Russell Slade has brought out the best from his Orient side, who face Rotherham in the League One play-off final. Photograph: Steve Bardens/Getty Images...A little more than a year ago Leyton Orient believed their very existence was in jeopardy – but now they are just one step away from a bright new era. If Orient overcome Rotherham United in Sunday’s League One play-off final at Wembley, they will reach the second tier of English football for the first time in 32 years. Quite a feat for a club that have not spent a transfer fee in four seasons.
West Ham’s imminent move to the Olympic Stadium, which Orient vigorously contested on the grounds that it risks usurping the smaller’s club’s traditional supporter base, remains a threat on the horizon but, with Orient set to take 22,000 fans to Wembley, Russell Slade’s side are showing that there is still plenty of enjoyment to be had from following them. He has been in charge since 2010 and Slade’s shrewdness has been integral to the club’s success. Promotion is estimated to be worth up to £5m, the sort of figure that Slade has never had a chance to work with at the club. Instead he has expertly recruited loan signings and free acquisitions, as well as rearing local youngsters such as the 20-year-old winger Moses Odubajo, a constant and exciting presence in the club’s campaign this season. Just getting Orient to the brink of the Championship has been an impressive enough achievement to attract interest in Slade from Premier League clubs, notably West Bromwich Albion.
The spirit and cohesion that Slade has fostered helped Orient to make a whirlwind start to the season, winning their first eight matches and leading the division going into the new year. It was always likely that at least some of the clubs with far superior resources and deeper squads would eventually overhaul them and, sure enough, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Brentford beat them to the automatic promotion spots but Orient still fended off several other big clubs to finish third in the table before beating Peterborough United in the play-off semi-final. Rotherham represent another formidable challenge.
Their manager, Steve Evans, may not operate under the same financial constraints as Slade but he can still claim to have made the most of his resources, as a win at Wembley would effectively give him a fourth promotion in four seasons following Rotherham’s rise from League Two last year and his previous triumphs with Crawley Town.
The Yorkshire club made a sketchy start but, having lost only two of their last 24 matches, they finished level on points with Orient, behind the London side only on goal difference. The sides recorded narrow victories over each other on their own grounds this season and there is every indication that their Wembley encounter will be a tight affair – victory will catapult one of them into a bold new world.
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