Soccer

Leyton Orient postpone match for 24 hours amid fears 2,000 Ajax fans would attend

Ajax fans arranged travel to Chelsea before ticket sales were banned over crowd trouble in Spain

Leyton Orient have postponed their Leasing.com Trophy match against Brighton Under-21s for 24 hours following suggestions that it might be attended by a large number of Ajax fan. Photograph: Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images

Fri Oct 25 2019 - 16:00

Leyton Orient have postponed their Leasing.com Trophy match against Brighton Under-21s by 24 hours following suggestions that it might be attended by a large number of Ajax fans.

Orient said in a statement that the match due to be played at Brisbane Road had been moved “following the advice of safety groups, including the police”.

The match was due to take place on November 5th, the same night that Ajax are playing Chelsea in the Champions League at Stamford Bridge. However Uefa has barred Ajax from selling tickets to that match as punishment for recent crowd troubles at their Group H game against Valencia at the Mestalla earlier this month.

With up to 2,000 Ajax supporters having already booked travel and accommodation, supporters’ groups had looked into the possibility of attending the Orient match instead.

READ MORE

Last week, Orient said they would be “entering in communication with AFC Ajax in how to best facilitate this”, but on Friday announced the game had been moved.

“The Leasing.com Trophy match against Brighton & Hove Albion U21s will now take place on Wednesday, November 6th with a 19:45 kick-off,” the club said. “The game, which was originally set for Tuesday, November 5th, has been rescheduled following the advice of safety groups, including the police.”