Leyton Orient To Become London Orient?

The Daily Telegraph has today reported news that Barry Hearn will propose to change the clubs name if he succeeds in getting the club to groundshare at the Olympic Stadium with West Ham United.

The name change is part of a number of proposals by Hearn to make the club an integral part in the legacy of the Olympic Park. The bizarre move would see the end of the name Leyton Orient for the second time after fourty-five years of association with the name.

Not only will Hearn change the name of the club, he will also propose to invest all money from the sale of our current home, Brisbane Road, into the playing squad and offering a number of free season tickets to local children, servicemen and local residents.

“West Ham might not like it but a ground share with Orient makes a lot of sense to the legacy company and for the Park,” Hearn said.

“You would have the commercial Premier League entity coupled with the local community club serving the community.

“To enhance the point I am going to make Leyton Orient as attractive as possible as a bidder.

‘Now our television rights are around £750,000, not £65 million, so commercially we are not as attractive, but we can offer a huge amount as a community club.

“We are going to change the name of the club to London Orient. We are going to give free season tickets to under-18s in London, students and members of the Armed Forces, and free family season tickets to new residents of the Olympic Park housing.

“We are going to try to go from 5,000 capacity to 30,000 by giving things back to the community.

‘We are not interested in making money. It`s very handy but we have only managed it once in the last 19 years.

“We are saying to the LLDC they can put someone on the board to make sure that we fulfil our legacy commitments.

‘We are saying that if we are lucky enough to go up the divisions we will pay more rent, and we are also saying that any profits from the sale of Brisbane Road will be directly invested into the squad to give us the chance to succeed.

“Some of the hardcore fans will be grumbling [about changing the name] but we have got to do something dramatic.

‘That begins with the name change and it begins with opening our arms to a whole new audience.”

To read the full article, go to; http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/leyton-orient/9588000/Leyton-Orient-chairman-Barry-Hearn-wants-to-change-clubs-name-to-London-Orient.html