Frank Clark hailed O’s boss Justin Edinburgh and the work of owners Nigel Travis and Kent Teague

Frank Clark believes the future looks bright for Leyton Orient again with a manager in place who knows what he is doing and owners who understand the club.

Promotions have been something of a rarity in O’s history, but the 75-year-old was one of the few to take the team up during the 1988/89 campaign.

Clark, who was manager and chief executive at Brisbane Road, returned to Orient on Tuesday, November 27 to see the National League leaders face Aldershot Town and even though it ended goalless, he is optimistic this season will finish with success.

He said: “Justin Edinburgh’s obviously doing a great job and I believe the people running the football club have reconnected with the fans, which is very important.

“I have seen the crowd and it is terrific and they have had some great results and hopefully they can keep it going and get back into the league.”

After spending 12 years at Orient, the club has a big place in Clark’s heart along with Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United.

It hurt the one-time O’s assistant to see the team struggling in recent seasons under the infamous ownership of Francesco Becchetti.

Under the Italian’s stewardship, Orient went from on the verge of the Championship to being a National League team.

As falls from grace go, it was a big one, but Clark is thrilled chairman Nigel Travis and principal owner Kent Teague understand why the club is so special.

He added: “The last few years especially, obviously it was very upsetting to see the club go downhill.

“Bad results can happen to any club, but when the club was continuously in the newspaper and media for the wrong reasons it was really dispiriting.

“It was terrible for supporters to see the club really dragged through the dirt and for them to drop out of the league at the end of that season was a massive, massive blow for me and I am sure everyone associated with the club.

“Thankfully they seem to have people running and owning the club now who want to do things the right way. They seem to have reconnected with the supporters and I think the future here looks really bright now.”

Orient are top at the halfway mark of the season and their legendary manager believes it is a great position to be in.

Clark concluded: “I hope they get promoted and keep this going. People sometimes say they don’t want to be top too early well I don’t believe in that.

“I think if you get the points in the bag and you are up at the top then everyone has to catch you.”