I was heading to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park the other day to check up on a couple of Zaun‘s legacy projects there:
– We’ve installed for the first time our DBS acoustic fencing system made from recycled waste plastics at the Chobham Academy on the site of the former London 2012 Athletes’ Village;
– We’re cladding the former Press and Broadcast Centre multi-storey car park as part of the £70m ‘Clear, Connect and Complete’ legacy project;
– And our fencing channels visitors to the newly-reopened ArcelorMittal Orbit Tower, the striking looping red steel tubular sculpture that became an iconic symbol of the London Olympic and Paralympic Games.
My route took me past Leyton Orient FC‘s home ground at Brisbane Road, opposite which, more than 10 years ago, we installed our galvanised Duo steel fencing at the Score Centre on Oliver Road.
The centre is used by The O’s first team, youth team and centre of excellence, and local Leyton community groups. The US Olympics team also trained at the Score Centre during the Games two years ago.
So I was delighted to see how great our fencing still looked after all this time. And it got me thinking about how Orient themselves could have done with that kind of staying power this season.
They began their League One campaign like a runaway train, winning their first eight matches to sit five points clear at the top. But by November, they’d been caught by Wolves, our local team, who were promoted as champions. And 2014 dawned with Brentford on top, who would go on to secure the other automatic promotion slot.
So The O’s were consigned to the lottery of the play-offs where the same pattern repeated itself. They saw off Peterborough in the semis to book a date at Wembley against Rotherham over the Whitsun weekend.
A 2-0 lead at halftime boded well before two Alex Revell goals in five minutes drew the Yorkshire side level. A goal-less extra 30 minutes meant the dreaded penalty shoot-out. Orient led 3-2 – before keeper Adam Collin sent Rotherham into the Championship with spot-kick saves from Mathieu Baudry and Chris Dagnall.
If only I had a crystal ball to see if I take a trip to East London in another 10 years’ time, how our Olympic fencing looks after a decade, whether the Score Centre is still as good after 20 years . . . and whether Orient is still playing in League One!
