Exeter City FC was formed from two predecessor clubs: - Exeter United and St Sidwell's United. Exeter United was a football club from Exeter, Devon, that 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 was 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. The team played in St Sidwell's old colours of green and white.
On September 10 1904, Exeter City played its first ever competitive match: - a 2-1 victory at St James 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 its 1st season, and transferred to the Plymouth & District League for next 3 seasons.
In 1908, Exeter City AFC became a limited company. City became 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 its 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 its current 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 abandoned its 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 it played 8 matches against teams in Argentina and Brazil. The Brazil national football 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. The result of the match is disputed, with some sources claiming City lost 2-0, whilst others claiming a 3-3 draw. 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 was invited by the Football League to become founder members of the Third Division in 1920.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 the Inland Revenue and the 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.
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.
The club remains owned and run by its fans, through the Exeter City Supporters Trust. |