As I limped my way out of Wembley on Sunday afternoon, I was a bundle of mixed emotions. I was disappointed, totally gutted in fact, that the O’s hadn’t really tested Charlton and ultimately not been able to realise our dream of an unexpected return to the second tier for the first time in 43 years.

Equally, I was incredibly proud of how we had managed to turn our season around after a pretty awful start and then later a run of five consecutive defeats. To even make the play-offs, let alone beat a very good Stockport side and get through to Wembley, from where we found ourselves at the start of December was a simply phenomenal performance from all involved. On a personal level it was just such a relief to be back amongst the Orient family for the first time in two very long months.

Ticketing

One of the biggest discussion points in the build-up to the match centred on ticketing, most specifically the decision by Wembley/ the EFL/ or whoever it was to only release tickets to Orient fans on a block-by-block basis. There were some horror stories, especially when the general sale started, of people being in lengthy queues either online or at the ground, informed that tickets had sold out only for more to be released later on. The approach and communication should have been a lot better as it caused way more difficulty and stress for supporters than there needed to be.

In the end we sold more than 30,000 tickets, which is highly impressive given the size of our club and fanbase, but I for one can’t help but wonder if things had been handled differently whether we could have taken even more?

In the end a crowd of over 76,000, probably the largest crowd that most of our players have ever played in front of, made it a very special occasion.

The Match

In the immediate aftermath of the match, there seemed to be a groundswell of opinion that the O’s simply hadn’t turned up on the day, especially from an attacking point of view. While I think there is undoubtedly some truth in that assessment, a total of 16 shots with just a solitary effort on target is clear testimony; it is also important to recognise that we were facing a defensively very well organised team.

After something of a cagey opening, the match turned on its head half an hour in. Charlton won a free kick in a fairly central position, about 25 yards or so out. Macaulay Gillesphey lined it up and then curled a peach of an effort around the inside of our wall and past the outstretched grasp of Josh Keeley. There was an argument that the wall was incorrectly positioned, and that Keeley’s starting position was too far to his right, but it was also a well taken free kick.

From that point we really needed to do something to up our tempo and to really get ourselves into the game, but other than an effort from Dan Agyei that was deflected behind and a REG header from the resultant corner that was wide, we just didn’t seem able to.  So we went in at the break 1-0 down, even then though I remained hopeful that we would come out for the second period and really get at Charlton. After all, how many times have we managed to come back from a losing position recently?

The second half started in much the same vein as the first had played out, with neither side really threating the goal too much. Then as we approached the hour mark the O’s sparked into a little bit of life. Jack Currie’s effort from distance was deflected just wide of the post, a Jordan Brown effort on the turn fizzed just past the top right hand corner, then Charlie Kelman’s shot clipped the top of the crossbar after taking a deflection, and Jamie Donley fired a free kick straight into the wall. All of a sudden the Orient faithful were making more noise, and you could feel the momentum of the match just starting to shift a little bit. Personally that felt like the right time to change things up and to really go for it with a couple of attacking-minded substitutions.

That was when the dreaded refereeing technology intervened, not through a VAR decision as I for one had been dreading, but no the referee’s communication equipment broke down. Quite why we had to have the game paused for what felt like an eternity was anyone’s guess, but it unquestionably killed any momentum we had been building stone dead.

As we approached the end of the match Josh Keeley had to be alert on a couple of occasions to prevent Charlton doubling their lead, but the closer we crept to the final whistle the more inevitable defeat started to feel.

In the end it wasn’t meant to be, and it is Charlton who will be plying their trade in the second tier next season, whereas for us it is another season in League 1.

The Season

While losing at Wembley is always gutting, (and us Orient fans have a bit of experience with it!), it is important not to let the disappointment cloud what has ultimately been a very successful campaign.

Remembering the bigger picture, the goal for our second season back in League 1 has always been about consolidation and progress. Finishing in the top 6 and getting through to Wembley can most certainly be regarded as overachievement given where we were in the autumn and early winter, as well as who we were up against in the division. The important thing now is to keep on building and growing under the stewardship of new majority owner David Gandler, and to continue on the very positive upward trajectory that the club is on.

It is all too easy to forget that just over three years ago Kenny Jackett was sacked amidst the very genuine fear of an ignominious return to the National League. Now we find ourselves disappointed that we won’t be in the Championship in 2025/26. That is quite some progress!

That is without even mentioning this season’s cup runs and some of the magical moments that we have witnessed this season. (Look out for next week’s post and the first part of the Orient Nerd Season Review!).

The Future

Of course as gaffer Richie Wellens alluded to in his post-match comments, perhaps the saddest realisation is that this is the last time this group of players will play together. Sadly it seems certain that loanees Jack Currie, Jamie Donley, Josh Keeley and Charlie Kelman, all of whom have excelled this season, won’t be with us next term. If rumours are to be believed then Ethan Galbraith may well be snaffled away hopefully for a suitable fee, and it may well be that Dan Agyei doesn’t agree new terms and heads off to pastures new as well. That is basically half of our first choice line-up.

Therefore the first issue we face is one of recruitment and squad building. One of the main factors behind our disappointing start to this season centred on the time it takes for new players to gel and to build understanding and on-pitch relationships. If we get that right and do what we need to do as early as possible this summer, then I have every faith that Richie and his staff can build another strong side and hopefully compete at the top end of the division again.

As a club we know how crucial a new training ground and stadium will be to our ongoing development, but we also know how long those projects will take to come to fruition. For the immediate short term, we need to keep building on what we have achieved so far. Without wanting to place too much pressure on, it really does feel that another tilt at the play-offs (maybe even more!) is the minimum target for next season. It won’t be easy of course and there are a number of teams who will surely be stronger next season plus the likes of Cardiff City, Luton Town and Plymouth Argyle dropping down.

As disappointed as we all are after Sunday, the future of our beloved club really does seem very bright indeed.

Up the O’s!