“Capable of anything, TE-HOU-EEE!” exclaims Jon Champion. Brisbane Road erupts. Russell Slade, normally a mild-mannered figure on the touchline, sprints away in celebration, leaving his trademark baseball cap in his wake. The jubilation of over 8,000 fans causes the camera to almost visibly shake as Barry Hearn is shown jumping for joy alongside his family on the balcony.
Even now, 10 years on, it’s a clip that is guaranteed to bring a smile to the face of any Leyton Orient fan. The club’s former CEO Matt Porter describes it as “without a doubt the best non-promotion moment” in his decade-long association with the club. While former winger Dean Cox reminisces upon the game in glowing terms as “one of those days you can only dream of.”
A plum tie against Premier League heavyweights Arsenal was always destined to be a memorable one for the O’s. But reaching this stage of the FA Cup was in itself an exceptional achievement. The run which saw the club reach the Fifth Round for the first time since the early 1980s also included more than its fair share of thrills and spills.
Replays were required to get past both Dagenham & Redbridge and Droylsden in the opening rounds. Porter remembers the latter tie as “almost like a pub match” as it featured four red cards and saw the O’s incredibly net six goals in extra time to win the game 8-2. Following the drama against Droylsden, Orient earned impressive scalps over two teams who went onto gain promotion to the Premier League that season in Norwich and Swansea, which then set up their first home draw of the competition against the Gunners.
The club hadn’t hosted a Premier League side in the FA Cup for a decade, and in the immediate aftermath of the draw, Porter admits he had to excitedly excuse himself from a restaurant table in Chigwell in order to call round to club staff and get plans in place. The players were equally elated by the news with Cox recalling how his phone was lit up by an influx of messages in the team’s WhatsApp group.
“That’s The Thing About The FA Cup, It Lets You Dream.”
With the match scheduled for television coverage late on Sunday afternoon, the quarter final draw had already taken place by the time the two teams kicked off. This only added a further layer of excitement to the clash as the winners knew Manchester United lay in wait. Despite the sizeable task ahead for his side, Cox, a self-confessed United fan, admits he was “absolutely desperate to play at Old Trafford.” Before succinctly summing up why a tie like this is still remembered so fondly all those years on. “That’s the thing about the FA Cup, it lets you dream.”
Arsene Wenger was not in any mood to entertain the idea of dreams, though. Keen to end his barren run of six years without a trophy, he took no chances with his starting line-up for the game. The Frenchman’s eleven contained seven full internationals, while 15 of the 18-man party that travelled to east London had also been part of the squad that pulled off a stunning victory against Barcelona just four days prior. The team news excited Cox, who says, “you want to pit your wits against the best players in the world, and it was a strong line-up.”
Wenger’s team selection might also have been influenced by Orient’s recent form. Slade’s side came into the match on a 15-game unbeaten run, a hot streak Cox feels the enticing tie on the horizon played a part in. “The cup run certainly helped the league form because a lot of the lads were desperate to play in that game. Everyone was working twice as hard, if not more, to make sure they were in the starting XI, or at least in the squad for Arsenal.”
“Luckily For Us We Were Always In The Game”
The match itself was a cagey affair. Arsenal took the lead shortly after the interval through Tomas Rosicky, but as the closing stages of the tie loomed, as far as the Orient coaching staff were concerned, things were largely going to plan. “We wanted to keep it tight at the back with two solid banks of four and be hard to break down.”, Cox explains. “We were keen we didn’t concede an early goal and luckily for us we contained them for a bit. They ended up only getting the one goal and luckily for us we were always in the game.”
Orient’s game plan was very nearly undone five minutes from time, however, when Andrey Arshavin eased away from Charlie Daniels down the right-hand side. The Russian international unleashed a strike that looked destined for the net, though much to the delight of everyone in red, his effort struck the base of the post and went behind. Buoyed by that close shave, the capacity Brisbane Road crowd grew in volume. Looking back, Cox felt the support had an impact on himself and the rest of his teammates. “If that goes in its game over, but afterwards the crowd spurred us on a bit. Cup football sometimes writes itself like that.”
“His Overall Stamina Wasn’t The Best”
Born in Paris, Jonathan Tehoué had a journeyman career that saw him turn out for 13 different clubs. He made just under 200 appearances in his 15 years as a pro. More than a quarter of those appearances came for Orient, who he signed for after impressing on trial in 2010. The Frenchman earned himself a reputation as a super sub during his time in east London, partly due to the fact that in Porter’s words “his overall stamina wasn’t the best” but also because he was so effective in the role. Every single one of his 10 Orient goals up until that chilly mid-Febraury afternoon had come off the bench. And once again, as the clock ticked past the hour mark, Slade sent him on hoping he would make the difference.
With just one minute of normal time left to play, the nomadic forward controlled a looped ball towards him on his chest. He then sized up the two Arsenal defenders in front of him and instead of deciding on a more tactful approach, opted to bulldoze his way through Ignasi Miquel and Kieran Gibbs in a moment of fleet footed brilliance that left him one on one with Manuel Almunia in the Arsenal goal. The Frenchman then elected to hit a snapshot fast, hard and low past the Spaniard to prompt what Porter calls “the single greatest moment for atmosphere I’ve experienced inside Brisbane Road” and secure the O’s a lucrative replay at the Emirates. Cox perhaps sums up his former teammate best, saying “sometimes you didn’t know what he was going to do, and I think sometimes I don’t think even he did, so obviously that made it quite difficult for the opposition to defend.
Perfect
The result and the money-spinning replay that followed was more or less the perfect outcome for the O’s hierarchy. “We got a corner after the goal and we were jokingly saying don’t score, don’t score”, Porter humorously recounts. “It’s not every day that by the luck of the draw you get the opportunity to earn yourself the best part of two million pounds”
Still on a high after experiencing one of his greatest days as chairman, Barry Hearn made the trip downstairs to address a packed supporters club. Ever the promoter, Hearn compared the spirit shown by his club throughout the tie to that exhibited by the East End during the Blitz some 70 years prior, a sentiment that was met with raucous approval from the O’s faithful.
“One Of Those Evenings I Won’t Forget For The Rest Of My Life”
The drinks continued to flow down in the Supporters Club as Elvis’ ‘Viva Las Vegas’ was being pumped out of the dressing room sound system. Presley’s anthem very much an apt soundtrack, after Hearn had promised the squad a trip to the gambling capital in reward for their hard work. With no game until the following weekend this was a chance for the players to let their hair down, as Cox attests to. “Russ was all up for the celebrations. We had beers in the changing room and then went up to the gallery where more beers were left for us and our friends and family were waiting. It’s fair to say there were a few beverages consumed long into the night, but it was one of those evenings I certainly won’t forget for the rest of my life.”
The multi-million pound windfall the club received had a lasting impact on the field, with Porter believing it laid the foundations for the side’s against the odds run to the League One playoff final two season later. Off the pitch however, Cox feels it had an even greater effect. “I think the fans and players started to reconnect that night, and from that, the bond between the players, staff and fans seemed to grow stronger and stronger afterwards.”
Turbulent
Unfortunately, Orient’s cup dream came to crashing an end in the replay as they were defeated 5-0 by a Gunners side that included the likes of Jack Wilshere and Samir Nasri. The O’s haven’t come up against a Premier League side in the FA Cup since, but with the club now on a more even keel following a turbulent few years it surely won’t be long until they do so again. An opinion Porter, now a director at the club, shares. “The fifth round is something that perhaps only comes to us once every 20 years or so. But we’re definitely due another Premier League team at Brisbane Road.”
As the wait for another truly great cup tie goes on, all O’s fans can do is remain patient and keep in mind the lesson Cox took from the draw with Arsenal; “that’s the thing about the FA Cup, it lets you dream.”
