It’s that time of year again: beer gardens are full, the sun is out, and football bloggers everywhere scramble to create season review posts recapping everything that happened in the previous 10 months. This is another one of those.
It’s fair to say that the 2024/25 season will go down as one of the more interesting seasons in the history of Leyton Orient. Pointless in August, nearly out of the FA Cup twice (and already relegated in many fans’ eyes) in November, scintillating in January, stuttering in March, yet sealing a place in the playoffs in style come May. This season has given us a lot of memories to both cherish and learn from heading into the future. Welcome, therefore, to the Football Will Happen Awards.
Jamie Donley Goal of the Year
We begin with an award that only one player is eligible for, but after a slow start to life in E10 he came into his own with a run of goals and assists from December into the new year. The nominees are:
Bristol Rovers (A) - Free kick from tight angle
Exeter (A) - Dipping volley from edge of box
Manchester City (H) - That goal
Wrexham (A) - Volley off a corner
Cambridge (A) - Volley into the bottom corner from a Jack Currie cross
All four were top quality finishes, making this the toughest decision for a goal of the season award for a long time. That said having watched all of them back there can only be one winner. In terms of the vision, technique, and sheer audacity to even have a go from near the halfway line, it has to be the goal vs Manchester City. I was sat in the East Stand for that game and watching the ball flying towards and into the North Stand goal was a feeling I definitely will never forget, even if the bar and Stefan Ortega’s posterior were needed to help it in.
Goal of the Season Award
Even without Donley’s contributions, there have been some absolute screamers scored by Orient players this season. I have whittled it down to three nominees for this award:
Tom James vs Peterborough (H) - Cutting inside and strike into the bottom corner
Jordan Brown vs Charlton (H) - Top corner from a mile out
Charlie Kelman 2nd goal vs Mansfield (A) - Cutting in from the left wing and finding the top corner
This award is almost as hard to decide as the previous one, as all three have their selling points. James cutting in and placing in the bottom corner from the edge of the box against Peterborough was an early season highlight, Kelman cutting in and firing into the top corner at Mansfield was the beginning of the run Orient finished the season with, but Jordan Brown (who has been a scapegoat from some fans at points this season) showing what he can do by plundering a curving shot into the top corner in a London Derby and winning the League One Goal of the Month competition for March at the same time? Go on then!
Moment of the Year
This award goes to not necessarily a goal, but a moment of the season that was the most memorable. The nominees are as follows:
Reading (A) - The full time scenes as the fans took in the fact we’d finally won a game
Josh Keeley scoring vs Oldham (H) - Potentially the catalyst for the run of results during December to February
Derby (H) - The moments after Zech Obiero’s winning penalty when the fact we’d would play City in the next round
Manchester City (H) - Not just Donley’s goal but the whole day
Barnsley (H) - Potentially the most bonkers second half that Brisbane Road has ever seen!
All of these moments have been crucial to the journey and turnaround of the team, but for me one moment was the most important, proving to be the catalyst for what came next. In the 98th minute of the FA Cup second round match against Oldham it felt impossible that Orient would make it to round three. Step up Josh Keeley. Getting up, getting free from his man, getting first contact. Absolute scenes! Some might say it might have been easier to have chosen City or Derby, but we wouldn’t have had those experiences (or indeed the turnaround we’ve had) if it hadn’t been for Josh Keeley’s FA Cup heroics against Oldham.
The Calvin Andrew Award
For fans of a certain age, the name of this award will mean nothing. For those of us who were about in 2012, however, it’s a name that brings back memories of being on loan and having minimal positive impact. There are two nominees for this award:
Zach Hemming
Sonny Perkins
As much as Sonny Perkins has flattered to deceive at times, it feels wrong to mention him for this award as he’s now a permanent Orient player. This means that there can be only one recipient. It’s fair to say Zach Hemming arrived with some fanfare on loan from Middlesbrough with his experience in the Scottish Premier League, but it became clear very early that something wasn’t right. Mistakes leading to goals against Bolton, Newport and Birmingham didn’t exactly make the right impression, and even after some strong performances at Reading and at home to Wrexham, fans still were less than impressed with him. I feel sorry for him as he was expected to be a step up from Sol Brynn, but ended up being out of the team by mid October and went back to St Mirren in January. Surprisingly he has been part of St Mirren’s run towards the championship split in Scotland, including a clean sheet away at Rangers.
Player of the Season
Now who’d have thought in August that this would have been such a difficult award. The nominees are:
Ethan Galbraith
Josh Keeley
Jamie Donley
Charlie Kelman
Josh Keeley and Jamie Donley, on loan from spurs, have become vital players for Orient, but as one of them made their league debut in October and the other didn’t start to look comfortable in the team until December it wouldn’t feel right to say they are players of the season. Charlie Kelman’s goals have been the headline contribution to Orient’s chances (as will be discussed later), but a player who is indispensable to Richie Wellens is Ethan Galbraith. Whether it’s at full back, wing back, central midfield or even on the wing, Galbraith can do it all. It’s been really noticeable when he hasn’t been in the team, as the team have only recently worked out how to play without him. His contributions at both ends of the pitch have made him not only the first name on the team sheet, but also the subject of a rumoured £1 million bid from Swansea City in January. As it stands we may well be witnessing Ethan’s last games for The O’s, as rumours of his departure begin to swirl. If these are his last matches in the red and white, then all I can say is it’s been a pleasure to watch him develop into a great player and if he does go in the summer I will be keeping tabs on his career into the future.
Signing of the Season
Interestingly, summer 2024 was a relatively quiet one at Brisbane Road, as even though there were the expected few departures, no one of particular significance left (How’s Bristol Rovers working out by the way, Ruel?). Despite that, there were some incomings that added real value to the squad:
Jamie Donley
Josh Keeley
Charlie Kelman
Sean Clare
Despite a slow start, Jamie Donley has (as referenced in a previous award) established himself as one of the most exciting youngsters in League One, if not the top four leagues as a whole. Josh Keeley only joined due to the aforementioned Goalkeeper troubles of the early season, yet through his performances and development across the season has transformed the Orient backline. Sean Clare added energy experience and versatility to a team that has become a very fluid team tactically (provided everyone is fit) being able to play across the defence and in midfield, looking comfortable in all three. The biggest surprise to many, however, has been the scintillating scoring form of one Charlie Kelman, whose return from QPR drew the ire of some sceptical O’s fans. Had it not been for his 20 goals in the league then one would dread to think where Orient could have finished without him. Crucial winners at Reading, Bristol Rovers, Mansfield and many others have dragged Orient back into playoff contention from being bottom at the end of August. Let’s hope there’s no room for him at QPR next season!
Home Performance of the Season
Coming up now are two awards that are probably very self explanatory. Home and away performances of the season. The nominees for Home Performance are:
Derby County (H) - FAC3
Reading (H) - League One Matchday 26
Manchester City (H) - FAC4
Wycombe Wanderers (H) - League One Matchday 45
All four games have their particular selling points. Derby was a great evening, with Orient prevailing on a penalty shootout (a first for me being at a match), however that game was a combination of Orient really going for it against a relatively out of sorts Derby team. Manchester City would be the obvious option, as that was genuinely the happiest I have ever seen Orient fans leaving Brisbane Road regardless of a result. However the two most professional home performances of the season were the Reading and Wycombe home games. In the case of Reading, goals from Dilan Markanday and Charlie Kelman had the game over after about 50 mins, whilst the Wycombe game was very well managed from start to finish with no real fear of conceding. All that being said, Manchester City will be the game that is most remembered from this season. Something about that day was magical (especially in the first half), and in losing the team won the hearts of the nation and indeed the world.
Away Performance of the Season
The nominees:
Stockport (A) - League One Matchday 6
Barnsley (A) - League One Matchday 20
Exeter (A) - League One Matchday 27
Huddersfield (A) - League One Matchday 46
All four games happened to be the highest scoring away trips of the season, so it’s no surprise that they have ended up in the shortlist. Stockport was an early season highlight, with the 4-1 rout being a welcome surprise. Barnsley was equally welcome and shocking, but came at a time where Orient’s season was building up a head of steam. This run culminated in one January night in Exeter, when a hat trick from then new boy Azeem Abdulai led the O’s to back to back wins at St James’s Park for the first time in a very long time. Even with a mad 10 minute period in the second half, in which Exeter scored two goals, added goals from Markanday, Sean Clare and Jamie Donley settled a 6-2 full time score. What a Tuesday evening that was! One late addition to this award was the final game of the season at Huddersfield, where a commanding performance sealed our place in the playoffs. Goals from Agyei, Abdulai and an own goal from the Terriers goalkeeper sealed a memorable victory in the Yorkshire sunshine. At the time of writing this I am currently sat on the train back from Huddersfield, and as much as I am buzzing from the performance, it is too tempting to suggest that the best performance was saved till last.
Quote of the Season
This season has given us Os fans many opportunities to say things that we regret. Whether it was predicting that Wellens was going to leave after Oldham (yes that was me right up until the aforementioned moment of the season), or the time one of my friends said that Jack Currie had a ball under control mere moments before he didn’t, leading to Mansfield’s opener at Field Mill. However these are nothing compared to some things that have been said and heard in the ground over this season:
“Donley is one of the worst players we’ve ever had” - said a week before scoring his first goal away at Barnsley
“Kelman couldn’t score in league two, he can run around a lot but can’t finish” - said before he found his scoring boots and never looked back
These are quite amusing with hindsight, but I instead give quote of the year to Richie Wellens, for reminding us of one thing. When he arrived in E10 three years ago (where’s that gone by the way?) he said he was going to take us on a journey. So, “enjoy the journey!” It’s taken us into the playoffs. Who knows what will happen next? Well I do, for the next 11 days at least: Football Will Happen
Up the O’s!
