Billericay - Tuesday 2 December: The Billericay Spirit of Christmas Charity Tournament 2025

The spirit of spring - bright sunshine and temperatures nudging into double figures - cast an unseasonably warm glow across Billericay Walking Football FC’s immaculately choreographed Spirit of Christmas Charity Tournament. Sixteen teams, eight from the hosts, split into four mini-leagues; the route was simple enough: top two into the Cup knockouts, bottom two into the Plate. Matches just fifteen minutes long. Eschewing the banality of numbered teams, the Billericay squads opted for the romance of Motown - Vandellas, Temptations, Supremes and more. It was football by way of Detroit.

Leyton Orient arrived buoyant, still basking in the afterglow of the Club’s weekend Awards Dinner. A squad studded with medal-winners carried the unmistakable swagger of expectation. Yet tournaments have a way of humbling even the most decorated. What ought to unfold and what actually happens are rarely the same in this capricious version of the beautiful game. For all the promise, Orient would find themselves reprising a familiar refrain: domination without dividend, control without the coup de grâce. As Britney Spears might have opined on this, her birthday: oops, they did it again – unexpectedly crashing out in the quarter-finals.

The opening assignment, Billericay Vandellas, looked benign on paper. But paper lies. Sluggish movement, loose passes, a rhythm that came and went like a faulty radio signal - Leyton Orient took time to stir. When they did, Freeman became a spectator. Okocha, Eades and Dooley all peppered the Vandellas’ goal only to meet a goalkeeper in irresistible, match-winning form. He flung himself left and right, a one-man Motown tribute act, denying everything. A stalemate felt inevitable long before it was confirmed. With nowhere to walk, nowhere to hide, the Reds left knowing improvement was non-negotiable. Final score: Billericay Vandellas 0 v 0 Leyton Orient.

Next off the Essex-Motor City production line came the Billericay Temptations. This time Orient glided through the gears. A smart passing sequence freed Eades on the right of the box; he didn’t hesitate (1 - 0). Moments later, more clever movement, more cold-eyed finishing, and Eades had his brace (2 - 0). Baker entered and flashed one wide, but the game was already drifting towards the expected conclusion. Yet football’s scriptwriters are rarely sentimental. A late melee on the edge of the Orient area saw a Red boot harshly penalised. Penalty. Freeman, previously untroubled, sprang low to his right for a save that belonged on any Christmas highlight reel. Final score: Billericay Temptations 0 v 2 Leyton Orient (Eades 2).

A draw with Little Oakley would confirm Orient’s progression, but nothing is straightforward with these opponents. They had come with pedigree and two wins already in their pockets. Orient, fully aware of the jeopardy, moved the ball with purpose, compressing space and starved Oakley of their usual rhythm - Weston expertly muzzling their dangerous striker. Eventually, pressure told. Burns collected on the left, delayed, then slid a wicked ball across the box for Eades to steer in (1 - 0). Oakley’s response was swift but Freeman handled everything with an almost bored authority. Eades then curled a delicious effort against the bar, the keeper well beaten. Orient topped the group with a calm final whistle. Final score: Little Oakley 0 v 1 Leyton Orient (Eades).

But then came the quarter-finals, where logic often melts like snow under floodlights. This time the Supremes - a mixed side, but no less dogged for it. Orient dominated from the opening kick: Okocha then Pillay with early efforts, pressure building like steam in a valve. And then, perversely, the sucker punch. A rebounded shot, a quick transition, one turn, one strike, the ball skidding under Weston’s boot and past the unsighted Freeman (0 – 1). Not the Christmas surprise the Reds had requested from the bearded fellow in red. What followed was a siege: shots, fouls, near-misses, a DOGSO unawarded, frustration piling on frustration. But the Supremes clung on with white-knuckled defiance. Final score: Billericay Supremes 1 v 0 Leyton Orient.

Like a Grinch-themed identity parade, the team slinked into the bar to ponder the madness of the sport and the breaking of their unspoken pact that today would mark the start of Christmas. An anarchic day, perhaps, best summed up by Chico Marx: there is no Sanity Clause. The looks around the table suggested the players agreed. Today the Reds were less than the sum of their parts; but this was a team who cared deeply, wore the shirt with pride, and knew they had underachieved. This was not the gift they wanted to give their club.

Captain Nad Pillay reflected: “Given the talented squad we had, it’s scarcely believable we didn’t progress further. But congratulations to Chelmsford, worthy Tournament winners and to Billericay Vandellas for securing the Plate. And huge thanks to Billericay for another fantastic tournament.”

A disappointing finale to the season and the year. In the end, however, days like this do not define a team, but they remind it of something more valuable than medals or group standings: that the joy of the game lies not in guarantees but in the striving, the stretching, the imperfect pursuit. Walking football may unfold at a gentler tempo, but its lessons are anything but soft-footed. The Reds will return, chastened but wiser, discovering once more that disappointment is not an ending but an invitation – to regroup, to laugh at the absurdity of it all, and to begin again.

Leyton Orient squad: Mike Freeman (Gk), Paul Weston, Neil Burns, Nad Pillay (Cpt), Steve Eades, Andrew Okocha, Vince Dooley, Simon Baker.

Goalscorers: Eades 3

© Copyright 2025 Leyton Orient Walking FC
Image used © 2025 Trevor Ridley