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For twenty-six years between the wars and after them, Orient were a club in transition — and occasionally in crisis. Relegated from Division Two in 1929. Evicted from their ground in 1930. Forced to play at a speedway stadium with a cinder track around the pitch. Temporarily renamed Clapton Orient again, then back again, as if the club couldn't quite decide who it was.

This episode covers the middle decades of the twentieth century: the nomadic Lea Bridge years, the move to Brisbane Road in 1937, the disruption of the Second World War, and the slow, unglamorous work of rebuilding that fills the late 1940s and early 1950s. It is not a period of glory. But it is a period in which the club proves, quietly and stubbornly, that it intends to survive. And that stubbornness, it turns out, is the most important thing about Leyton Orient.

Player of the Era: Vic Groves.

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.

Episodes

01The Cricketers’ Club, 1881–1905

02They Took the Lead, 1905–1929

03Coming Home, 1929–1955

04A Season in the Sun, 1955–1966

05The Boy from Archway, 1966–1977

06...