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A brief history of Exeter City FC
By Nathan Jackson
July 21 2008
Exeter City were formed 104 years ago following the merger of two other teams. One of three teams in the country to play at a ground called "St James' Park", Exeter City were the first side to make consecutive non-league Playoff finals, losing to Morecambe in one and beating Cambridge United in the other.
Exeter City was formed after a merger of Exeter United FC and St Sidwell's United. Exeter United were the first team to adopt the word "United" at the end of their name. They continued to play at United's St James' Park, a field used to fatten pigs back in those days. The first competitive match played by Exeter City was a 2-1 victory over the 110th Battery of the Royal Artillery in the East Devon League. The goal was scored by Sid Thomas, a man associated with a club for the next 70 years.

Exeter topped the East Devon League, only failing to win three of their games and they transferred to the Plymouth and District League. 1908 saw the club become Exeter City AFC and become a limited company, going full time simultaneously. They joined the Southern League, replacing Tottenham Hotspur.

The Grecians' red and white kit came after the Grecians dumped their "unlucky" green and white kit after a poor start to the season. Their form suddenly upturned and they made a seemingly random tour of South America in 1914, facing Argentina and Brazil. The game against Brazil was the five time World Cup champion's first ever game.

They became founder members of the Football League's Third Division in 1920, accepting an invitation from the FL. Exeter's first League game saw a 3-0 home win over Brentford. A long period of mainly mediocrity finally saw Exeter City win their first (and to date only) major trophy in the Football League, the Fourth Division Championship in 1990.

However, Exeter returned to the League soon afterwards and turned into a bit of a circus in 2002/3. Uri Gellar took control of the Grecians at the start of the season, with Michael Jackson and David Blaine becoming board members. It was a surreal situation and it was hardly surprising that they were relegated at the end of the 2002/3 season, leaving the League after 73 years. John Cornforth was sacked early on and was replaced by Neil McNab, his first game saw Scott Willis score past him from 25 yards and it wasn't long before Gary Peters replaced him. Despite a final day win over Southend, they were relegated thanks to Swansea's 4-2 win over Hull City.

2004 saw Exeter City face Brazil in a centenary celebration. Brazil fielded a strong side and eventually went on to win the game 1-0.  Not a bad result against the then World Champions.

Exeter looked doomed due to mounting debts but a FA Cup tie against Manchester United was a lifeline for the club, especially after they gained a replay with a credibly 0-0 draw at Old Trafford. They gained £653,511 from that tie and even more from the replay, although United would win the replay 2-0. This money allowed Exeter to re-establish themselves.

It wasn't long before Exeter were challenging for promotion and they met Morecambe FC at Wembley in 2006/7 to determine who would win promotion to the Football League. Exeter took the lead before Morecambe turned the game around to deservedly win 2-1.

The following season saw them competing for the last Playoff spot for most of the season with Forest Green and Stevenage, but the spot went to Exeter City and they faced Torquay in the semis. Their local rivals won the first League and also scored the first goal in the game at Plainmoor, but 4 goals in the final twenty minutes meant that Exeter City became the first side in non-League history to make the Conference/BSP Playoff final in successive years.

They faced a tough Cambridge United side in the final. The U's had been challenging for automatic promotion all season long and went into the game as heavy favourites. However, a Rob Edwards goal meant that Exeter won the game 1-0 and they won promotion to the League five years after losing their place. Ex-Imp Richard Logan ended up as Exeter's top scorer that season, scoring 18 goals.

It brought to an end five seasons in which their lowest finishing position was 7th in 2005/6. Their other finishes were 6th (twice), 5th and 4th.

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