The Leyton Orient Chronicle
Squad31 Aug 2026
The knee: Alfie Wellens out for 36 days
36 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Leyton Orient lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Dom Ballard, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.85
A mark of 7.85 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Market31 Aug 2026
Tom James asks to leave Leyton Orient
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Boardroom31 Aug 2026
Leyton Orient go back to the board over Raphael Borges Rodrigues
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $241.5K — a club that wants Raphael Borges Rodrigues enough to be asked twice.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Fabio Lima turns down Leyton Orient
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Porto keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Market31 Aug 2026
Leyton Orient sell Zech Obiero for $1.1M
Zech Obiero has left for Northampton Town in a $1.1M deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Match29 Aug 2026
Lynden Edhart the difference as Leyton Orient beat Lincoln City
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Lynden Edhart. 3‑2 against Lincoln City, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Nottingham Forest tell Leyton Orient: Luca Netz is not for sale
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
The terraces31 Aug 2026
The crowd has taken to Dom Ballard
At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
In brief
- Player ratings Dylan Levitt stands above it all
- Squad Too much change too quickly at Leyton Orient
- The dugout Isaac Hayden is still paying for one afternoon at Leyton Orient