Frederick Leslie Gore is one of Leyton Orient’s unsung heroes. He served in various roles from 1951-67, including five spells as caretaker-manager, one of which lasted for well over two years; but to the disappointment of many he never wanted to take on the job permanently.
Like his friend Alec Stock, he had played for the O’s during World War II, also appearing the season afterwards in the infamous FA Cup defeat by tiny Isle of Wight club Newport. Les scored in the 2-1 win at Brisbane Road but unfortunately it was the only season that the competition was ever played over two legs; in the away game Newport pulled off a sensational 2-0 victory to go through on aggregate.
After that he joined Stock at Yeovil, linking up again with him at Brisbane Road in 1951 as a trainer. Although the manager’s instruction to him every summer was “get them fit Les!” he clearly had no shortage of football knowledge, proving it every time he took charge, starting when Stock moved to Arsenal and then Roma.
It was during that first spell, from 7 February-April 1956, that he made one of the most important signings in Leyton Orient history, persuading a Scottish centre-forward called Tommy Johnston to leave Newport County, for whom he had scored a hat-trick against the O’s four months earlier.
By the time Stock returned from Arsenal after less than two months, Gore had won nine of his ten games, and O’s were firm favourites for promotion. His next and longer stint was for the first 31 League games of the 1957-58 season and he had the team in tenth place when Johnston departed to Blackburn and Stock returned.
It was Johnston’s return a year later that led to Stock’s final departure, and Gore’s longest period as manager in everything except name. He took over with the team in a perilous position, bottom but one, but won seven of the remaining 11 games to comfortably avoid relegation.That run included marvellous wins in successive home matches against Sunderland (6-0) and Charlton (6-1).
He remained the boss for two full seasons, of which the 1959-60 campaign was a hugely enjoyable one, ending in tenth place, the club’s highest in the Second Division since 1924. It included a performance in October that mesmerised Brisbane Road when high-flying Middlesbrough, with five future internationals including Brian Clough, were demolished 5-0.
Gore, unusually for the time, regularly wrote “Team Manager’s Notes” in the programme. He said of that game, which put the O’s fifth in the table: “It was a soccer classic and not to be forgotten. We have always tried to play good football. Everyone has their say and ideas are pooled.” He was less abrasive than Alec Stock could sometimes be, and the players clearly responded.
After that second full season, chairman Harry Zussman yet again failed to persuade him to take the job on a more permanent basis and pulled off a coup in securing Johnny Carey as manager. Les happily resumed as ‘trainer’ but still had three more stints in charge: for the first 17 League games of 1963-64 after Carey left; in a brief period at the end of 1964 between Benny Fenton and Dave Sexton; and finally for the second half of the 1965-66 season when Sexton resigned.
Sadly a 16-year unbroken association with the club was ended by the financial crisis of autumn 1967, after which Les joined Charlton. He had overseen almost 200 games and was the first Orient manager ever to win more than he lost.
