Part 1 – Berlin – The Orient Nerds’ Summer Holiday Part 1: Ein Euro-Fußball-Abenteuer in Deutschland- Berlin

Part 2- Munich – The Orient Nerds’ Summer Holiday Part 2: Ein Euro-Fußball-Abenteuer in Deutschland-München here we come!

A mere couple of weeks after returning from Germany we were off on our travels again, this time up to the grand old Scottish city of Edinburgh to watch our beloved O’s take on Heart of the Midlothian. This specially arranged friendly formed part of Hearts’ 150-year anniversary celebrations, as well as commemorating the players of Orient and Hearts who led the way as the first professional footballers to sign up en masse for what became known as McCrae’s and the Pals’ Battalions in the First World War.

For any non-Orient / Hearts fans reading this who are not completely aware of both clubs’ proud history in the Great War, it is a story truly worth repeating.  In November 1914 16 Hearts players signed up for McCrae’s battalion to serve, while the following month 41 Clapton Orient players, staff and supporters were to follow suite. Sadly seven of the Hearts players and three from Orient were never to return home. The match provided the perfect opportunity for the fans of both clubs to commemorate the bravery of those involved. There was also going to be the “Maroon Mile” parade which would see Orient’s 17^th Pals Battalion Band join 150 pipers and drummers to lead supporters of both clubs down to the ground.

The obvious attraction of a long weekend in Edinburgh meant that the fixture was to prove very popular with travelling Orient fans with more than 1000 tickets sold in advance. As it was technically a holiday the missus and I decided to treat ourselves to a flight from City Airport on Thursday morning so that we could make the most of the trip.

While it meant a very early start for us, everything went smoothly enough, and we landed in Edinburgh just before 10am. However it was while we were waiting for our bags to arrive that disaster struck: while mine came out fairly swiftly, there was no sign of Kay’s. Eventually she managed to report it missing and was told that it would most likely be put on a later flight and would arrive in the next day or so.

As we were way too early to check into our hotel we set about doing a bit of shopping to replace the essential items that had gone missing in Kay’s case, to visit a couple of the excellent Edinburgh pubs and have a spot of lunch. When we got back to the hotel there was still no news on the missing case, so we headed down to the Grassmarket (a square off the Royal Mile with literally a row of pubs on one side, and a mere five minute stroll down the hill from our expertly selected accommodation!) to catch up with Lord Dazza and select a pub for the evening.

After a round of drinks we were joined in the Black Bull by Orient Hour main man, Andy Gilson, who was staying down by the beach and had gotten a bus into town. Andy also suggested that Orient legend Matt Lockwood, now resident in Edinburgh, might pop down and join us.

A little while later we were invited to join the pub’s quiz which we happily agreed to do. Paying no attention whatsoever to the instructions about team names, we opted for “LOFC European Tour” only to then find out that it was supposed to be something you would give departing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as a leaving gift! Still, alongside “stilts” and a “Sky TV subscription” whose to say a trip to watch the mighty O’s in Scotland wouldn’t be perfect for such an “avid football fan”(sic) as the former PM!

The quiz was phone-based, and we seemed to be faring pretty well despite being one of the smaller teams, however when Matt turned up his main contribution was to distract two of our team members while Kay and I bravely carried on answering questions. In the end we finished fifth out of 17 teams and we only had to illicitly Google three answers, which we’re definitely taking as an achievement!

LOFC European Tour Quiz Team (from left: Andy Gilson, your author, Kay, Lord Dazza and Orient Royalty Matt Lockwood.

Having seen that some fellow Orient fans had done so the previous day, Dazza suggested that we head down to Hearts’ Tynecastle Park on Friday morning, to visit the club’s museum and to scope out what the ground was like.

After a half hour or so walk, we buzzed the security guard at the gate who let us in and after a few obligatory pictures outside the ground we headed into the museum. We were greeted by three members of the club’s committee who were only too happy to tell us all about their preparations for the big match the following day. In the end we ended up chatting away about the histories of our respective clubs for quite some time.

In addition to the bond established through the First World War, we found out that we had even more in common than we had initially realised. As you may be aware, Hearts very nearly went out of existence in 2013 when they entered administration, thanks in no small part to the disastrous financial mismanagement of owner Vladimir Romanov, who also displayed an enthusiasm for interfering in playing matters. A very similar situation to that which Orient found themselves a few years later under the reign of the Italian that we must never speak about.

Hearts were saved later that year by a coalition led by an individual investor, local businesswoman Ann Budge, and The Foundation of Hearts, set up by dedicated fans to purchase the club and revolutionise how it was run. In August 2021 Hearts became the UK’s largest fan-owned club after Budge signed her majority shareholding over to the Foundation.

Once we had finished our chat, one of the committee members, Bill (I hope I have remembered his name correctly!), very kindly took it upon himself to show us around the stadium, including one of the tunnels, the pitch itself, the incredibly moving Forever in Our Hearts Memorial Garden, and the 1914 Memorial Soldier Statue. It was above and beyond what they needed to but was very much appreciated and showed what a special football club Hearts are.

Our own personal tour of Tynecastle Park

On the way out we were introduced to the stadium manager who, when he found out that we remained unconvinced by Scotch Pies- our only previous experience having been at Carlisle, intriguingly let us know that there would be kebab pies at the following day’s match. At least two of our party (clue: K*y & G*z) were sold right there and then and vowed we would simply have to try them.

We headed back towards town via Haymarket, the starting point for the commemorative march the following day, when we hit the end of Princes Street we faced a decision. Did we go shopping to get some replacement clothes for the missus, who still had no news on her missing case, or did we want to have a couple of pints and a spot of lunch back at the Grassmarket. For anyone who has followed our travels over the last few seasons it will come as no surprise whatsoever that within half an hour the three of us were sitting outside the Black Bull in the highly unexpected Edinburgh afternoon sunshine.

A little while later we were joined by familiar travelling Orient associates Michael, Adam and Dan who had arrived earlier in the day, then Simon and a mate and then Ray, Rob and Barry. Already by this point any real commitment to going shopping had gone out of the window: it was just too pleasant sitting there in the sunshine. Instead Kay, having spied a traditional Scottish kilt shop on the edge of the square, decided that due to the ongoing trauma of her experience, the least British Airways could do was to buy her a new highland-inspired outfit. The unexpected weather even sparked a chorus of “We’re getting sunburnt in Scotland” as Daz and I realised we were getting redder and redder by the minute!

As afternoon drifted towards evening, Andy came to join us after a day out visiting family, and then Vice Chairman Kent Teague was passing with his family on the way to dinner and stopped by to say hello. Sadly he wasn’t able to join us for a beer and a round of shots, although given how long we had been there it is fairly easy to understand why he might have made his excuses!

Saturday was of course the day of the match, with the parade due to start from Haymarket at 1pm we decided to make our way down towards where Daz was staying which was on the way. Without even so much as a text message or phone call, we bumped into Daz almost as soon as we arrived. Sadly the good weather hadn’t continued from the previous afternoon, so while Daz headed to McDonald’s to catch up with Andy and a couple of other Orient associates, the missus and I sought shelter from the traditional Edinburgh summer drizzle in the nearest open pub, The Grosvenor.

We arrived at Haymarket just as the parade was forming up and immediately bumped into regular awayday associate Nigel. Nigel told us he knew we were in town as his daughter, who lives in Edinburgh, and her boyfriend had been in the Black Bull on Thursday evening and knew by our team name from the quiz who we were.

We followed the parade down towards the ground and caught up with Heavy D on the way. Once we arrived at the stadium the two clubs bands formed up and faced each other across the main courtyard. Their performance was both emotional and inspiring and really served to mark this very special occasion.

The Two Bands Form Up

Once the commemorations had been completed, we headed into the away end desperate to try the new kebab pie. As good as the pie was (and believe me it was good!) our delight was slightly tempered by the fact that a long standing ban on the sale of alcohol at Scottish football grounds, meant that we couldn’t wash it down with a pint. Mind you the amount of drinking we had done on the trip thus far, meant that our livers may well have welcomed the rest.

As you would expect Tynecastle is a traditional old school football ground, the main stand was refurbished just under 10 years ago, but it has undoubtedly retained its character and feel. The away section is behind one of the goals (as it should be of course!) and the view is pretty decent, the only real problem was the sheer number of seagulls that were circling around the place looking for scraps of food. We were actually quite relieved we had finished our pies off in the relative safety of the concourse! I couldn’t help but wonder if this was something regular attendees have to endure or if the birds themselves were marking the occasion as well?

The view from the Away End at Tynecastle – with obligatory seagull in picture

The match itself was more entertaining than you would normally expect from a preseason friendly. The home side went ahead after just five minutes thanks to a kicking error by Orient’s triallist keeper Luca Ashby-Hammond, but after that it was pretty much all Orient. Jordan Brown levelled with a close range header after 24 minutes and in truth we could have been further ahead before the break.

New signing Diallang Jaiyesimi put us 2-1 up in the opening seconds of the second half when he slotted home after Dan Agyei’s initial effort had been parried by the Hearts keeper. From there we saw out the game comfortably enough, although perhaps could rue a couple of missed chances that might have added more gloss to the final result. Overall though it felt like a solid preseason performance and result.

After the match we wandered our way back via a couple of pub stops firstly at the excellent Ryrie’s bar, and then the Haymarket before rendezvousing with Daz in the Fox and Faun which was literally at the end of his road. After a few rounds, a chat and some Scottish tapas (yes it really is a thing apparently!) we headed back up to the Grassmarket to catch up with Ray, Rob and Barry.

Through the course of the evening we reflected on what had been an absolutely brilliant preseason trip, and everyone we chatted with really wanted to do it all again, whether that be another trip to Edinburgh, a return hosting at Brisbane Road, or even a trip to Belfast to face Linfield who share a similar history with regard to their contribution to the First and Second World Wars.

We landed back in London on Sunday afternoon, (giving ourselves plenty of time to get home and get set up to watch England take on Spain in the Euro 2024 Final, of course!) and as we were passing through the airport we thought we might see if Kay’s case was there. It came as no surprise whatsoever when we discovered that it was! At least she got a kilt paid for by British Airways out of the whole experience!

Reunited! Kay with her case at City Airport.

Now the attention turns to the serious business of the start of the season, I will be pulling together my thoughts on how Orient are shaping up on Friday before we entertain Bolton on Saturday evening (the joys of modern football hey?), until then…

Up the O’s!