Leyton Orient appoint Mitchell as Director of Football after review

Thorough review leads to action

The appointment does not come from a standing start. When Ling departed in March, Travis was candid that the future of the role would need careful thought. Now, with the dust settled on a difficult season — one that ended with Orient finishing 20th in League One — the club has moved decisively.

“When Martin Ling left us in March, I spoke publicly and said that the Director of Football role was an area that we’d review going forwards,” Travis said. “So why now? We underperformed significantly last season and, since we secured our League One status on the final day of the campaign, we have conducted a thorough review of our footballing operations.”

Ling left a long shadow at Orient. His connection with Leyton Orient spanned three decades — as a player from 1996, a manager from 2003 who delivered promotion to League One in 2006, and finally as Director of Football from the moment Travis’s consortium completed their takeover in June 2017.

Within 24 hours of buying the club, Travis installed Ling in the role, a sign of how central he viewed the position to the club’s recovery from the chaos of the Francesco Becchetti era.

In a TGG interview in September 2018, Travis explained the appointment of a Director of Football.

“We did it for two reasons — one, because half the board is in America and we’ve also got other things we are doing; two, because we wanted the Head Coach to focus on coaching, analysis, all the things that are team-orientated.

“Martin meets a lot of people, he deals with contracts, he deals with the scouting and he deals with us. We felt it was better to put that extra layer in.”

Under Ling’s stewardship the O’s were promoted twice — out of the National League and then out of League Two — and came within a single game of the Championship, losing the League One play-off final to Charlton Athletic at Wembley.

Ling left with the club bottom of League One and fighting for survival, but his legacy at Brisbane Road is undimmed.

Who is Scott Mitchell?

Mitchell, 40, brings a profile that blends playing experience, elite aAademy work and senior recruitment roles.

He played professionally for Ipswich Town, Livingston, Peterborough United and Stevenage, before transitioning into coaching and football operations at Ipswich Town, where he became Head of Academy Performance Analysis in 2014 and Head of Academy Recruitment three years later.

He moved into senior recruitment at Wycombe Wanderers in May 2023 before joining Oxford United as Head of Recruitment in December 2024, departing now to take the Brisbane Road post.

Oxford confirmed his exit in a statement from Head of Football Operations Ed Waldron, who said Mitchell had made a “significant and valuable contribution” to their recruitment team during his 18-month stint.

The appointment is framed within Orient’s long-term goal of competing sustainably at Championship level.