Ex-Town full-back and long-serving academy staff member Scott Mitchell has been appointed the director of football at League One Leyton Orient.

Mitchell, 40, was previously head of recruitment at Oxford United, having been in a similar role at Wycombe Wanderers after leaving Town in the summer of 2023.

Ely-born Mitchell had been working as the Blues’ head of academy recruitment, having made two senior starts and two sub appearances for the club under Joe Royle after coming through the academy.

Following spells in Scotland with Livingston, with Peterborough and in non-league, Mitchell returned to Town as an academy coach in 2012, later taking on a head of academy performance analysis role and then his recruitment position at Playford Road in October 2017.

“Having spoken to members of the board of directors and [head coach and former Town loanee] Richie [Wellens], this feels like an incredibly exciting time to be joining Leyton Orient.  

“This club has achieved great success in recent years but what is clear to me is the desire for more. Ultimately, that is why I wanted to take this position. My role will be about laying the foundations to allow the club to achieve more sustainable success in the long term.

“I want to use my experience to help all areas of our footballing departments grow; recruitment, developing a high-performance environment, academy pathway and processes.”

Leyton Orient majority shareholder David Gandler said: “I am delighted to welcome Scott to East London. He is a highly-thought-of individual with extensive experience across a number of key areas within football.

“Recruitment is a vitally important part of the director of football role but, as well as this, the position is about improving all facets of our sporting departments.

“Scott has a strong understanding of academies, analysis, physical performance, coaching and player recruitment, which will all benefit us.

“Our long-term goal remains to become a club that can compete sustainably at Championship level and I believe that Scott can have an extremely positive impact on the footballing side of the club.”

Chairman Nigel Travis added: “When Martin Ling left us in March, I spoke publicly and said that the director of football role was an area that we’d review going forwards. So why now? 

“We underperformed significantly last season [finishing 20th] and, since we secured our League One status on the final day of the campaign, we have conducted a thorough review of our footballing operations. 

“We believe that now is the correct time for a new director of football to come in and help drive our footballing departments forward.

“Scott ticks all of our boxes, in terms of having experience across the whole sporting side of a football club and has a track record of success. I am very pleased to welcome him to our club.”

Photo: Action Images via Reuters