Brendan Pitcher is a third year Sports Journalism student at the University of East London, who has been volunteering at Leyton Orient for both the Women’s and Men’s teams over the past two years.
Around the same time Brendan has also helped to run and co-host ‘The LO Down podcast’ a weekly podcast based on the happenings around Leyton Orient ‘By the fans, for the fans’.
What Does Your Job Entail On ‘The LO Down Podcast’?
It started off two years ago, we were invited on to this radio show as guests previewing Orient and it evolved as we became independent.
I’m edit the content and also appear as a guest. When we do interviews it’s a bit different, I have to research and write the questions up and sometimes I’m involved with sounding guests out and getting them on.
There’s a lot of things to do but it keeps me busy.
What Do You Find The Most Enjoyable Part Of The Podcast?
The part of the podcast I don’t like is giving my opinion on Orient, because there’s so much of that.
I think the great thing about our podcast is we’ve been able to get decent guests on doing interviews and that’s the bit I really enjoy. You can get people to open up about stories that don’t get told.
A big problem with Orient is the local media and local newspapers don’t go into enough depth with their coverage and are more focused on teams like West Ham, so I think the podcast helps to bridge that gap and gets these stories told.
What we’ve found is that most people you approach for an interview, whether it’s a manager or a player, they’re more than happy to talk because they usually don’t have that opportunity.
You Mentioned One Of Your Least Favourite Things Is Giving Your
Opinion About Orient, Why Is That?
It’s a bit difficult for me because obviously I’m involved with the club, so I have to watch what I say. I can’t come across as a normal fan slagging off the manager because I know I might run into the manager.
It’s also that, as a fan, I don’t know what’s going on as much as Ross Embleton for example. So I think the real interesting opinions come from the people on the inside.
Has There Been A Particular Moment On The Podcast In The
Past Two Years That Has Stood Out Or Maybe Shocked You?
Yeah, I think the past couple of months have been interesting because Ross Embleton (Former Leyton Orient Head Coach) who we had interviewed before and we knew quite well, unfortunately lost his job.
The week he lost his job we had Josh Wright on the podcast who was a former Orient player that was let go in January partly because of Ross Embleton.
He came on and basically slagged off Ross which was interesting [He laughed]. Then we managed to get Ross on the week after and give his response to that which I think was a moment Orient fans enjoyed, and I think it ended up being our most listened to podcast so far.
That was probably our most successful, but I think the interview I’m most proud of was with a player called Charlie Grainger.
He was a goalkeeper who came through our youth academy, was a top prospect in England u18 training camps, but he never quite made it and got released from the club and now he’s playing at Dulwich Hamlet.
When we had an interview with him he was really brave and honest about his issues with mental health, and it was a chance to get someone’s story across that may not have had that chance before. I enjoyed it personally and I hope the fans that listened to it enjoyed it too.
You’ve Mentioned Former Head Coach Ross Embleton, What Were Your Feelings About His Departure?
It’s a tricky one for me because as you can tell I quite like Ross, he’s a lovely bloke and someone that always has time for you.
As a manager I didn’t think he was doing a bad job, we had a little bit of a downward slide, but I think that was going to happen. But equally I can see the board’s point of view.
They wanted play-offs this season and weren’t convinced Ross could get us there. It was probably worth the gamble because it is such an open division this season.
What Was Your Reaction To The Jobi McAnuff Appointment As Interim Manager?
Anyone who is connected to Orient knows how special Jobi is. I’ve listened to our Chairman Nigel Travis speak about him and he says Jobi is one of most impressive people he’s ever met. I think he, and everyone at Orient, rates him so highly.
He commands respect, was a pundit on Sky so has media training and has had a great playing career. He’s 39 now and probably retiring this season, so I think it came to a point where we probably had to give him the manager’s job otherwise someone else would.
Say he went to somewhere like Stevenage next season and did really well, us, as Orient fans, would ask ‘Why didn’t you give Jobi a chance?’.
As Well As Working For The Club You’re Also A Fan, When Did You Become A Fan Of Orient And What Were Your Early Experiences?
It’s quite a unique one because I grew up in Cornwall, and there’s no professional teams there. The nearest is Plymouth Argyle who were about an hour’s drive away.
My Dad is an Orient fan and when Orient would play away at Torquay, Bristol Rovers and Exeter etc. that would be an hour or two car ride away, so my Dad and I would go and stand in the away end. And that was my first experience of live football as a seven or eight-year-old.
I used to say that I was an Arsenal fan, I loved Thierry Henry and Champions League nights, but then Arsenal were drawn against Leyton Orient in the FA Cup. We got tickets and when I was watching the game I thought ‘there’s only one team I want to win this’. So that was the day I kind of admitted to myself I was an Orient fan.
With The Orient End Of Season Awards Coming In A Couple Of Weeks, I Wanted To Go Through A Couple of Questions On Who Would Get Your Vote. Firstly, Who Would Be Your ‘Most Improved Player’?
That’s a tough one, I’d probably go with Danny Johnson. When we signed him last January we thought ‘yeah he has a good goalscoring record, he’s okay’. He came in and didn’t get much of a chance because covid hit, but what we did see of him I don’t think anyone thought he was going to light up the league and score all these goals.
We thought he’d be a solid player, but I don’t think many would’ve had him in their starting eleven. Now he’s shown he’s a real poacher at this level and a good goal scorer and has exceeded many Orient fans expectations.
Player Of The Season?
Lawrence Vigouroux, He’s a goalkeeper that plays out from the back which you don’t really get in League Two. He got an assist the other week. When do you remember a goalkeeper in League Two getting an assist?
He also has the second most clean sheets in the league, he’s not exceptional at shot stopping but he’s solid. However, his distribution is unreal and that’s what I really enjoy.
You can listen to Brendan on ‘The LO Down podcast’ at ‘Time 107.5’ online or on mobile on all major podcast platforms.
