On a wet Wednesday, some of the Leyton Orient Walking FC party set off from rainy London to an equally drenched Dublin for the two match tour of Dublin. The Orient squad was mainly based either at the impressive Travelodge Plus or being hosted by the generous Ken Gannon in Dublin. The squad was supplemented by two brothers, Peter Gannon and Peter Dooley, brother of Vince. The playing squad was split into two. The ‘youngsters’ consisting of Shayne Perry (Cpt), Julian Lillington, Vince Dooley, Peter Dooley, Maurice Birnbaum, Stuart Jackson and the ‘oldies’: Micky Howard (Cpt), Ken Gannon, Peter Gannon, Stevie Dunn, Derek Slater, Steve Tongue and Len Cheston.

The first set of games was on Thursday afternoon against Bray Wanderers. The sun came out. Bray is town at the far end of Dublin Bay and involved a beautiful train ride along the coast. Bray pitch was being re-laid and the games were played at a local leisure centre. Len Cheston’s heart sank when he saw small pitches and large goals. The squad was reassured when the Bray referee ran through the rules, the same as Orient were used to in London. Bray had split their squad into a competitive team and an opportunity for less experienced players to play a competitive game. It was Bray’s second international friendly.

The Oldies kicked off against the stronger Bray side and found themselves losing by two goals within a few minutes as the Bray players adopted a shoot on site game. Howard got one back but Orient could not convert pressure into goals.

The Oldies were rampant in the second game. It turned into the battle between the Gannon brothers with Peter outscoring his brother five goals to two as Orient rattled in eight goals and Cheston kept a clean sheet.

In the final game, the Oldies faced the strong Bray team and an excellent game of walking football followed with both team creating chances the game ended as a 2-2 draw with Howard and Slater scoring.

For the Youngsters, Peter Dooley bravely went in goal and performed heroically. They won the first game 4-2 with a Lillington hattrick. The game was characterised by the noise as Birnbaum asked Lillington to track back despite Captain Perry’s order for Lillington to goal hang.

The game against the stronger side was thriller as the Youngsters went down 4-5, a game where they could have drawn with Lillington again on fire.

In the final game the youngsters scored a comfortable 6-1 win with more Lillington goals.

After the games, the players retuned to the Bray ground for tea and sandwiches and discussions about walking football. Bray presented Orient with a club shirt and a special pennant drawn up for the Orient visit. Orient swapped pennants and shirts and made two ‘Player of the Day’ awards. It was a great finish to an afternoon of excellent walking football played in the best sporting spirit.

The following day, Friday 28th February, it was an early start with the sun again shining and a visit to the Shamrock Rovers Academy Ground. Again Cheston’s heart sank, small pitches with large goals. This time the referee explained tackling from the front would be allowed. Shamrock lined up in a similar way to Bray with a strong team and a less experienced team. Two games of 25 minutes were to be played. The only change was in goal were Peter Dooley needed to return home and Shamrock donated Orient two players.

The Oldies started well and ran up a quick two goal lead against the strong Shamrock side only for a collective self-destructive brain haze to take over. An error ridden performance led to 2-7 defeat.

In the second game against the less experienced side, the Oldies were comfortable throughout. The game main talking point was Peter Gannon continual dashes into the box for tap-ins. He did this five times. Shamrock scored a consolation goal with the last kick of the game spoiling Cheston’s hope of a second clean sheet.

The Youngsters opened with a 3-2 defeat. They struggled with the tackling rules and took time to get going and in Captain Perry’s view deserved a draw but Lillington kept on scoring.

In the second game against the stronger team, Orient went down 4-2. The game was 2-2 until late on with Shamrock just edging it. But again, Lillington kept scoring.

After the game there was sandwiches and tea and excellent hospitality. Again, lots of discussion about walking football, gifts were exchanged. Oreint presenting the ‘Player of Day’ awards, a pennant and shirt. Shamrock presenting Orient with a pennant, pin badge and a polo shirt for every squad member!

The Club thanks Ken Gannon for the introductions to Shamrock Rovers that led to the tour being organised and for hosting some the tour members.

A huge thank to Dermot of Bray, Declan, Paul and Brian plus all the post-match drivers of Shamrock for making the tour happen, organising the matches and teams and making sure Orient knew where they were going. The Club cannot praise highly enough the hospitality and friendship offered by both Clubs. An invitation to come to London has been extended to both Clubs.

Walking Football in Ireland is an early stages, for example this was Shamrock’s first international game. There is currently no Leagues so Clubs play friendlies and some tournaments. The squad threw themselves enthusiastically into the discussions and were great ambassadors for the Club and the spirit of walking football.

Finally, no Orient tour is complete without some Maurice Birnbaum misadventures. On this occasion, Maurice was flying from London City. He got to the airport realised he had left his glasses and phone behind, retuned home, collected the missing items, returned to the airport only to find the aircraft door closing as he sprinted towards it. Missed his flight. Found getting another flight at short notice ridiculously expensive. Decided to get the ferry, got a train to Holyhead, ferry to Dublin and arrived 6.30am on Thursday morning. That is some sort of commitment!

Leyton Orient Youngsters squad: Shayne Perry (Cpt), Julian Lillington, Vince Dooley, Peter Dooley, Maurice Birnbaum, Stuart Jackson.

Leyton Orient Oldies squad: Micky Howard (Cpt), Ken Gannon, Peter Gannon, Stevie Dunn, Derek Slater, Steve Tongue, Len Cheston.

Leyton Orient v Bray Wanderers
1-4
8-0
2-2
4-2
4-5
6-1

Leyton Orient v Shamrock Rovers
2-7
2-3
3-1
2-4

Goalscorers: Lillington 14, Peter Gannon 6, Micky Howard 3, Derek Slater 3, Vince Dooley 3, Ken Gannon 2, Steve Tongue 2, Shayne Perry.

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Image used © 2025 Trevor Ridley