John Sitton

Former footballer; who has played for Chelsea (1977-80), Millwall (1980-81), Gillingham (1981-85), Leyton Orient (1985-91), and Slough Town (1991-92). By the end of his playing career, Sitton played in all of the top five divisions of English football. On retiring as a player, Sitton went into coaching, working with the Leyton Orient youth team until he was given the job of manager in spring of 1994. Sitton saved Orient from relegation, but the club were crippled with financial problems, verging on liquidation and the squad was halved in size. The documentary Orient: Club for a Fiver (1995) chronicled the troubled times at the relegation-bound club during the 1994-95 season, including two angry team-talks given by Sitton after lacklustre displays (which has since gone viral, making Sitton an internet cult figure). After new owner Barry Hearn took over Leyton Orient, he initially considered keeping Sitton on as manager before sacking him and co-manager Chris Turner. After leaving Brisbane Road, Sitton battled depression and had therapy, he had also trained coaching at the FA training centre at Lilleshall, alongside such managers as Alan Pardew and Kenny Jackett. Sitton was passed over for many club coaching jobs due to how he was perceived in Club for a Fiver, leaving him very disillusioned. In all, he spent nine years working for the FA Coaching Education Scheme from 1988-97. In 1997, Sitton began learning The Knowledge in order to become a London taxi driver, completing it in 2003 and becoming a licensed black cab driver, which Sitton does to this day. He also had a brief spell as a scout for Manchester City, where he was sent to scout and later recommended Arjan de Zeeuw, Tim Cahill and a young Frank Lampard to the club, before Joe Royle cleared out the backroom staff on his arrival as manager in 1998. Sitton had a short spell as assistant manager at Enfield FC and had two spells at Leyton FC. He also worked at the Press Association, compiling statistics for Arsenal matches for the Actim Index, and had also spent some time as a martial arts instructor and a PE teacher. Sitton currently works as a taxi driver. Between 2012-14 he was interviewed by TV producer Vernon Grant, with numerous videos on YouTube gaining tens of thousands of views, in which Sitton discussed his playing career and his time as Leyton Orient manager. In videos via Skype he discussed current events in football, told anecdotes and made score predictions. Sitton and Grant collaborated on an autobiography from early 2013, although the partnership dissolved in late 2014. After this setback, Sitton wrote his autobiography over 2015 and then spent a year trying to get it published. In November 2016, Sitton's 'A Little Knowledge is a Dangerous Thing: My Life in Football' was released. Sitton has also appeared on Pitch Talk's YouTube channel, discussing his life and career. He has also appeared several times on the Talksport radio station. Sitton has a wife and three children. They live in Chingford, London.