Statement issued by the board of directors of Leyton Orient FC on Sunday January 23 2011….
ONE of the most important decisions in the 130-year history of Leyton Orient Football Club may be made next week - and it is a decision over which the Club has no control.
The decision of the Olympic Park Legacy Company to award the use of the London 2012 Olympic Stadium in legacy to either West Ham United or Tottenham Hotspur will have grave implications on the future of London's second-oldest Football League Club and threaten our proud traditions as a community-based Club.
The impact on Leyton Orient will be huge. The prospect of excess capacity leading to discounted tickets and the broader appeal to floating fans of a more high-profile club threatens to swamp us.
A huge question mark hangs over our long-term viability at Brisbane Road with the move of another professional football club to within a mile of what has been our home since 1937.
It is tragic to think that the true legacy of the 2012 Olympic Games could be the death of one of football's most-established community Clubs. Is that something those in the corridors of power are prepared to shoulder the responsibility for?
The Club has appealed to the Premier League and the Football League, both of whom would be in breach of their own regulations if they were to sanction a move for either West Ham United or Tottenham Hotspur, but the silence is deafening.
We've done things the right way. We haven't gone in to administration and cheated our way in to staying in business; we've invested in our community reaching over 130,000 people per year across six boroughs; we've invested in our youth programme giving local kids a chance; we've modernised our stadium by re-building three stands; we pay our bills and our wages on time and we always will.
The media write about West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur. No consideration is given to Leyton Orient. The powers that be want to brush us under the carpet and suppress our views but we will not allow that to happen.
Where does the Mayor of London Boris Johnson sit on this issue? Could he sleep at night knowing that those he has entrusted the future of east London to have betrayed so many of their people by damaging, potentially irreversibly, something that means so much to them?
And what of the Premier League and Football League? They both have a regulation which states their Boards shall only grant consent to a member Club to move to another ground which 'would not adversely affect Clubs having their registered grounds in the immediate vicinity of the proposed location'.
Brisbane Road sits one long goal-kick from the Olympic Park, there is no question that it is within the 'immediate vicinity'. Surely their Boards will recognise this at their respective meetings when the application to move ground comes in from either West Ham United or Tottenham Hotspur?
All parties must endeavour to find a solution which will satisfy all parties and whilst we are sure there will always be a Leyton Orient we can't take it for granted, sit back and be steamrollered out of existence. At this time, our voice must be heard.
