Many thanks to the two LO fanzines for their excellent book reviews. Please support them by buying a copy at the next home game. This is what they said about Leyton Orient Memories... PANDAMONIUM FANZINE (Nov 2013) Any O’s book is a good book in my opinion. When you support the O’s you don’t get a lot of write ups in terms of the media or books that you can thumb through, but Tony McDonald’s (son of O’s legend Terry McDonald) latest foray into the world of book writing about LOFC captures immediately, and all the way through, what it is like being an O’s fan. Glory – puh! What of it? Yes, in E10 we haven’t had a great deal of success over the past 76 years, but the one thing you can recognise when reading the book is that we have provided hundreds of moments of special memories to the loyal O’s fans that have made the club part of their lives since the move to Brisbane Road in 1937. To start, the book is extremely professionally produced. A lot of thought has clearly gone into the presentation of the publication and even for an O’s fan it makes it an easy readable to swap between various chapters picking up little snippets and gems from over 200 different O’s fans that have shared their memories with Tony. The writers are actually in the main the O’s fans themselves. There are some memories that will of course sit with everyone:- The 1-1 draw with Arsenal in the FA Cup and the play-off final win over Wrexham whilst for older fans they can re-live once again the ecstasy of “that” win over Bury in 1961/62 whilst also sharing the disappointment of Ray Graydon’s equaliser from the penalty spot that stopped the O’s reaching the promised land again for the second time in 1974. But what is very well done is that Tony has asked for fans to recapture loads of incidents / memories special to them – everything from first games (which has its own chapter) to crowd trouble and one chapter on our very own fanzine culture at Brisbane Road. When you trawl through the hundreds of personal anecdotes from fans you start to realise what, if you didn’t know already, what life is like being an O’s fan. There can be no doubt that the life of a lower league fan is actually far more fun that being a scouser, a glory hunting Manc or a Gooner/Lillywhite and the way Tony has put all those memories together is a joy to behold. I can honestly say that I have hardly put my copy down. It’s almost like a massive summer fixture list publication or the thrill you get from the FAC draw. Naturally when I got my copy I was thumbing through to see my contributions but I got stuck just a page or so in reading other fans’ memories. Young and old, male and female, some I knew, some I didn’t – it’s a fascinating read and you can feel the strength of those stories from fans leap off of you at the page. As well as the content in terms of literary efforts, the book has some absolutely unmissable photo’s, some never see before. Again there are the classics such as the after game celebrations versus the Gunners in 2011, but the aerial shots of the ground over a number of years, David Staplehurst’s ticket and programme collection and the shot of younger lads bunking over the old West Side wall to see a game in the 1960’s are another reason to keep you glued to the book. What is really fantastic about the book is the fact that it’s a factual publication of recollection of fans stories and memories, yet hardly one of the hundreds of entries is boring. Some will possibly stir a memory of something you did or saw that day, and some will have you thinking “Oh god, I remember that” (that’s happened to me twice in the first 40 odd pages!), but whatever it does do as you read through it, it will almost certainly leave you with a smile on your face and even quite movingly a tear down the cheek. As I read through the chapters on famous games, goals, characters and particularly on Charlie Hasler it rekindles memories of the memorial service we held for my Dad at the ground following his passing in 2006 (his ashes are buried just in front of Russell Slades technical area) and that several of the characters mentioned in the book showed up on the day of the service to pay their respects. You wouldn’t get this at many other clubs and it shows why we are such a special club. There are some fabulous interviews with the likes of Carl Griffiths and the author’s Dad Terry McDonald as well as current and previous chairmen Barry Hearn and Brian Winston. Those alone are probably worth the cover price as they cover various games and memories that many of us will have witnessed a few of over the years. Produced in full hardback colour, it’s a book that (when I spoke to Tony during him putting it together) Tony wanted to write in his words as more of a “fanzine”, capturing the real emotion of the supporters and their stories from 9 different decades. He does just that and this is what makes the book so compelling. I would even go so far as to suggest that non-Orient fans, whilst not reliving or knowing about many of the games and memories retold, would find it interesting and exciting, putting the reader at the heart of the action! The 372 page publication covers everything of note to happen at Brisbane Road. I have been going to the O’s since my Dad took me in March 1978 and I can honestly say that Tony & my fellow fans have missed nothing in that that continuing 35 year relationship. Put plain & simple if there is a better football book out there I haven’t read it yet & the £20 cover price is the best value you will have spent in E10 since a ticket to see Tehoue equalise in the final minute versus Arsenal! Mat Roper, Editor, Pandamonium LEYTON ORIENTEAR FANZINE (Nov 2013) Approaching the subject matter from a different angle is Brisbane Road Memories, edited by Tony McDonald. The son of popular former O’s player Terry, Tony is a self-confessed West Ham fan (his dad did start out there, after all), but one with a deep and abiding affection for Orient honed by years of having Brisbane Road as a home from home. Aside from penning the foreword for the book and a few paragraphs introducing each main section, Tony takes a back seat to the stories, opinions and recollections of the approximately 200 stalwart Orient fans, players and employees who contributed to the book. From Bob Harris, who saw the first ever League game at the then-Osborne Road ground back in 1937, right through to a handful of fans who began their fortnightly pilgrimage to E10 as recently as the noughties, fans of all backgrounds and longevities have been brought together in one hefty volume. That the contributing fans come from such a wide range of eras and viewpoints gives the book an incredible wealth of experiences and therefore makes it as complete a document of post-war Orient fandom as could possibly be hoped for. Whilst the sheer number of supporters means that the book can occasionally become a little repetitive – how many ways are there to say: “My [insert family member] took me to my first game”? – it does mean that there is always a more interesting answer to any question just over the page. Plus the chances are that you’re going to know a few names that crop up as well, so it will almost certainly provide interest on a personal level, as well as in the more general outlook of being an Orient fan. What I still haven’t quite got my head around is simply the depth that the book goes into. It isn’t limited to a series of short ‘talking head vignettes’ about various fans’ interactions with the club, but instead covers a sprawling assortment of themes, large and small, across all aspects of life as an O in Leyton. Naturally, being a book about Brisbane Road there is barely the merest mention of Oxford in 2006 or Stamford Bridge in 1978 (other publications in this review have them covered!), but features range from memories of all four stands to great games and players via books, terrace characters and match day rituals. The history of the Supporters’ Club is studied in depth, hooliganism discussed and a series of interviews with much-loved Orient heroes (and Barry Hearn) adds yet another set of perspectives. Hell, there’s even a section on all of the fanzines the O’s have had down the years. You can skip that bit. The other remarkable thing about Brisbane Road Memories is that it is absolutely fantastic-looking. There are a wealth of fine photographs lavishly sprinkled throughout the book; of the ground and the history and the contributors and the men who wore the shirt. There are pictorial features on programmes, kits and collectables. Tony even travelled down to the ground during the harsh winter of 2011 to take some photos of the stadium when it was snowbound, and it is this type of attention to detail which will make even the most hardened cynic remember why he or she loved coming to our otherwise-insignificant corner of East London in the first place. If you think it sounds like I’m having a little bit of an ‘O-gasm’ at this book, then you’d be right… At the beginning of his preface, Tony asks: “Why would anyone choose to support a relatively small club like Leyton Orient?” It is, of course, a rhetorical question to which he responds almost immediately (“It’s the perfect place to meet proper football supporters”), but that really isn’t the half of it. The subsequent 360-odd pages are as emphatic an answer as one could wish for and probably one of the finest love letters to a football club ever committed to print. Outstanding. Paige Turner, The Leyton Orientear
Posted on: Fri, 29 Nov 2013 16:28:15 +0000
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