Football supporters are a stoical bunch. We may sometimes blow our tops at bad performances or bad results, but we usually come back happily for more. It takes a lot to force us into more organised forms of protest, write the Leyton Orient Fan Trust Committee.

But Leyton Orient’s rapid decline since losing on penalties at Wembley in the 2014 League One play-off final, and since Francesco Becchetti’s takeover of the club that same summer, has put the O’s on the brink of serious crisis.

The club’s losses have risen (over £4million last year), expensive failure on the pitch has left the club exposed to potentially calamitous debts as a result of the owner’s loans (up to around £9m), while the bewildering turnover of players and managers under Becchetti have damaged stability, morale and team performance.

Orient supporters have every right to be worried.

Communication from the owner has been patchy to put it mildly. Apart from one tightly-controlled meeting with supporters at the club in the summer, he has declined to meet supporters’ representatives, or explain himself to the media. We at the LOFT have written to him on several occasions seeking dialogue. To no avail.

Since the start of the season membership has trebled to around 600 as the turbulence of Becchetti’s first two seasons in charge has continued.

Last week, more than 150 crammed into the upstairs room of a Leyton pub on Thursday night to discuss our club’s plight and what we might do to help it recover.

An evening of passionate, informed debate followed, and it was agreed to bring attention to our plight by staging a protest march before Saturday’s match against Blackpool, a club whose fans have also been in dispute with their chairman, Karl Oyston.

Fans of both clubs will march to the ground with banners bearing the words ‘We want our club back’. Supporters will also be asked to ‘stand up for the Orient’ in song on the 18th minute, reflecting the origins of both our clubs, which date back to the 1800s and are now at risk.

We stress this will not be a protest aimed at the team – we hope Orient fans will get right behind the players and build on their excellent result at Colchester.

This demonstration is not just about the team’s results, but about creating a more accountable and sustainable club, one not run solely on a rich man’s whim. We have always prided ourselves on being an open and friendly community club. We need that spirit back.

We are not alone. Supporters have been in open revolt at several clubs around the country – at Charlton, Coventry and Blackburn to name three this season. We have received greatly appreciated messages of support from fans of other clubs in recent weeks.

Former Orient players have also rallied to the cause. Terry Howard, Matt Lockwood, John Mackie and Steve Castle are among 25 to have pledged support to LOFT in recent weeks.

These are difficult and complicated matters, but these are difficult and complicated times at Orient, and it is clear fans are prepared to rise to the challenge.

Our club matters – to fans, to the community, to football. Let’s get it back.