Barry Hearn in proposing Leyton orient changing their name [again] to London Orient. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/19842112 So I thought I'd see what 'interesting' name changes other teams may want [or not!] to consider....... Over to you.
Devon I'd read about this proposal too and several things crossed my mind. The first thing was that it seemed wrong to alter the name of the club but then I can remember when the club was called just plain "Orient." The addition of "Leyton" seemed a quaint return to the original name however I didn't realise that Leyton Orient had originally been Clapham Orient. I thought that they were different teams although there is an excellent good book called "When the whistle blows" which recounts the fooballer's battalion of the First World War which included several players from Clapton Orient. (Recommended reading. ) Prior to the First World War, they had been one of London's better clubs yet they were also one of the teams that sufferered from a crisis which befell a number of clubs in the 1920's. I'm not too sure if Hearn' proposals are realistic and there have been many clubs in the lower league who have sought to rise above their lowly status by a number of schemes. The other club that I was reminded of was Racing Club de Paris. They were the French capital's main club until a crisis in the mid 1960's. Nowadays, their role has been taken by Paris St-Germain who were only formed in 1970 after two clubs merged. When I first read this, they did seem to be just a little bit artificial as they were formed only about 5 years before I first went to a football match! It's fascinating how recent some French teams are . The modern Lyon team only dates from 1950, for example. I think that part of the appeal of British football is the history of the clubs and many fans are suspicious of clubs like MK Dons who still haven't been accepted by the majority of fans. I hope Barry Hearn doesn't get his way .
