Exeter City F.C. is an English football club, based in Exeter, who have played in the English Football League for most of its history, but now play in the Nationwide Conference.

Facts and records

City were founded in 1904 and moved to their current home, St James's Park (not to be confused with the home of Newcastle United), in 1906. They are nicknamed 'The Grecians' for reasons lost in the mists of time. City's home kit consists of red and white shirts, white shorts, and red and white socks. Their away kit is purple. 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 defeat are the 9-0 defeats against Notts County in 1948 and Northampton Town in 1958.

History

In 1914, Exeter City were the opposition in Brazil's first international match (Brazil won 2-0). In 1920 they joined the Football League as a founder member of Division 3. 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 trophy was the Fourth Division Championship which they won in 1990. In 1995, City finished bottom of the league, but were spared relegation because Macclesfield Town, who would have replaced them, were deemed to have inadequate facilities. In 2003, however, City finished second bottom of the Football League and were relegated to the Nationwide Conference as a result.

Having stuggled financially and flitered with closure during their time in the Conference, The Grecians were given a huge boost in December 2004 after being drawn away to Manchester United in the FA Cup third round. Exeter caused the suprise of the afternoon by holding the FA Cup Holders to a 0-0 draw, ensuring a replay at The Grecians St James' Park home. Having already secured money from the initial tie's gate receits and television rights, the replay now stands to earn Exeter more money, going a long way to clearing the club's remaining debts.

Famous players and managers

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, and Darran Rowbotham in the 1980s and early 90s.

City's current manager is Alex Inglethorpe. Past managers include the former England internationals Gerry Francis, Terry Cooper and Alan Ball.

City were in the news during the 2002-03 season when Uri Geller became Honrary Co-Chairman, appointing Michael Jackson and Star Wars actor David Prowse as Honorary Directors. However, since then the running of the club has been taken over by a supporters' trust.

Former England winger Lee Sharpe played a handful of games for Exeter at the beginning of their 2002-03 Division Three campaign which ended in relegation. But Sharpe will be best remembered for his eight years (1988-1996) at Manchester United during which he was voted PFA Young Player of the Year in 1991 and in the early 1990's was capped eight times for the England team. But at the age of 25 he was sold to Leeds United because he could not steal his favourite left wing position off Ryan Giggs. And from then on it was a downhill spiral. His time at Leeds was ruined by injury, which caused him miss the whole 1997-98 season, and a brief loan spell with Sampdoria in Italy was unsuccessful. In March 1999 he signed for Bradford City and was a key player in their Division One run-in which saw them return to the top division after a 77-year exile. Sharpe then helped Bradford to survive two seasons in the Premiership but then he lost his place and spent most of the 2000-01 season on loan at Portsmouth. He then returned to Bradford for the 2001-02 season back in Division One but due to the club's financial problems was then given a free transfer. After his brief spell at Exeter, Sharpe spent a short time playing in Iceland before retiring in the summer of 2003 at the age of 32.