The protest before the Leyton Orient game last Saturday was described as a massive success by the organisers, Push the Boundary. Around 300 Latics' fans marched from the White Hart pub to the ground to show their frustration to Latics' owner Abdallah Lemsagam. Looking for changes, they are concerned with the direction the club are heading under the current regime at Boundary Park. They were also joined by some members of the Leyton Orient Fans’ Trust. On arrival at the ground, fans handed back their free scarves that were given to season ticket holders ahead of the 2018/19 season.
The group also sent a letter to Lemsagam on 6th November to outline concerns. It was signed by almost 600 disgruntled fans, collected in just a week. The Latics hierarchy had offered them to meet with financial director Shahed Alam and managing director Natalie Atkinson but they rejected the offer, looking to meet with the owner himself. The result of the protest was that Lemsagam was now willing to meet with the concerned supporters. The main concerns are that since the takeover in January 2018, issues have arisen over relegation, the turnover of managers, player recruitment, finances and falling crowds.
The organisers commented, “A massive thank you to everyone that took time out of their day to join us on the protest. Weeks in the planning and we genuinely don’t think it could have gone any better. We got our message across loud and clear. This is just the beginning.”