10 August 2026
Eastbourne Boro vs L Orient
Match Summary
Aug 9 2026
Difficulties in organising pre-season games have hampered head coach Jody Buckley in his attempts to put together an entirely new squad for the upcoming season. Not ideal preparation as our ladies will soon embark on a campaign at Tier Six, the highest status since the women’s team was re-formed in 2021.
We understand that fourteen players have been registered, clearly not enough as things stand but we remain hopeful more can be signed up over the coming week. Our situation is far from unique as several regional teams at this level are struggling to find players with the ability to compete at this level. It may be that the standards are improving such that the demands on players in terms of quality and fitness are higher than ever.
Yesterday, the O’s ladies played their final pre-season/trial game away at distant Eastbourne Borough. Our ever-present correspondent Larry Peterson made the trip and reports that it was a good test in that Eastbourne play at Tier 5 although we don’t know how many development/trialist players they fielded. Despite the 5:1 reversal, there were some encouraging signs but not much in the way of goal threats. Ace goalkeeper Freya Faulkner put in another impressive display to underline how valuable a player she is. She won Larry’s POTM award for her efforts.
Temperatures approaching 80°F (26°C) certainly tested the fitness of both sides, a lack of subs certainly didn’t help the O’s cause – particularly in the last 20 minutes.
Next Sunday sees our first league game, an away tie at TOBY WFC who play at The Bobby Moore Sports Hub, Parsloes Park, Dagenham. Kick off will be at 2:00pm. Toby finished mid-table in this league last season so will likely present something of a ‘standard’ test. LOFCwomen.com will be there to take it all in, we encourage O’s fans to join us.
Orient Outlook Podcast
The most-watched news outlet at Leyton Orient. Paul and Steve at OOP have supported the women's team for some years and continue to do so. Their most recent episode, No 432, carries the above update - so if you prefer listening to reading......
Click the image (above) to go to the start of the women's update. There's plenty of great stuff for O's fans in the podcast so we recommend switching off the TV and relax with entire Orient Outlook Podcast.
Who's who at LOFCwomen.com
By way of an update to our "about us" page (VIEW IT HERE)
We've added some cartoonish images of the handsome hunks behind everything we do.
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There are others who contribute greatly, we appreciate all the help we get.
Eastbourne slideshow
Our thanks to Roy Warner, we understand Roy is the official photographer for Leyton Orient Women as well for a number of other top clubs. Here's a short slideshow from Sunday's game including shots from Roy and our own Larry Peterson.
From the programme
As shared recently in the club's programme for the O's versus Oxford cup match, here's the latest news from HQ ...
After that success, the O's find themselves at Tier 6 of the women's game with an Eastern Region Women's League Division One South campaign approaching. That new division will see Buckley's squad take on AFC Sudbury reserves, AFC Welwyn, Chelmsford, Colchester, Enfield Town, Hashtag reserves, Hertford, Hutton, Southend, Toby and Wormley in 2026-27. Even though Orient are ambitious after promotion from Tier 7, there is no such thing as a formality when it comes to a tough line-up such as that.
Buckley explained:
"It goes without saying that Tier 6 is going to be harder, it will be very competitive but I am putting a squad together to go and win it. When I was appointed, I wanted to bring in players who I knew so we have a whole new squad, a mix of older players who are dropping down from Tiers 3 and 4 and younger players who we can develop. The aim is to be pushing to go up to Tier 5."Buckley also revealed there is strong backing from within the club to see the women's team play some matches once more at BetWright Stadium this time around.
He added:
"Cheshunt is a really nice home ground for us to have and we have also been told that we will be aiming to play at BetWright Stadium too. We have great support from Mark Devlin and the people at Orient and they are really championing us. Mark has been very open about us playing at the stadium in the future."Buckley's O's kick-off the new season away at Toby on Sunday August 16th at 2pm at the Bobby Moore Sports Hub, Parsloes Park, Dagenham.
Read more from Jody Buckley in next weekend's match programme against Sheffield Wednesday.