Dean Brill was on the Colchester United substitutes’ bench to witness Leyton Orient hit rock bottom two years ago just as he was wondering whether he would ever play football again.

The game was suspended for two hours as Orient fans stormed the pitch to protest against then owner Francesco Becchetti following relegation from the Football League for the first time in the club’s history.

Goalkeeper Brill had not played a game for two years, having spent a season out because of a rupture of the patella tendon in his knee and then failing to make a single appearance for Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Motherwell or Colchester after returning to fitness.

But if ever one player can embody Orient’s rise from the ashes, then it is Brill, who can help the club become only the fourth in history to complete a National League and FA Trophy double against Fylde at Wembley on Sunday and can also set a clean-sheet record.

“I was on the bench with Colchester at the end of the season when all the Leyton Orient fans ran on to protest and we couldn’t finish the game,” said Brill. “You were sitting there thinking ‘this is crazy’. I knew it was a big deal, but I didn’t fully know what was going on at Orient.