Football & War Remembrance Event
An event took place at Leyton Orient Supporters Club on the 6th November 2025 that brought together local First World War and football history.
The event was organised by the Supporters Club in partnership with the Football & War Network, Army Football Association, O's Somme Memorial Fund, Leyton Orient Trust and the London (East) Branch of the WFA, with the purpose of commemorating the fallen of Clapton Orient FC in the Great War (the Club moved to Leyton in 1937 and changed its name in 1946).
The evening kicked off (sorry – just couldn't resist that one) with a short introduction from Steve Jenkins (Deputy Chair of the Supporters Club and Chair of the Memorial Fund) in which he explained the Fund's aims and described its past accomplishments.
This was followed by Alex Aledandrou, Network Chair of the Football and War Network, who talked about the work they do, in cooperation with the Army Football Association.
Next up was Neil Pearce, Chair of the London (East) Branch of the WFA, who spoke about the relationship with the O's Somme Memorial Fund and the 17th Pals Battalion Band.
Steve Jenkins, who is the author of 'They Took the Lead', gave a talk on the lives of the Clapton Orient players who signed up with the 17th (Footballers) Battalion, Middlesex Regiment – no less than forty-one players joined up en masse.
There were a number of other contributions relating to the Leyton Orient Trust, the Army's 'Games of Remembrance' and the 2024 friendly match between Orient and the Scottish club, Heart of Midlothian, whose players were similarly to the fore in volunteering when war came, and former Orient player Peter Kitchen spoke about his involvement as a patron of the O's Somme Memorial Fund.
The evening was brought to a conclusion with the Exhortation from Neil, followed by the Last Post and Reveille played by Steve.
For the Branch, Neil and Sally took along examples of past 'Stand To' magazines to illustrate what the WFA is all about, and membership information, for which there was a fair amount of interest from those attending the event.
