Brisbane Road - History

History

Brisbane Road has seen several developments in its history, but due to the Second World War the first major improvement was the levelling of a grass bank and crash barrier installation in 1949. The terracing behind the goals was improved again in 1952, 1959 and 1960. In 1956 a small seated stand was dismantled and replaced with a stand from the decrepit Mitcham Stadium, which held 2,600 fans. In 1962, with Leyton Orient gaining promotion to the First Division, another wing was added to the main stand making the seating total 3,500. In 1978 the West Stand was converted into all-seating. In 1996 the terracing at the southern end of the ground was demolished, and used as a car park while Lottery funding to build a stand was (unsuccessfully) sought. The South Stand was eventually built in 1999, and was renamed The Tommy Johnston Stand on 5 September 2008.

The ground is named after Leyton Orient chairman Barry Hearn's sports promotion company, Matchroom Sport, prior to which it was officially the Leyton Stadium, though fans still refer to it as Brisbane Road. The club registered an interest into moving into the Olympic Stadium following the 2012 Olympics, as the original plan was for this to have a capacity of about 25,000; however, the club's average attendance of about 5,000 meant that this was in no way a probable move. The eventual bids from both West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur to move into the Stadium, with capacity nearer 60,000, effectively ended Orient's interest. Brisbane Road is in very close proximity to both the Olympic Park and also Hackney Marshes. On 6 May 2012, Brisbane Road hosted a Super League game between London Broncos and Bradford Bulls due to works on the Broncos home stadium Twickenham Stoop, with Bradford winning 29-22.