The Circus Upstairs Matt Simpson

In the final episode of The Circus Upstairs, Matt and James sift through the aftermath of the Becchetti regime – via a date in court where Orient face a winding up order for the second time and a mysterious text message allegedly sent to a "Magnificent" seven fans from a potential buyer. We talk to Matt Porter and incoming Interim CEO Marshall Taylor about the mess the new owners inherited, including £7,000-a-month mobile phone bills; a pimped up BMW X5; and a raft of County Court Judgements. We hear some final perspectives on Becchetti himself, and Matt and James get a bit emotional… 

In this episode Orient fans take matters into their own hands and invade the pitch during the season’s penultimate game against Colchester United. Matt and James talk to the players and staff involved that day and go off on a tangent about Waitrose Hummus. Then - with relegation confirmed - it comes to Orient’s last game in the Football League, during which fans witness a very special goal by a very special player. Warning: There's quite a lot of swearing in this one - sorry!

In this episode Francesco Becchetti simply decides to stop paying all players and staff. This makes things particularly difficult for manager number 11 of the regime, Omer Riza – especially when he gets a red card 45 minutes into his first game in charge. That leaves the Orient team – now largely populated by youth players, with the seniors boycotting games – taking instructions from a local mechanic for the second half of the match. Nonetheless, the squad battle valiantly against impending relegation out of the Football League… 

In this episode Orient’s chances of avoiding relegation out of the Football League are dealt a vicious blow when captain Liam Kelly is banned for six games after dealing his own vicious blow to a 17-year-old Plymouth ballboy. And when Matt and James say “vicious blow” they mean “light shove”. More importantly, it emerges that Francesco Becchetti has not been paying the club’s tax bills, and so Orient are served a winding up order that could put them out of existence forever. Meanwhile, COO Vito Micelli puts his own complimentary season ticket on eBay… 

In this episode Matt and James spend quite a long time dissecting hapless CEO Alessandro Angelieri’s jaw-dropping statement in which he blames the catastrophic performances of the team on Francesco Becchetti’s absence from the training ground. Meanwhile we burn through three managers, including the short-lived reign of 60-year-old Italian journeyman Alberto Cavasin, who encourages the squad to play with a knife between their teeth and blames losses on a local journalist’s boyfriend. Plus, Head of Recruitment and handsomest man in football Rob Gagliardi goes on a signing spree in deepest, darkest Europe. Well, France. 

Matt and James are back to tell the story of the 2016/17 season, in which Francesco Becchetti completely loses the plot and tries to sink the club through a lethal mix of spite, incompetence and Valpolicella. In this episode the President graciously agrees to a Q&A session with fans, although does bring a man with a gun just in case. Andy Hessenthaler explains why he took the permanent manager job despite everything that happened last season, Linda Hendon is back – this time inexplicably speaking Geordie – and we hear the inside story on how club legend Dean Cox was made an offer he couldn’t refuse by Mr Becchetti…