Exeter City F.C.
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Exeter City Football Club are an English football club, based in Exeter, who have played in the Football League for most of its history, but now play in the Conference National or Blue Square Premier.
Facts and recordsCity were founded in 1904 and began playing on an old field used for fattening pigs, St James Park (not to be confused with the home of Newcastle United) Exeter remain at St James Park to this day. The club is nicknamed "The Grecians". City's home kit consists of red and white shirts, black shorts, and black socks. Their away kit is blue. City's record league victories are their 8-1 triumphs against Coventry City in 1926 and Aldershot in 1935 (the score was 0-0 against Aldershot at half-time!). In the FA Cup, they beat Aberdare Athletic 9-1 in 1927. City's record league defeats are the 9-0 defeats against Notts County in 1948 and Northampton Town in 1958. Exeter City's record home attendance at St. James' Park is 20,984 who witnessed Exeter lose 4-2 to Sunderland in an FA Cup Sixth Round Replay in 1931. Exeter City's record away attendance was 67,551 in January 2005 at Old Trafford, watching City draw 0-0 with Manchester United in the FA Cup Third Round. The highest number of City fans watching an Exeter City game was probably at the Conference play-off final in 2007, when over 30,000 Grecians made it to the Wembley Stadium[1]. History
 Early historyExeter City FC was formed from two predecessor clubs: - Exeter United F.C. and St Sidwell's United. Exeter United were a football club from Exeter, Devon, who played between 1890 and 1904. In 1904, Exeter United lost 3-1 to local rivals St Sidwell's United and after the match, it was agreed that the two clubs should become one. The new team took the name Exeter City and continued to play at Exeter United's ground, St James Park, where Exeter City still play today. The team formed from the cricket team of the same name and thus the first football team with the moniker 'United'. St Sidwell's United (which had also been known as St Sidwell's Wesleyans and St Sidwell's Old Boys) was a club that had formed from the regulars who frequented the Foresters Inn in Sidwell Street, Exeter; although the public house was always known as the Drum and Monkey. They played in St Sidwell's old colours of green and white. On September 10 1904, Exeter City played their first ever competitive match: - a 2-1 victory at St James's over 110th Battery of the Royal Artillery, in the East Devon League. The attendance was 600, and the winning goal scored by Sid Thomas, who was to serve the club in various capacities for 70 years. City topped the East Devon League with 11 wins, 2 draws, 1 defeat in their 1st season, and transferred to the Plymouth & District League for next 3 seasons. In 1908, Exeter City AFC became a limited company. City become a full-time professional team, and applied successfully for membership of the Southern League, replacing Tottenham Hotspur. A wooden grandstand was erected, and the club entered into a leasing arrangement over the ground. On October 3, 1908, City got their record highest FA Cup win: - Exeter City 14 Weymouth 0. The match was in the 1st Qualifying Round. James ("Daisy") Bell scored 6 goals, and 10 of Exeter's 14 goals came in the first half. City changed to their modern colours of red and white in 1910. This was after having had a poor start to the season (only 2 wins out of 11). City abandon supposedly unlucky green and white kit, and turned out for the first time in red and white striped shirts at home to West Ham United on November 12. The result of the game was a 0-0 draw, but 5 consecutive League wins came for the club in December. City made an historic tour of South America in 1914, during which time they played 8 matches against teams in Argentina and Brazil. The Brazilian national team is believed to have played its first ever game against City on July 27, at the Laranjeiras stadium, Rio de Janeiro, home of Fluminense Football Club. City lost 2-0. That was the last match of the tour, which yielded 5 wins, 1 draw and 2 defeats. The only other loss was in a match that kicked off 12 hours after the players got off the boat. Exeter City were invited by the Football League to become founder members of the Third Division in 1920. Football League Era (1920-2003)City's historic first match in the Football League took place on Saturday 28 August 1920, when Brentford were the visitors 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 their largest ever home gate. Fifty years later, City reached the sixth round again, but lost 2-0 to eventual winners Tottenham Hotspur. Earlier they had beaten Newcastle United 4-0, perhaps City's greatest ever result. City's only major trophy was the Fourth Division Championship which they won in 1990. In that incredible season, City won 20 league games at St James Park, and remained undefeated in 31 home matches, including dramatic draws against Norwich (FA Cup) and Sunderland (League Cup 4th round) both of which featured heart-breaking late equalisers for the visitors. The 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. 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 happy times under the former World Cup winner - including taking six points off local rivals Plymouth in the clubs' first derbies for a decade - but Ball left for Southampton and the returning Cooper spent money the club couldn't afford trying, and failing, to avoid 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 a very low sum. In 2003, City finished 23rd in Division Three and were relegated to the Nationwide Conference as a result - the first club to suffer automatic relegation without finishing bottom of the league. Exeter won their last game but were still relegated as Swansea's victory over Hull left the Grecians one point short of safety. Recent HistoryFollowing 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.John Russell received a prison sentence and Mike Lewis Community Service for fraudulent trading at the Club. Several million pounds in debt and with no big investor in sight, the Trust kept the club alive through desperate fund-raising amongst rank and file supporters. Complex legal arguments with both the Inland Revenue and the football authorities meant that City's first season of non league football was a nightmare of never-ending off the field uncertainty. In 2004, a Creditors Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) was finally put in place to reduce the club's debts. Hundreds of fans pledged at least £500 each to fund the CVA repayments, but the FA Cup proved to be the miracle the Grecians had been praying for. City beat Braintree, Grimsby of League 2 and Doncaster of League 1 to reach the third round, and the Sunday afternoon Cup draw proved to be the saving of the club: "Manchester United will play - number 64 - Exeter City". City drew 0-0 at Old Trafford in January 2005, and the romance of the Cup brought with it £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 dedicated supporters helped the club to finally repay its debts, and the CVA was cleared in December 2005. The club continues to strive to bring League football back to Exeter, while also working to involve the community. Its Youth Development work is a key success, with Exeter City reaching the FA Youth Cup 3rd Round in 2006, when they lost at home to Newcastle United. City's first team finished that 06/07 season in fifth place, thereby qualifying for the end of season Conference play-offs They lost at home in the first leg to Oxford United, 0-1. The second leg at Oxford was 1-2 in normal time, extra time remained scoreless and City won 4-3 on penalties. They went on to meet Morecambe FC at Wembley on Sunday May 20th for a chance to be promoted, but lost 2-1 after going 1-0 up early on and keeper Paul Jones saving a Morecambe penalty and then the rebound. The GreciansThe club's nickname has a disputed history, with many theories being proposed for its origin. No one is sure of the definitive answer to why Exeter City became known as the Grecians but one source suggests that the club voted for the name in 1908[2] because of its association with St Sidwells parish: The Parish Of St Sidwells Theory: Exeter City football club formed from the predecessor club St Sidwells United in 1904. People living in the parish of St Sidwells in Exeter have been know as "Greeks" or "Grecians" for many centuries, as noted in Southey's Common-Place Book in 1669.[3] This is possibly due to the parish's location outside the city walls. In Homer's epic poem "The Iliad" the Greek forces laid siege to the walls of Troy. The association possibly arrose because of rivalries between city boys and St Sidwellians during the annual beating the bounds.[4] 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. The Caerwysc Theory: A further possible source for the name is that it is a corruption of Caerwysc, a Roman name for Exeter. Citizens would have been called Caer Iscuns which became Grecians. The "we hate green scum" theory: It has been suggested that after a derby game against fierce rivals Plymouth Argyle, Exeter fans were reported by a bemused local newspaper as chanting "we are Grecians". In fact, they were chanting "we hate green scum". Nevertheless, the name stuck.[citation needed] This is unlikely for a number of reasons, as the club were known as "The Grecians" from their earliest days, before they even played Plymouth in a competitive match. Also, Exeter's first strip was green. More to the point, the 'theory' was invented by City fanzine The Exe Directory as part of a comic look at nickname theories. Centenary celebrationsIn May 2004 in commemoration of the club's centenary a friendly fixture was arranged against a Brazilian masters team at St James Park. Which, bearing in mind the 1914 fixture in Brazil, meant things had come full circle. The Brazilian team contained such notable players as Careca and Dunga. Brazil won 1-0. Famous players, managers and fansFamous 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, and Darran 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. 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. Honours
Managers
Season-by-season record
Source: Exeter City at the Football Club History Database PlayersCurrent squad
RivalryTraditionally, Exeter City's two greatest rivals are the local teams Plymouth Argyle and Torquay United. Exeter City's last competitive game against Plymouth Argyle was held in 2002 at Home Park in a Division 3 fixture that Exeter City lost 3-0. Due to the difference in leagues between the two clubs (Argyle are currently three divisions above Exeter) it is unlikely that the two clubs will meet in the near future other than in the FA Cup, should Exeter make it to the Third Round which they have done on several occasions within the last decade. Exeter City's last competitive games against Torquay United was in a Conference National tie held on Wednesday 26th December 2007 at St James Park in front of nearly 8,000 fans. The match was a classic derby match with goals, drama, bookings (including the Seaborne-Sills incident) and action from start to finish. Exeter eventually won the match 4-3. Torquay United won the return leg on January 1st 2008 1-0 at Plainmoor in front of just over 6,000 fans. Notes and references
See alsoExternal links
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