Just over a fortnight ago the FA announced all football across the country would be suspended until at least April 30th.
Two weeks on, it looks increasingly likely that the suspension will span further.
The enforced break is likely to have severe ramifications across the English game, but for Leyton Orient’s 19-year-old forward Ruel Sotiriou, the timing of the hiatus could hardly be worse.
The Cypriot was enjoying something of a breakthrough season in E10, averaging a goal every 140 minutes in League Two. His displays were beginning to earn plaudits from those not only in East London but the wider EFL scene.
Frustrations
Obviously, the health and safety of supporters, players and staff must come first in these difficult times, and this is something Sotiriou is clearly aware of, but it comes as no surprise to hear he feels slightly disappointed that this has disrupted such a crucial stage in his fledgling career.
“I’ve done well this season and you want to kick on and do as well as possible. For it to stop like it has, is very frustrating.”
Having come through the youth system at Orient, his senior career got off to a nondescript start as he was handed his debut by Steve Davis in October 2017, coming off the bench in a largely forgettable 0-0 against neighbours Dagenham and Redbridge in the 4th Qualifying Round of the FA Cup.
With the O’s facing up to the lowest ever ebb of their 136-year history, flirting with the National League relegation zone and in the midst of a 15-game winless run, further substitute appearances followed against the likes of Macclesfield, Gateshead and Torquay.
Sotiriou acknowledges that the club’s exacerbated form fast tracked him into the first team as a wet behind the ears 17-year-old.
“I embraced it because if the team weren’t out of form then I probably wouldn’t have got my chance, so I turned that negative into a positive.”
Following that run of appearances at the back end of 2017, the Cypriot then found games harder to come by, with a handful of loan spells punctuating the subsequent couple of years. The most recent of which saw him link up with former O’s manager Andy Hessenthaler at Dover Athletic in November last year.
Recalled
Reflecting on that spell, Sotiriou felt he put in some decent performances on the Kent coast but was relieved to return to the capital, when he was recalled by Ross Embleton just a month later.
“I didn’t start as many games as I would have liked there but I did well off the bench and when I started my first game against Maidenhead, I felt I took that opportunity. Getting called back by Orient was the best thing for me.”
An appearance off the bench in the EFL Trophy came shortly after his return to E10, before he bagged his first O’s goal on Boxing Day – a late consolation in the home defeat to Colchester United.
Although, the 19-year-old admits that his participation on that day was a close-run thing. “I was actually very close to missing that game. I was very ill on Christmas Day, so I woke up in the morning and almost made the call to say I wasn’t going to be able to play.”
Looking back, Sotiriou recognises his decision to tough it out and play that afternoon proved to be a wise one. “If I hadn’t had played that day who knows what would have happened, I may not have broke through.”
Sotiriou’s form took off after that strike, netting four goals in his next six appearances, including a goal two minutes into his first league start away at Newport.
Arguably the forward’s most complete performance in that run came in February’s 3-0 win at Stevenage. Sotiriou showcased his killer instinct in front of goal at the Lamex Stadium, as he claimed a memorable brace. The first a sublime finish from a tight angle, following a great team move and the second, an equally impressive effort with his weaker left foot from 20-yards.
Learning
Following that victory, he credited the second strike to the hard work he and O’s player/coach Jobi McAnuff had put in on the training ground and he remains effusive in his praise of the former Jamaican international.
“Jobi’s someone that everyone at the club looks up to. He’s a great role model and I can’t speak highly enough of him because he’s that good of a person and a footballer. He gives me tips on what they do at the highest level and I adapt my game to that.”
A long and illustrious career in the game is surely the long-term ambition for the undoubtedly talented forward.
However, Sotiriou has far simpler aims as he relishes the return of football:
“I’m a striker so I just like to score goals. So yeah, my targets are just to keep scoring and win games with Leyton Orient.”
