It may have an exotic ring to its name but a trip to Leyton Orient is all about the gritty realism of third division football. Surrounded by the more fashionable names of West Ham United, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur it's long been an uphill struggle for the O's to attract support and many fans are characterised with a dark, self-depreciating outlook on life and football.

The club actually started life in the neighbouring Borough of Hackney and was known as Clapton Orient for the first half of the twentieth century. In 1946, almost ten years after their move to Leyton, the club took on the name of their new locality although in 1966 they became simply 'Orient'. A campaign led by fanzine The Leyton Orientear helped to restore the Leyton prefix in the late 1980's.

The are owned by Barry Hearn, a man with fingers in various sporting pies. He brought the snooker player Steve Davis onto the Orient Board, Brisbane Road now bears the name of Hearn's 'Matchroom' company and the team play in shirts adorned with the Poker Million logo, another Hearn enterprise. Whether Hearn has actually been a good thing for Orient though remains a matter for debate amongst supporters. His part in the ITV Digital debacle (the blame was generally placed upon the shoulders of paid employees but in fact it was the Commercial Committee of the Football League - on which Hearn sat - who carried out the negotiations with the TV Company) certainly wasn't good for football generally…

The food on offer at Brisbane Road once won it the unenviable tag of the worst at any English Ground in the Coleman's Football Food Guide which described "Burgers oozing puddles of fat, taste-free tea served at thermo-nuclear temperatures, warm soft drinks, an all-pervading, wind-pipe clogging smell, supplies running out before kick-off, queues well into injury time and, 24 hours later, not so much a run as a gallop on the toilet paper." The guide was researched during the 1997/98 season: we can only hope things have improved…

Recommended Boozers

The Coach and Horses on Leyton High Road is the nearest pub to the ground and while it is pretty huge it gets very busy on matchdays. Further up the High Road (heading towards Walthamstow) there are a few other pubs such as The Three Blackbirds and The William IV (very close to the junction with Lea Bridge Road). The Birkbeck Tavern on Langthorne Road behind Leyton Tube is our personal favourite, selling a range of real ales.

Upsetting the locals

O's fans detest West Ham, even though this hatred is returned by an almost paternal relationship by Hammers supporters who will, on occasion, even turn up to support Orient. Doubtless this footballing equivalent of a 'pat on the head' simply incenses Orient fans even more and any comment about your admiration for the 'appy 'ammers is likely to induce steam from the ears and a swift reddening of the face…