Latest news with #RichieWellens
BBC News
02-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Pratley, 40, not offered new Orient playing deal
Leyton Orient will not offer 40-year-old Darren Pratley a new playing contract but are in talks with the veteran midfielder about another role, the League One club O's finished sixth in the league this season and reached the play-off final, where they were beaten by London rivals Charlton at was not involved in any of the O's play-off matches but made 43 appearances this season, and 165 in total for the club over four seasons."Darren Pratley has been a huge part of what we have achieved in the last few years," director of football Martin Ling told the club's website, external. "We won't be offering him a new playing contract but would love to keep him in and around us, so are speaking to him about another role. We hope he decides to stay but will respect whatever decision he comes to." Beckles, Agyei and Ball in contract talks Pratley is one of eight players who have been released by the O's at the end of their contracts, along with Jayden Sweeney, Randell Williams, Joe Pigott, Sam Howes, Rhys Byrne, Reon Smith-Kouassi, Thomas Wellens said after the final loss it was "heart-breaking" knowing the squad would be broken up, with loan stars Charlie Kelman, Josh Keeley, Jack Currie, Jamie Donley and Dilan Markanday all returning to their parent clubs."Our loan players have been fantastic this year, and I'm sure that they will all go on to have successful careers, wherever they may end up," Ling Beckles, Dom Ball and Dan Agyei are among the players in contract talks with the Simpson, Noah Phillips and Makai Welch have also held talks."We are in talks with a number of first-team players about new contracts and hope that these players will decide to stay with us," Ling added. "We are building something good at the club and want them to continue being part of it. "It is a very important summer for us, and all the decisions we have made – some of which have been very difficult – have been made with the future of Leyton Orient in mind."
BBC News
26-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Orient's future is 'exciting' despite play-off final loss
Leyton Orient midfielder Ethan Galbraith said the future is exciting for the club, despite the sting of losing the play-off final to Charlton Athletic at Wembley on side finished sixth in the League One table during the regular season, seven points and two places below their only goal of the game was a first-half free-kick from Charlton's Macaulay Gillesphey as the Addicks sealed a return to the second 24-year-old told BBC Radio London: "We are all gutted and disappointed, but on the other side we've had a great season. "It came down to a moment which didn't go our way, but I'm just very proud of the lads and everyone involved in the club."We hit the post, we hit the bar. Congratulations to Charlton, they obviously took their [moment]. I think we were a bit unlucky," he added. 'The pitch felt massive' In the final, Richie Wellens' side had 16 shots, compared to just five for the winning team."We started a bit slow, a bit unlike us, we're learning," Galbraith admitted."Hopefully next time we are here, we can start better and play our game a bit more. "I think it just comes down to the occasion. The pitch feels bigger. It felt massive."There is now a relatively short summer for the team to have a break and then plan next season, with League One action resuming again on 1-3 August, the weekend before the Championship season begins."We're disappointed for a couple of days, but after that we'll look towards next season and for the club there can only be excitement," said Galbraith, who has been named in the Northern Ireland squad for two friendly matches next month."It's a young group. All of our loans – Jamie [Donley], Jack [Currie], Josh [Keeley] – can take a lot from this."Hopefully all the lads get here again and hopefully they are on the right side of it."
Rhyl Journal
25-05-2025
- Sport
- Rhyl Journal
Relief, euphoria and pride – Nathan Jones revels in Charlton's play-off win
Macaulay Gillesphey scored the only goal of the League One play-off final against Leyton Orient at Wembley that saw Charlton return to the second tier after a five-year absence. Gillesphey curled home a superb free-kick in the 31st minute to seal a 1-0 victory over their London rivals, to the delight of around 40,000 Charlton fans in a crowd of 76,193. Jones, who took charge of Charlton in February 2024, said: 'It's a massive relief, the euphoria and masses of pride. 'We're Charlton and I'm proud of that.' ❤️ Goosebumps. #cafc — Charlton Athletic FC (@CAFCofficial) May 25, 2025 'We've given it to a club that was going backwards and we had to arrest that before we could take it forward. 'It's not just the results that have got us to the Championship, it's the way we've done it. How we built and galvanised the football club and got everyone back to believing that Charlton can be a great club again. Because it is a great club with great people throughout. 'I'm just so proud of the football club, everyone, the fans. We had 44 or 45,000 fans here. The owners were here today, they bought a shell of a club and now they are seeing something totally different. 'You cannot quantify the amount of work that has gone on. Every single sleepless night, phone calls on holiday, the number of times I've slept at the training ground and my family have had to sacrifice not seeing me. 'The players have worked incredibly hard, they've had to sacrifice a lot, they had to put up with me demanding and demanding and that's not easy at times.' 🏆 Congratulations to @CAFCofficial, your 2024/25 #SkyBetLeagueOne Play-Off Final winners! #EFLPlayOffs | #StepUp — Sky Bet League One (@SkyBetLeagueOne) May 25, 2025 Orient boss Richie Wellens, meanwhile, was philosophical as he now plans ahead for next season's League One campaign, admitting they probably are not yet ready for Championship football. 'It was a cagey affair,' he said. 'I thought we had the better of the possession and had control but when you start like we did, and it was cagey from both teams, and then a moment goes against you, it's difficult. 'But we had enough time after that to pull it round and I thought in stages, we played some good football. 'But it was one of those games when nothing really happened but a free-kick went in that probably shouldn't have gone in. Maybe the position of our goalkeeper was not right but everyone makes mistakes. Hear from Richie Wellens, following today's play-off final defeat at Wembley Stadium. Full interview 👇#LOFC #OneOrient — Leyton Orient FC (@leytonorientfc) May 25, 2025 'Are we ready to go up to the Championship? We would have gone up today had we won but are we ready as a club? We probably need more time. 'I don't think we crossed the ball enough in the last 25 minutes, I thought that just before we had the interruption with the VAR problem that we had the momentum and we looked like we were about to score. 'We are a growing club and yes it's disappointing to lose but I'm more gutted that I probably won't be able to work with some of our exciting young loan players again. 'Look at Charlton, they are a big club, big stadium and all the facilities in place and they are ready to go up to the Championship.'
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Pain for Wellens as exciting chapter ends so soon
Heartbreak is a word thrown around with abandon after any and all Wembley defeats but when Leyton Orient boss Richie Wellens used it after the loss to Charlton, it really felt like he meant it. He was not talking about footballing heartbreak over Charlie Kelman's deflected shot thudding the woodwork, or even Macaulay Gillesphey's free-kick sneaking past both the wall and O's keeper Josh Keeley's despairing dive to send Charlton back to the Championship. No, he said he was personally heartbroken at the prospect of never again managing this group of players he has painstakingly assembled for Orient. Keeley and Jamie Donley will head back to Tottenham after fine loan spells, Kelman will return to parent club QPR after 23 League One goals for the O's and Jack Currie's loan from Oxford is also up. In all, 11 of the 18 players in the squad for the play-off final defeat on Sunday are either out of contract this summer or on loan. The past six months feels like a work of art carved into a sandy beach, eventually washed away by the tide with nothing left to show for it but memories and photographs. "It's really difficult for me, it's heart-breaking to be honest, it is hard," Wellens told BBC Sport. In a division packed with financial muscle, which is only going be bolstered by relegated trio Plymouth, Luton and Cardiff next season, Orient have been shopping in a different market to most. "Our budget is not like some of the other clubs," Wellens admitted in his post-match press conference in the bowels of Wembley. The 45-year-old ex-Blackpool and Leicester midfielder took over with the O's 20th in League Two in 2021-22 and has guided them to the brink of the Championship. But one of the constants has been upheaval at the end of each of his three seasons in charge. "The end of that [first] season, I lost two or three of my best players," Wellens said. "Next season, we got promoted, I lost a few more. It's the same every season. Potentially we're going to lose six or seven now. "I am gutted for the supporters but I'm also heartbroken this is the last time I will ever manage this set of players as a collective." Charlton beat Orient to win promotion to Championship Wellens hails 'special group' after Orient reach play-off final Wellens said he needs a break before trying to assemble an Orient 2025-26 squad jigsaw puzzle, after a gruelling season which has seen the O's play 61 games. Their play-off campaign followed a fine run to the FA Cup fourth round where they gave then Premier League champions Manchester City a run for their money. Wellens told BBC Radio London: "I'm tired, this week has taken a lot out of us. It's been a long season. I need a few weeks off. "We'll dust ourselves down and try to recruit. The plan was always to be a top, top League One club. We are still not there yet, but this is a good step. "It's been an unbelievable group of players - both on the pitch and character-wise they are a pleasure to work with every day but we just couldn't go the last step and I am gutted for them. "We need to make sure we recruit right because we're going to lose a lot of players now. "But I am trying to make sure it's a celebration of what we have done over a long time - the development of players, the way the club has grown - we had over 30,000 fans today, this is the biggest crowd the club have ever played in front of and Charlton are an ex-Premier League club." Wellens also admitted promotion to the Championship might have come too soon for the Orient project had it materialised. "I am more gutted than anybody. It's the first time I have ever lost a final, ever," he said. "If you'd said to us at the start of the season you're going to lose in the play-off final we'd have taken it. But now it's important we grow and develop the club. We're still not there. "If we'd been promoted today we'd still fall short in a lot of areas which are required for a Championship club. We have to try and grow from it. "I came here and we were 20th in League Two. Charlton are ready to go up. Are we ready? As a club we probably need more time."
South Wales Argus
25-05-2025
- Sport
- South Wales Argus
Relief, euphoria and pride – Nathan Jones revels in Charlton's play-off win
Macaulay Gillesphey scored the only goal of the League One play-off final against Leyton Orient at Wembley that saw Charlton return to the second tier after a five-year absence. Gillesphey curled home a superb free-kick in the 31st minute to seal a 1-0 victory over their London rivals, to the delight of around 40,000 Charlton fans in a crowd of 76,193. Jones, who took charge of Charlton in February 2024, said: 'It's a massive relief, the euphoria and masses of pride. 'We've given it to a club that was going backwards and we had to arrest that before we could take it forward. 'It's not just the results that have got us to the Championship, it's the way we've done it. How we built and galvanised the football club and got everyone back to believing that Charlton can be a great club again. Because it is a great club with great people throughout. 'I'm just so proud of the football club, everyone, the fans. We had 44 or 45,000 fans here. The owners were here today, they bought a shell of a club and now they are seeing something totally different. 'You cannot quantify the amount of work that has gone on. Every single sleepless night, phone calls on holiday, the number of times I've slept at the training ground and my family have had to sacrifice not seeing me. 'The players have worked incredibly hard, they've had to sacrifice a lot, they had to put up with me demanding and demanding and that's not easy at times.' Orient boss Richie Wellens, meanwhile, was philosophical as he now plans ahead for next season's League One campaign, admitting they probably are not yet ready for Championship football. 'It was a cagey affair,' he said. 'I thought we had the better of the possession and had control but when you start like we did, and it was cagey from both teams, and then a moment goes against you, it's difficult. 'But we had enough time after that to pull it round and I thought in stages, we played some good football. 'But it was one of those games when nothing really happened but a free-kick went in that probably shouldn't have gone in. Maybe the position of our goalkeeper was not right but everyone makes mistakes. Hear from Richie Wellens, following today's play-off final defeat at Wembley Stadium. Full interview 👇#LOFC #OneOrient — Leyton Orient FC (@leytonorientfc) May 25, 2025 'Are we ready to go up to the Championship? We would have gone up today had we won but are we ready as a club? We probably need more time. 'I don't think we crossed the ball enough in the last 25 minutes, I thought that just before we had the interruption with the VAR problem that we had the momentum and we looked like we were about to score. 'We are a growing club and yes it's disappointing to lose but I'm more gutted that I probably won't be able to work with some of our exciting young loan players again. 'Look at Charlton, they are a big club, big stadium and all the facilities in place and they are ready to go up to the Championship.'
