Dean Brill was on the Colchester United substitutesâ bench to witness Leyton Orient hit rock bottom two years ago just as he was wondering whether he would ever play football again.
The game was suspended for two hours as Orient fans stormed the pitch to protest against then owner Francesco Becchetti following relegation from the Football League for the first time in the clubâs history.
Goalkeeper Brill had not played a game for two years, having spent a season out because of a rupture of the patella tendon in his knee and then failing to make a single appearance for Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Motherwell or Colchester after returning to fitness.
But if ever one player can embody Orientâs rise from the ashes, then it is Brill, who can help the club become only the fourth in history to complete a National League and FA Trophy double against Fylde at Wembley on Sunday and can also set a clean-sheet record.
âI was on the bench with Colchester at the end of the season when all the Leyton Orient fans ran on to protest and we couldnât finish the game,â said Brill. âYou were sitting there thinking âthis is crazyâ. I knew it was a big deal, but I didnât fully know what was going on at Orient.
âFootball throws up some strange things and thatâs one of them, that I was on the bench that day.â
Brill had to wait another eight months after that Colchester game to make his first appearance since injuring his knee in April 2015, having joined Orient as goalkeeping coach.
He had been registered to play, but was warned by director of football Martin Ling that he was only filling the third-choice goalkeeping position.
But everything changed when Justin Edinburgh succeeded Steve Davis as manager at the end of November 2017 and swiftly moved Brill out of the staff dressing room.
âThe gaffer pretty much had the conversation on the first day he came in,â said Brill. âIt was a Thursday and he pulled me in the coachesâ room and said âdo you want to play?â And I said âof courseâ. He said âcan you play?â And I explained that I couldnât make that call as the coach because I didnât want to be seen as being underhand to my goalkeepers. He said âno, itâs my call. I want you to playâ.
âHe told the other goalkeepers on the Friday. When I went to the area where they were training, I remember shouting to them âcome on, give me all the abuse you want. Go for itâ. But they were great.â
For two months, Brill combined coaching and playing before having his contract changed and he stepped out of staff meetings.
âFor the first couple of months, we just had to make it work. I had to find a balance of making sure I was ready and getting the other lads ready and giving them the best chance to take my place! I owed that to them because I was still their coach, but it was strange.â
âBy the end of January I had played about 15 games, so by then the manager said âthis canât go onâ and brought a coach in. My contract changed. I slowly got phased out of staff meetings. I used to wear a black staff training kit and I asked for a red playing kit and took myself out of the staff dressing-room, where I had been changing. I needed to be seen as a player, not a coach.â
Brill has played every minute of every game since Edinburgh took over and the 33-year-old this season equalled Orientâs clean sheet record of 24 in the goalless draw with Braintree that clinched promotion to League Two.
âPersonally, it couldnât have gone any better and to win the League at home was extra-special,â said Brill. âIâve equalled the clean sheet record this year and Iâve got a chance to break that at Wembley. You canât ask for any more.â
Asked if he has been keeping count of his clean sheets all season, Brill added: âPut it this way, the club got it wrong once on Twitter and I was straight on to them. I was the first person to reply to the tweet. Youâve got to have those goals. Itâs one more to go and it would be nice to do it.â
Only three clubs have completed a National League and FA Trophy double, the last being Wycombe Wanderers in 1993, and Brill is desperate for this group of players to write another piece of Orient history.
âOnce you get the League sown up, the trophy can be seen as a free hit but the chance to be the fourth team in history to do the double is something you canât take lightly,â he said.
âWe were training at the ground and behind the goal there are banners of some of the famous players and achievements. I said âif we have one up there, how good would it be to have double champions on it?Â
âEvery time you come back as a player or a fan, you get to see double champions instead of just championsâ. Champions is great, but imagine if we can be a double-winning team. We are talking about winning, not the occasion. We go to win.â