football Club is a proud East London team with deep community roots and a resilient spirit, known for its loyal supporters and fluctuating fortunes across the English football leagues.” That’s what artificial intelligence said about you. Decent summary?

It's the future of journalism! Not inaccurate, somewhat florid, and tells you very little. Also quite a lot of recency bias there, you can tell it's scraped a lot of data from the web and the whole “phoenix from the flames” story that's been overdone in recent years. I imagine you'd get something similar for Stockport, but I can't be arsed trying.

The world’s absolutely fucked at the moment. If you could choose one person at your club to sort everything out, who would you go for?

Obviously Richie Wellens. The only others that come anywhere close are Lindsey Martin and her team in the ticket office, and Pa Lette, who technically is in the commercial team, but who really is just an all-round fixer who does a lot under the radar without recognition. These people are the glue that keep our club held together, and we need more of that kind of spirit instead of the attention-seeking bloviating that dominates the public realm these days.

And finally, if World War 3 breaks out in August while County fans are in Leyton, where’s the best place for us to hide?

In the event that nuclear weapons are used, then London would be a good place to be, as annihilation would be fairly instant, and you wouldn't have to slog grimly through a nuclear winter watching people eat their own family members just to survive another few weeks. So go to the pub and get stuck in – we've plenty of decent ones to choose from.

➡️ Click on the links below for the other season previews we’ve published so far.

AFC Wimbledon / Bolton / Huddersfield / Lincoln / Luton / Reading

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Photo of the day

Brisbane Road, London

County fans in full voice at Brisbane Road in May during the first leg of the League One play-off semi-final.

Today in SK

🍻 Food and drink

The Nelson Tavern (SK1) have a great range of offers throughout the week, including £5.50 for drinks off the Doubles Bar, a comprehensive range of shots for £1.50, and 3 for £7 on Jägerbombs. Also, double up for £2 on premium spirits.

Bitter £2.30 a pint all day at The Cross Keys (SK8). Plus, discounts on certain lagers till 6pm.

If you’re heading out for a few beers today, pop into one of our featured venues such as The Crown (SK2), The Dog & Partridge (SK2), The Crown Inn (SK6), The Queens (SK6) or The Three Tunnes (SK7).