John Sitton

John Sitton
Personal information
Full name John Edmund Sitton
Date of birth 21 October 1959 (1959-10-21) (age 52)
Place of birth Hackney, London, England
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Playing position Defender
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
1977–1980 Chelsea 13 (0)
1980–1981 Millwall 45 (1)
1981–1985 Gillingham 107 (5)
1985–1991 Leyton Orient 174 (7)
1991–1992 Slough Town 4 (0)
Teams managed
1994–1995 Leyton Orient (co-manager)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

John Sitton (born 21 October 1959 in Hackney, London) is an English former professional footballer and former manager of Leyton Orient.

Contents

Playing career

Sitton's playing career began at Chelsea and included spells at Millwall and Gillingham before signing for Leyton Orient on a free transfer in July 1985. He was chosen as captain during the 1988–89 season, and made over 200 appearances for Orient in all competitions. After his release in May 1991, he turned to coaching, working for Orient's School of Excellence Academy while making a few appearances for Slough Town.[1]

Managerial career

Sitton was appointed joint caretaker manager at Leyton Orient with Chris Turner in April 1994, following the sacking of Peter Eustace, and helped the team avoid relegation from Division Two by earning four points from their last two matches. The duo were given the job permanently that summer, and continued throughout the difficult 1994–1995 season.

During this time, he became one of the few football managers to feature in a Channel 4 documentary, Orient: Club for a Fiver (sometimes known as Leyton Orient: Yours for a Fiver), made in 1995 by Open Media. The programme highlighted Sitton's well-known passionate language and managerial style, and featured a half-time team talk given by Sitton on 7 February 1995, after Orient had fallen 1–0 down in a league match at home to Blackpool. After sacking defender and fan favourite Terry Howard on camera in the dressing room, Sitton addressed two other players and offered to fight them, shouting:

"You, you little cunt, when I tell you to do something, and you, you fucking big cunt, when I tell you to do something, do it. And if you come back at me, we'll have a fucking right sort-out in here. All right? And you can pair up if you like, and you can fucking pick someone else to help you, and you can bring your fucking dinner. 'Cos by the time I've finished with you, you'll fucking need it."[1]

Orient went on to lose the match 1–0, and after winning only one of the next 15 games, both Sitton and Turner were sacked two months later. Orient won just seven of 47 games under the pair. After the pair left, the side lost the following three games and finished bottom of the table.

Speaking about the event later, Sitton said, "Terry's an ex-teammate of mine who I like very, very much. He's good company when you go for a night out – but as a manager and a coach, he's not what I'm looking for. I may have lost a friend, but by tomorrow I would have recovered."[2]

After leaving Brisbane Road, Sitton managed Leyton, Enfield and then Leyton again. He later worked as a taxi driver, and he also works for the FA Coaching Education Scheme, and the Press Association, compiling statistics for the Actim Index.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b "Leyton Orient: The Complete Record", N Kaufman & A Ravenhill, Breedon Books, 2006 p.99
  2. ^ Gillatt, Peter (30 November 2009). Blackpool FC on This Day: History, Facts and Figures from Every Day of the Year. Pitch Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-905411-50-2. 
  3. ^ "What John Sitton did next" from guardian.co.uk

External links

Leyton Orient F.C. – managers