Richie Wellens is dreaming of creating more lifelong memories for Leyton Orient fans as they prepare to face his old club Salford in the FA Cup second round on Friday (19:30 GMT).
Orient made it through to round four last season and led Man City 1-0 until just before the hour mark thanks to a memorable early strike from Jamie Donley which went into the net via the bar and goalkeeper Stefan Ortega before Pep Guardiola’s side edged through 2-1.
The O’s 2025/26 run began in less auspicious fashion, nicking a 1-0 win at National League Tamworth in round one to book a trip to Salford, where Wellens had short spells as a player and later as a manager in 2020/21 – a season greatly impacted by the pandemic.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Wellens said his spell at City was not as “significant” as his previous one with Swindon, where he won the League Two title.
“The memories I had at Swindon were special, we have that feeling of we won something together, at Salford it’s difficult, no fans, no interaction with the supporters. It was difficult times for everyone.
“It’s not a period I look back at with any fond memories, it was a weird part of our lives. They have moved on, I have moved on. I wish them all the best, I like (manager) Karl Robinson, I played with (coach) Alex Bruce, obviously I want them to get knocked out on Friday, but I hope at the end of the season they can get promoted.”
He added: “The FA Cup is a brilliant tournament. It’s nice to play away from home sometimes, with teams we’ve not had a chance to play for a while and a new ground, it’s nice for me as I can spend the weekend in Manchester after it.
“It’s a tough game but I’m looking forward to it.”
The motivation for Wellens is a repeat of last season’s fairytale run, where they beat Boreham Wood, Oldham and knocked Championship Derby out on penalties before facing Manchester City.
“For the memories our young supporters can have, the fact that Pep was panicking because we were close to knocking them out, he’s bringing Foden and De Bruyne on, taking it to the corner flag, it was brilliant.
“We obviously want to get to that round again and hopefully get one of the big boys.
“We made quite a bit of money last year which helped us and allowed me to invest a bit of money in January and get to the (League One) play-offs.”
Follow live text coverage of Salford v Leyton Orient from 19:00 GMT on Friday.
