John Sitton

Bio

John Sitton is an English former professional footballer and former manager of Leyton Orient.

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.

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.

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."

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

Mens