Episode 1: The Cricketers' Club - From Glyn Road to the Football League (1881–1905)

Send us Fan MailIn the summer of 1881, a group of cricketers from a nonconformist college in Homerton, East London, decided they needed something to do in the winter. They started playing football. They needed a name. One of their players worked for a shipping company whose vessels sailed east — towards India, towards China, towards the Far East. They called themselves Orient.This is the first episode of Orient Through the Ages, a ten-part series covering the full history of Leyton Orient Football Club from its Victorian origins to the present day. We begin at the beginning: the founding of the club in 1881, the slow journey from amateur kickabouts to professional football, the adoption of the Leyton name, and the moment — in 1905 — when Orient joined the Football League and became, officially, a proper club.It is the story of how an institution comes into being out of nothing. And it turns out that matters more than you might think.The following is a collated record of all research sources used across the ten episodes of Orient Through the Ages. Sources are listed by episode and organised into books and primary sources, digital archives and databases, journalism and fan media, and Wikipedia entries. All facts, dates, scorelines, and biographical details were verified against at least one source before inclusion in the scripts. Where sources conflicted, the most reliable or corroborated account was used, and the discrepancy is noted in the relevant episode’s production notes.Episodes01The Cricketers’ Club, 1881–190502They Took the Lead, 1905–192903Coming Home, 1929–195504A Season in the Sun, 1955–196605The Boy from Archway, 1966–197706...