Jake Richards, a central midfielder from Exeter, signed for Exeter City as a scholar/trainee after finishing school in 2023. He had been with the club’s academy since the under-12 category. Soon after starting at the club on a full-time basis he made his debut in a League Cup tie on his 16th birthday.

He played as an under-16 for Exeter City under-18s in Youth Alliance games in 2022/23 and also featured in the squad for FA Youth Cup games that season. Starting his traineeship/scholarship in July 2023 Jake appeared in a first-team friendly at Mousehole before making his full debut as a late substitute in the League Cup against Crawley Town on 8 August 2023. He subsequently played his first league game, as a starter, against Leyton Orient on 9 September 2023.

Participating in one league game, an FA Cup tie, two League Cup matches and two Football League Trophy fixtures during his first half-a-dozen appearances for the first-team, Jake also featured in the club's FA Youth Cup game at Reading City in November 2023. Then, after spending the middle part of the season playing for the club's under-18 team, Jake returned to the first-team in April 2024 with a substitute appearance against Stevenage and a start in the game at Leyton Orient followed by three other substitute appearances.

With such a strong run at the end of the season, Jake had clocked-up a dozen first-team appearances whilst still a 16-year-old scholar/trainee.