As the outstanding growth of women’s football continues, the spotlight continues to remain on the higher tier teams, but less so on the lower tiers who may also deserve recognition for their success. One team who have achieved plenty of success in their short amount of time as a team is Leyton Orient Women.
Located in East London, the current Leyton Orient Women’s side was founded ahead of the 2021/22 season after the previous side, who operated under the same name but had no official affiliation with the men’s team, had ties cut with the club by the board as running as separate entities did not prove that successful. With the former side competing in Tier 4 as London Seaward, the opportunity came for the O’s to start from scratch.
The idea of starting fresh and from the bottom of the pyramid was with the aim of creating a new academy system from under-9s through to under-18s, to eventually integrate these players into the first team set up, mirroring the structure of the boys academy. The aim of the club was to develop and grow women’s football at Leyton Orient and “pave a better way for girls in the future” who play for the club.
When it was time for the season to commence, Orient’s inaugural campaign was certainly one to remember. As they embarked on their fresh journey, beginning from the bottom of the pyramid in Tier 7, a third place finish was achieved competing in the Greater London Women’s Football League Division Two North East. Despite not finishing top of the league, a season of great performances meant a promotion to GLWFL Division One North was awarded to the squad.
As they moved swiftly into the 2022\23 season, their triumph only elevated further. Prior to the campaign, it was announced that Danny Martin would take on the role of Head Coach of the team as well as six brand new additions to the playing squad with the hopes of continuing with their winning ways. Throughout the season, Orient went completely unbeaten with 15 league wins and one draw. As a result of their invincible form, an inevitable top of the table finish was the outcome.
In fact, the league title was secured with three games left to play and come the end of the campaign the East London side were 10 points clear at the summit. This meant a second successive promotion was achieved and the O’s found themselves in the GLWFL Premier Division, now just one promotion away from the 6th tier.
As they made their debut in the top division, another competitive season was underway with another brilliant run completed from Orient, with 11 wins, 3 draws and just 4 defeats. A third promotion on the bounce narrowly slipped out of their fingertips after finishing in third place, level on points with Comets in second place and just four points off Richmond & Kew in the promotion spot. They safely secured their spot in the Premier Division for another campaign.
Not only this, Orient just missed out on competing in the FA Cup First Round Proper where they lost out to fifth tier side, Wroxham, in the final stages of the qualifiers.
The negative press claiming that Leyton Orient didn’t want a women’s team has since been proven wrong with the backing of the club. One way this was demonstrated was through the announcement of the significant investment from McCaffrey Football Group, a newly formed women’s sport firm which was founded by James McCaffrey, into the women’s team ahead of the 2024/25 season. This includes bringing in a calibre of new talent to further develop the team, aiming to reach Tier 3 of the pyramid, and playing 5 games at Brisbane Road, the main home of Leyton Orient, increasing that number by one every season.
Moving into the current season, they kicked off their campaign with a massive 11-3 win over Oakland Wolves in the Second Round Qualifiers in the FA Cup, before being knocked out with a 3-1 defeat to Hutton in the next round just a few weeks later. In between those two matches, the league commenced where Orient succumbed to two narrow defeats. However, after the cup defeat the first league win was certainly a convincing one, with the result being a 7-3 over Brentford B at home. Since then, they have lost one game, as well as one draw with the remaining five being victories.
In an interview at the men’s teams’ Brisbane Road stadium in the 2022/23 season, captain Grace Alexander stated:
“Hopefully we can grow in the next ten years and potentially even be playing WSL or Championship football.”
With the way the O’s have kicked off their first few campaigns, this dream is not impossible with the skill and ability this group of gifted players have.
Leyton Orient have been off to a flying start within their opening few seasons as a team and with a squad full of talent, investment, and backing from the club, their future only seems a bright one for the O’s as they aim to climb the football pyramid. They are certainly not a team to underestimate.
