Since its Special General Meeting in February, LOFT has been doing its bit to keep Leyton Orient's supporters on the Olympic Stadium agenda. Below is an end-of-season round-up of what's been happening, and the next steps:

• We have been in continued contact with Jennette Arnold OBE, the London Assembly Member for North East London, who has asked a number of Mayoral Questions about the issue and has pledged her full backing in fighting for the future of Leyton Orient.
• On behalf of (and with input from) LOFT and the Supporters Club, the Football Supporters' Federation has launched a Save Leyton Orient petition that has, to date, garnered over 3,600 signatures.
• We looked into the possibility of seeking judicial review, on the proviso that this should be in the interests of supporters (not just the club or its chairman) and not negatively affect the club's own legal proceedings. After consideration, we feel that all grounds for legal recourse that LOFT would wish to follow have been covered by the club's own solicitors, and we will not be pursuing this further. We fully support the club's legal proceedings against the London Borough of Newham.
• We wrote to the FA, Premier League and Football League - the responses we received from the latter two, which are reproduced at the end of this article, will look depressingly familiar to those who have written separatly to those organisations. We are frankly disappointed, but not surprised, that the Premier League refuses to recognise its duties under its rules, and that the Football League does not appear willing to stand up for a member club.

On announcing the launch of judicial review proceedings, O's chairman Barry Hearn stated that the club, the Supporters Club and LOFT are all pulling together in this situation, and we fully endorse that statement. Our stated aim since it became likely that a Premier League club would be given preferred bidder status, has been for the Olympic Stadium to be used as a community resource for sports and activities other than football, and this is still the main objective.

LOFT members and Orient supporters in general can continue to help by spreading the word among football supporters outside the Orient family; we would like to see another few thousand signatures to the FSF petition at least. Our thanks go to those who have been active in raising awareness around the football world.

LOFT will continue to keep up the pressure on football's authorities to stop ignoring Leyton Orient - in particular, now that West Ham are no longer a Premier League club, we call on the Football League to ignore the Premier League's rubber-stamping of the move, and to consider it fully in light of its own, identically-worded, rules regarding stadium moves. We will also continue to work with the FSF, Supporters Direct and other Trusts on all matters Olympic Stadium-related, and as noted above we are continuing to meet with Jennette Arnold to apply pressure politically.

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Reply received from the Premier League (4/3/11):

Thank you for your email regarding the decision by the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) as to the future of the Olympic Stadium site. 

At the request of Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United the Premier League Board considered whether a prospective move to the Olympic Stadium, should either club be granted use of the site by the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC), would be compliant with Premier League Rules.

In reaching its decision we took into account the relevant factors set out in Rule I.6.

The Board came to the decision that on balance it would be unreasonable to prevent either Tottenham Hotspur or West Ham United from moving to the Olympic Site as long as they satisfied all of the relevant criteria stipulated by appropriate Olympic and statutory authorities.

With particular reference to Leyton Orient, full consideration was given to a letter written by its Chairman, Barry Hearn, to the Premier League prior to the Board meeting at which the decision was taken. In the letter Mr. Hearn accepted that either Tottenham Hotspur or West Ham United would inevitably move into the Olympic Stadium while outlining his preference for Tottenham Hotspur. Mr. Hearn enclosed a copy of a separate letter written to the Tottenham Hotspur Chairman in which he wished him ‘all success for the prospective move.’

After the Board had met and reached its decision the Premier League General Secretary wrote to Mr. Hearn informing him of its decision, the reasoning behind it and thanking him for his correspondence.

It is regrettable that Mr. Hearn is now claiming that Leyton Orient had no input into the Board’s decision making process when their views, as expressed in writing at the time by Mr. Hearn, were given due consideration. Clearly the position currently being articulated by Mr. Hearn in the media is at odds with his original submission.

The League has no view on the comparative merits of Tottenham Hotspur or West Ham United’s bids. It was ultimately the responsibility of the OPLC to decide how the site would be used following the 2012 Olympic Games.

I hope this answers your questions and explains the formal consultation and written correspondence concerning this matter.

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Reply received from the Football League (4/3/11):

Thank you for your email. The Olympic Park Legacy Company 2012 is responsible for the long-term planning, development, management and maintenance of the Olympic Park and its facilities after the London 2012 Games.  

Unfortunately The League cannot comment on the matter, only to state that, as West Ham Utd are a Premier League club, any application for them to relocate from their current home ground is to be considered under the auspices of the Rules of the Premier League, Football League rules are not applicable at this time.  For that reason, it would be inappropriate for us to comment on the matter at this time. 

Thank you for contacting The League.