Exeter City F.C.

Exeter City vs Altrincham, a Conference National fixture played on 19 August 2006.

Football League (1920-2003)

City's historic first match in the Football League took place on Saturday 28 August 1920, when Brentford was the visiting team to St James Park. Exeter won 3-0.

In 1931, City reached the sixth round of the FA Cup, losing a replay 4-2 to Sunderland in front of its largest ever home gate. Fifty years later, City reached the sixth round again, but lost 2-0 to eventual winners Tottenham Hotspur. Earlier Exeter had beaten Newcastle United 4-0 having beaten Leicester City in the previous round.

The end of the 1970s and the very early 1980s were regarded as City's most successful spell in the Third Division, including a finish of 8th in 1979-80 and an FA Cup run the following season. Star players included Tony Kellow, John Delve and David Pullar.

City's only major trophy was the Fourth Division Championship which it won in 1990. In that season, City won 20 league games at St James Park, and remained undefeated in 31 home matches, including dramatic draws against Norwich City in the FA Cup and Sunderland in the League Cup 4th round, both of which featured late equalisers for the visitors.

Following that promotion, City rarely shone at the higher level. The departure of manager Terry Cooper and key players such as Shaun Taylor, Richard Dryden, Clive Whitehead, Brian McDermott and Steve Neville left new boss Alan Ball to pick up the pieces. There were some successes under the former World Cup winner - including winning both games against local rivals Plymouth in the clubs' first derbies for a decade - but Ball left for Southampton and the returning Cooper was unable to stop Exeter avoiding relegation.

Back in the bottom division, City struggled for several seasons, with chairman Ivor Doble taking the club into administration and starting a chain of events which resulted in the sale of the club's ground for what was considered by many to be a very low sum.

In 2003, City finished 23rd in Division Three and was relegated to the Conference National - Exeter was the first club to suffer automatic relegation without finishing bottom of the league. Exeter won its last game but was still relegated as Swansea City's victory over Hull City left the Grecians one point short of safety.

Conference Era (2004-2008)

Following relegation to the Conference, the club was taken over by the Exeter City Supporters Trust. In May 2007 two of the Directors who had been in charge during season 2002-2003 were convicted of fraudulent trading at the club, John Russell receiving a prison sentence and Mike Lewis a community service sentence.

Several million pounds in debt and with no big investor in sight, the Trust kept the club going through fund-raising activities amongst rank and file supporters. Complex legal arguments with both Inland Revenue and football authorities meant that City's first season of non-league football was plagued by off the field uncertainty.

In 2004, a Creditors Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) was put in place to reduce the club's debts. Through the club's "Red or Dead" scheme, hundreds of fans pledged at least £500 each to fund the CVA repayments, but the FA Cup proved to be the income boost the Grecians had needed, as City was drawn Manchester United away in the third round of the FA Cup. City drew 0-0 at Old Trafford in January 2005, gaining £653,511 as City's share of receipts from the near 70,000 attendance. Further income from a televised replay - won 2-0 by United - coupled with ongoing fund-raising and unpaid work from the club's supporters helped the club to repay its debts, and the CVA was cleared in December 2005.

2004 also saw the club's centenary. In May 2004 a friendly fixture was arranged against a Brazilian masters team at St James Park, a celebration of City's South American tour of 1914. The Brazilian team, containing such notable players as Careca and Dunga, won 1–0.

The Exeter team celebrates after the 2008 Conference National playoff final win.

City's first team finished the 2006–07 season in fifth place, qualifying for the play-offs. After beating Oxford United on penalties in the semi-final, City met Morecambe at Wembley in the final, where it lost 2–1 despite taking an early lead. Exeter reached the play-off final in the following season; this time Exeter looked to be heading out of the play-offs after losing the first leg of the semi-final at home to local rivals Torquay United 2-1 but came back to win the second leg 4-1 with 3 goals in the last 20 minutes. In the final Exeter met Cambridge United in front of a Conference play-off record crowd of 42,511, winning 1-0 with a goal from Rob Edwards, earning promotion to League Two.^[8]

Return to the Football League (2008-present)

The club followed on from its success in the Conference by finishing as runners up to Brentford in League Two with a goal from Richard Logan helping Exeter to win promotion to League One with a 1-0 win away to Rotherham United on the last day of the season.

2009-2010 was Exeter's 45th season in the third tier of English football. They have played more seasons in the third tier than any club who have never reached the top two tiers. The club remains owned by its fans, through the Exeter City Supporters Trust.

Nickname

The club is nicknamed The Grecians. This name has a disputed history, with many theories being proposed for its origin. No-one is sure of the definitive answer to why but one source suggests that the club voted for the name in 1908 because of its association with St Sidwells parish.^[9] People living in the parish of St Sidwells in Exeter have been known as "Greeks" or "Grecians" for many centuries.^[10] This is possibly due to the parish's location outside the city walls. In Homer's epic poem Iliad the Greek forces laid siege to the walls of Troy. The association possibly arose because of rivalries between city boys and St Sidwellians during the annual beating the bounds.^[11] It has also been suggested that there was a group of children in St Sidwells who were referred to as the 'Greasy Un's' and another possible, but unlikely source for the name was from clock that hung outside a jeweller's shop in Sidwell Street, close to the ground, which had the word 'Grecians' engraved or painted on the face.

A further possible source for the name is that it is a corruption of Caerwysg, the Welsh word for Exeter (similar to the Cornish word Karesk). Citizens would have been called Caer Iscuns which became Grecians.

Famous players, managers and fans

Famous players who have played for Exeter City include Cliff Bastin, who went on to play for Arsenal F.C. and England and goalkeeper Dick Pym, who went on to play for Bolton Wanderers F.C. and England. Other club legends included prolific 1930s striker Fred Whitlow, Arnold Mitchell, who played 495 games for City, Tony Kellow, City's record goalscorer, Ian Main, the gifted goalkeeper from the club's most successful years who died very young, Fred Binney and Darren Rowbotham in the 1980s and early 90s. Former England winger Lee Sharpe played four games for Exeter at the beginning of their 2002-03 Division Three campaign, scoring two goals. Matt Taylor, fans player of the season is now becoming a City legend because of his strong tackles and his bullet headers.

In 2002 pop singer Michael Jackson was made honorary director of Exeter City. He visited St James Park with celebrity friend Uri Geller.

After managing the club to a famous F.A. Cup Third Round draw at Old Trafford with Manchester United in 2005, Alex Inglethorpe left the club in June 2006 and Paul Tisdale was appointed. Past managers include the former England internationals Gerry Francis, Terry Cooper and the late Alan Ball. A moving tribute to Alan Ball was held at St James Park before City's Conference game against Southport, when Ball's name was again sung in Devon four days after his death.

In a survey published by the Professional Footballers' Association in December 2007, Alan Banks was listed as the all-time favourite player amongst Exeter City fans.

In May 2009 Paul Tisdale became Exeter's most successful manager by winning back-to-back promotions.

Famous fans include Coldplay frontman Chris Martin,^[12] Adrian Edmondson,^[13] Mark Nicol and Noel Edmonds has also been seen supporting Exeter City.

Honours

• FA Cup
  • Quarter-finalists - 1930-31, 1980–81

• Football League Third Division South
  • Runners-up - 1932-33 (Exeter's highest league position finish in history)

• Football League Third Division South Cup
  • Winners - 1934

• Football League Trophy
  • Southern Section Finalists - 1992-93, 1999-2000^[14]

• Football League Fourth Division / Football League Two
  • Champions - 1989-90
  • Runners-up - 1976-77, 2008–09
  • 4th Place, Promoted - 1963-64

• Conference National
  • Play-off Winners - 2007-08
  • Play-off Finalists - 2006-07

• FA Trophy
  • Semi-finalists - 2005-06

• FA Devon St. Lukes Challenge Bowl (Incomplete)
  • Champions - 1953-54, 1954-55 (Shared), 1958–59, 1960–61, 1961–62, 1973–74, 1996–97, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2008–09
  • Runners-up - 1936-37, 1945–46, 1957–58, 1969–70, 1971–72, 1997–98, 2006–07, 2009-10

Records

• Largest league victory^[15]
  • 8–1 v. Coventry City, 1926
  • 8–1 v. Aldershot, 1935 (the score was 0-0 against Aldershot at half-time!).

• Largest FA Cup victory - 14–0 v. Weymouth, 1908.
• Largest league defeat^[15]
  • 0–9 vs. Notts County, 1948
  • 0–9 vs. Northampton Town, 1958.

• Record home attendance^[16] - 20,984 vs. Sunderland, FA Cup Sixth Round Replay, 1931.

• Record away attendance^[16] - 67,551 vs. Manchester United at Old Trafford, FA Cup Third Round, 2005

Managers

Tenure Manager Notes 1908–1922 Arthur Chadwick 1923–1927 Fred Mavin 1928–1929 Dave Wilson 1929–1935 Billy McDevitt 1935–1939 Jack English 1945–1952 George Roughton 1952–1953 Norman Kirkman 1953–1953 Tim Ward 1953–1957 Norman Dodgin 1957–1958 Bill Thompson 1958–1960 Frank Broome 1960–1962 Glen Wilson

Tenure Manager Notes 1962–1963 Cyril Spiers 1963–1965 Jack Edwards 1965–1966 Ellis Stuttard 1966–1967 Jack Basford 1967–1969 Frank Broome Second tenure 1969–1976 Johnny Newman 1977–1979 Bobby Saxton 1979–1983 Brian Godfrey 1983–1984 Gerry Francis 1984–1985 Jim Iley 1985–1987 Colin Appleton

Tenure Manager Notes 1988–1991 Terry Cooper 1991–1994 Alan Ball 1994–1995 Terry Cooper Second tenure 1995–2000 Peter Fox 2000–2001 Noel Blake 2001–2002 John Cornforth 2002–2003 Neil McNab 2003 - 2003 Gary Peters 2003–2004 Eamonn Dolan 2004–2006 Alex Inglethorpe 2006–Present Paul Tisdale

Players

As of 3 August 2010.^[17]

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 2 DF Steve Tully 3 DF Richard Duffy 4 MF James Dunne 5 DF Troy Archibald-Henville 6 DF Matt Taylor 7 MF Ryan Harley 8 MF David Noble 9 FW Adam Stansfield 10 FW Daniel Nardiello 11 DF Scott Golbourne 12 FW Jamie Cureton 14 MF Bertie Cozic 15 DF Rob Edwards 16 FW Marcus Stewart 17 MF Paul Tisdale (Manager) 18 DF Billy Jones 19 FW Ben Watson 20 FW Richard Logan

No. Position Player 21 MF Jake Thomson 22 MF Liam Sercombe 23 DF Joe Heath 24 MF Elliot Frear 25 MF Chris Shephard 26 DF Scott Bennett 27 GK Paul Jones 28 GK Andy Marriott 29 FW John O'Flynn 30 GK Artur Krysiak 31 FW James Norwood 32 MF Dan Western 33 FW Kyle Bassett 34 MF Aaron Dawson 35 MF Noah Keats 36 DF Jack Furzer 38 GK Matt Armstrong-Ford

Rivalry

Traditionally, Exeter City's greatest rival is Plymouth Argyle, although it also has a friendly rivalry with local League Two side Torquay United.

Exeter City's most recent competitive game against Plymouth Argyle was held in 2002 at Home Park in a Division 3 fixture that Exeter City lost 3-0. Following an eight year period during much of which the sides were separated by three divisions, the rivalry will be renewed in the 2010–11 season following Argyle's relegation into League One, in which division Exeter secured their place in the final game of the season.

Exeter City's last competitive games against Torquay United were in the Conference play-off semi-finals. The first leg was held on Thursday 1 May 2008; Exeter lost to Torquay 2-1 at St James Park in front of over 8,200 fans. However, on Monday 5 May 2008 in the return leg at Plainmoor, Exeter beat Torquay 4-1 to clinch a 5-3 aggregate win for a place in the Conference National final for the second year in succession.

See also

• List of Fan Owned Teams

References

External links

• Official Website
• Supporters Trust
• Official Football in the Community website
• Exeter City F.C. on BBC Sport: Club News – Recent results – Upcoming fixtures – Club stats