A hero as an Orient player, local lad Paul Went unfortunately enjoyed no such good fortune as manager. In the history books as the club’s youngest player ever since Dave Sexton threw him into the first team 38 days before his 16th birthday, he was very nearly the shortest-serving manager 16 years later.
A strapping centre-back even as captain of England schoolboys, he made a good enough impression on that debut at home to Preston to stay in a struggling team for half a dozen games, and the following season was a regular under Dick Graham, scoring the winning goal in his final match at the end of May before being sold to Charlton.
He returned 11 years later, having never quite reached the heights expected of him, and was forced to retire through injury aged only 30 in November 1979, his last game this time being less glorious – the eventful 7-3 home defeat by Chelsea.
Given a coaching job with the reserves he was in position to stand in when Jimmy Bloomfield resigned two days before the start of the 1981-82 season. Orient won that opening game at Derby 2-1 but not any of the next five, including two League Cup ties with Millwall. After the last of them, a goalless draw at home to Wrexham in front of under 3,000 people, he accused several of his players of being ‘cheats,’ then left out former internationals Stan Bowles and Peter Taylor, officially because of injury. Chairman Brian Winston immediately made him permanent manager.
Results, far from improving for Division Two’s bottom club, got worse and after five more defeats in succession without scoring a single goal he left – on his 32nd birthday. It was officially described as a resignation, though the quotes suggested otherwise. ‘You must have the opportunity and the backing,’ Went said. ‘Without those two you might as well get out. I feel very disillusioned.’ Winston said: ‘We live in a world where points are more important than people. That hurts me, but I do not regret giving Paul the chance. He worked 24 hours a day to put things right. My view is that he took the right job at the wrong time. Circumstances and time were against him.
