ECFC 2018/19

  • Ninth, but a reason to look up for Exeter City Fans?

It may have been yet another season of ‘close but no cigar’ in East Devon, but there is plenty for City fans to be positive about.

The Boss:

The Grecians will be content with Matt Taylor’s first season in the charge of the club; his matter-of-fact approach has really been welcomed by the club. Taylor has been unafraid to voice his opinion on the team, shown by his comments on James Hamon’s departure and several free agent situations. He certainly seeks to improve the club in his own mould - that’s what you get with a hardened former Centre-back at the helm! His transparency has also gone a long way with the fans and ensured a somewhat smooth transition season from former boss Paul Tisdale. It will be interesting to see what Taylor can achieve in his second full season, given the evident resources at his disposal.

The Players:  

In a season that has seen the loss of the club’s top scorer, Jayden Stockley, plus Troy Brown to injury, Hiram Boateng to MK Dons and servant Christy Pym to Peterborough, there is still a lot of promise remaining in the squad. Stockley’s move to Preston NE left a gap in the City frontline, but Matt Jay and January signing Ryan Bowman showed they could certainly compete with their goals in the last part of the season. Jay’s speed and link up play paired with Bowman’s tenacity and work-rate could well form the attacking building blocks for City’s 2019/20 campaign.

City’s fullbacks, with 85 league appearances between them, have also shown their worth this season. Dean Moxey’s performances have been as solid as ever at left-back, despite earning himself a couple of ‘passionate’ early baths in the first part of the campaign. Pierce Sweeney has improved on the opposite side of defence, even bagging himself 4 goals in the process including a peach against Cheltenham in September. The 24-year-old’s third season at the club seems to have cemented him as one of the leaders in the dressing room, with his ability to provide crosses and also stay solid on the right. Sweeney has shown his prowess in the tenacious, as well as modern, side of a full-back’s game.

Captain Jake Taylor has also showcased his ability in midfield, whilst Lee Holmes remains a big part of City at age 32. These players have brought stability to a changing team – something I’m sure the Gaffer will be more than pleased about.

But the young talent coming through the club is perhaps most exciting. Archie Collins has been the brightest spark, showing very evident glimpses of his talent in his 33 appearances this season. Although Archie only scored once this campaign, that strike away at Swindon will surely be one he will never forget. I’m sure all City fans are hoping he can add a bit of consistency to his game, which could make the 19-year-old a match-winner.  

Randell Williams has also gone under the radar. Having seen some of his fine performances for the youth team myself, Williams finally edged his way into the squad in the latter part of the campaign. Randell failed to net for The Grecians, but his progress should not go unspoken of. Part of the Retained List at the end of the campaign, Williams is obviously thought of highly by those at the club. 

All in all, the departure of key men at the end of this campaign should not cloud the progression of certain players in the squad. City have a balance of youth and experience: a fine mix for an EFL side.

The Season: 

Undoubtedly, the season did not finish how City fans and management would have liked. Yet, it was perhaps what should have been expected. Injuries to Boateng and Brown undoubtedly affected the spine of the team, with City occasionally playing a back 3 in the absence of two first-team centre backs. Although Dara O’Shea’s loan signing plugged the gap somewhat, Brown was surely missed. To finish just one point of the play-off places without these two key players, and minus Jayden Stockley for half of the campaign, is still an achievement. You have to think, with a hopefully fit Brown at the back, the Grecians will surely benefit.

The season certainly had its highs. An early 5-1 mauling of Harry Kewell’s Notts County comes to mind, which certainly entertained the St. James’ Park crowd. City also welcomed Blackpool in an entertaining match at SJP, despite crashing out of the cup. I’m sure a stronger cup run will be on Matt Taylor’s mind going into next season.

A proud moment for all at City came with Jonathan Forte’s goal against Cheltenham Town, marking the 1000th goal in the ECFC Trust Era. The club was brought from the brink of financial implosion with the help of the Supporter’s Trust, which has earnt The Grecians the title of the longest established Supporter’s club in English football - It is safe to say City have come a long way since then.

The Centenary Remembrance campaign was also a success on the archival side of things, with the Walter Tull Project showcasing the plight of the first Black British Army officer who lost his life in March 1918. This comes in the same campaign as the launch of the ECFC Museum; a point of pride for all of those involved



Date Opponent Venue Score Att Posn Goalscorers
04/08/18 Carlisle United H 3–1 4226 5 Law, Forte, Abrahams
17/08/18 Morecambe A 2-0 1654 1 Sweeney, Stockley
12/08/18 Newport County H 1–1 4239 1 Stockley
21/08/18 Cambridge United A 2-0 3662 1 Forte, Stockley
25 /08 /18 Milton Keynes Dons A 0-1 7672 3  
01/09/18 Lincoln City H 0–3 4067 9  
08/09/18 Notts County H 5–1 3916 3 Sweeney 2, Stockley 2, A.Martin
15/09/18 Mansfield Town A 2-1 4443 2 Moxey, Law
22/09/18 Cheltenham Town H 3–1 3723 2 Sweeney, Stockley, Forte
29/09/18 Port Vale A 1–1 4615 3 Law
02/10/18 Stevenage H 1–0 3671 2 Moxey
06/10/18 Yeovil Town A 2–2 4223 2 Stockley 2
13/10/18 Swindon Town H 2–0 4506 2 Forte, Stockley
20/10/18 Grimsby Town A 0–0 4038 2  
23/10/18 Crawley Town A 1–1 2095 3 Holmes
27/10 2018 Forest Green Rovers H 1–2 4983 3 A.Martin
3/11/ 2018 Tranmere Rovers A 0-2 6209 5  
17 /11/ 18 Northampton Town H 2–2 4332 6 J.Taylor, Stockley
24/11/18 Colchester United A 1–1 3384 6 Stockley
27/11/18 Macclesfield Town H 0–1 3070 7  
08/12/18 Bury A 0-2 3328 9  
15/12/18 Crewe Alexandra H 1–0 3505 7 L.Martin
22/12/18 Oldham Athletic A 3-2 4079 6 Stockley 3
26/11/18 Yeovil Town H 2–1 5974 5 Holmes, Stockley
29 /11/ 18 Grimsby Town H 1–2 4956 7 Stockley
01/01/19 Swindon Town A 2-0 6755 6 Forte, Collins
12/01/19 Morecambe H 0–0 4113 8  
19/01/19 Newport County A 0-1 3791 8  
26/01/19 Cambridge United H 1–0 3996 7 Law
02/02/19 Milton Keynes Dons H 3–1 5766 7 Law 2, J.Taylor
09/02/19 Carlisle United A 1–1 4351 7 Law
16/02/19 Bury H 0–1 4607 7  
23/02/19 Crewe Alexandra A 2-1 3841 7 J.Taylor, Jay
26 /02/19 Lincoln City A 1–1 8529 5 Jay
02/03/19 Tranmere Rovers H 0–1 4855 5  
09/03/19 Northampton Town A 1–2 4954 8 A.Martin
16/03/19 Colchester United H 3–0 3951 7 Jay, Holmes, Law
23/03/19 Notts County A 0–1 9505 7 Law
30/03/19 Mansfield Town H 1–4 5017 7 Jay
06/04/19 Cheltenham Town A 1–1 4079 7 Moxey
09/04/19 Macclesfield Town A 1–3 1588 7 Bowman 2
13/04/19 Port Vale H 2–0 4013 7 Law, Boateng
19/04/19 Crawley Town H 2–3 5054 7 Bowman
22/04/19 Stevenage A 1–1 3145 7 Bowman
29/04/19 Oldham Athletic H 1–0 5040 7 Bowman
04/05/19 Forest Green Rovers A 0–0 4537 8  
Did not qualify for play off's

Final Table

 1.Lincoln City            46  23 16  7  73-43  85      
 2.Bury                    46  22 13 11  82-56  79  
 3.Milton Keynes Dons      46  23 10 13  71-49  79  
--------------------------------------------------
 4.Mansfield Town          46  20 16 10  69-41  76       
 5.Forest Green Rovers     46  20 14 12  68-47  74       
 6.Tranmere Rovers         46  20 13 13  63-50  73
 7.Newport County          46  20 11 15  59-59  71     
 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 8.Colchester United       46  20 10 16  65-53  70
 9.Exeter City             46  19 13 14  60-49  70
10.Stevenage               46  20 10 16  59-55  70
11.Carlisle United         46  20  8 18  67-62  68
12.Crewe Alexandra         46  19  8 19  60-59  65
13.Swindon Town            46  16 16 14  59-56  64
14.Oldham Athletic         46  16 14 16  67-60  62 
15.Northampton Town        46  14 19 13  64-63  61 
16.Cheltenham Town         46  15 12 19  57-68  57
17.Grimsby Town            46  16  8 22  45-56  56
18.Morecambe               46  14 12 20  54-70  54
19.Crawley Town            46  15  8 23  51-68  53
20.Port Vale               46  12 13 21  39-55  49
21.Cambridge United        46  12 11 23  40-66  47
22.Macclesfield Town       46  10 14 22  48-74  44  
--------------------------------------------------
23.Notts County            46   9 14 23  48-84  41       
24.Yeovil Town             46   9 13 24  41-66  40      
FA Cup
2018/19
10 November 2018 Blackpool Home 2-3 3188 Abrahams, Tillson R1

Football League Trophy
2018/19  
December 4, 2018 Peterborough United Home R2 0-2 : 746 EFL Trophy  
November 13, 2018 Bristol Rovers Home Group 2-0 Forte, Randall 873 EFL Trophy Won the group.
September 25, 2018 West Ham Utd U23s Home Group 2-0 Forte 2, 1114 EFL Trophy  
September 4, 2018 Yeovil Town Away Group 0-0 : 1518 EFL Trophy Won 4-3


League Cup

2018/19

14/08/2018

Ipswich Town

Home

1-1

3675

Brown

LC 1

Exeter won  4-2 on pens

28/08/2018

Fulham

Away

0-2

9333

:

LC 2

Premier League Cup 

2018/19
30/08/2018 Bristol Rovers Away 1-0 Seymour   QF  
04/10/2018 Nottingham Forest Away 1-3 Dodd   Group  
08/11/2018 Norwich City Home 1-1 Seymour 253 Group  
16/01/2019 Leicester City Away 1-1 Seymour 250 Group  
21/01/2019 Nottingham Forest Home 0-5 : 333 Group  
11/02/2019 Norwich City Away 3-0 Seymour 2. Key 746 Group  
21/02/2019 Leicester City Home 1-1 Seymour (Pen) 300 Group Did not qualify for R2

Devon Bowl
2018/19
11/09/2018 Tiverton Town Away 2-2 Colins, Key 272 R2 Won 3-2 on pens
13/02/2019 Buckland Athletic Away 1-1 Randell 163 Q-F Won 6-5 on pems
10/04/2019 Exmouth Town Away 2-1 Hartridge, Seymour 400 S-F  
29/04/2019 Plymouth Parkway Neutral 2-1 Key, Randell 450 Final

Friendlies

2018/19

2018/19  
10/07/2018 Bideford AFC Away 3-1 250 Seymour, Key 2.  
12/07/2018 Truro City Away 6-0 200 Boateng, Sparkes, Jay, Forte 2, Stockley.  
17/07/2018 Bath City Away 1-0 266 Jay.  
19/07/2018 Weymouth Away 2-0 380 Abrahams, Jay  
27/07/2018 Taunton Town Away 2-2 901 Randall, Jay  
28/07/2018 Bristol Rovers Away 4-0 1796 Forte, Moxey, Boateng, Brown.


FA Youth Cup
2018/19
31/10/2018 Plymouth Argyle Home  3-2 Lewis Wilson 3  446 R1  
10/11/2018 Stevenage Away  0-4 :  240 R2


Youth Team 

In 2018/19 the youth team played in the Football League Youth Alliance, they qulaified for Merit 1 by finishing in fourth place. 
The Under 18's also won the Southern area cup final by beating Southend away on the 1st of February 2019.


Results

Football League Youth Alliance
08/07/2018 Friendly Everton  Away  0-0 : At Flinch Farm      
10/07/2018 Friendly Crystal Palace Away  0-5 :        
15/07/2018 Friendly Southampton Away  1-1 Will Dean (pen)        
18/07/2018 Friendly Swansea Away  3-0 Harry Gardner James Dodd (pen) Jay Stansfield    
25/07/2018 Friendly Barnstaple Away 2-0 Lewis Wilson James Dodd      
04/08/2018 League Plymouth Argyle Away 1-0 Lewis Wilson        
11/08/2018 League Bristol Rovers Home 0-2 :        
18/08/2018 League Bournemouth Away 3-2 Lewis Wilson 2 James Dodd      
25/08/2018 League Cheltenham  Home 1-3 Jordan Dyer        
01/09/2018 League Portsmouth Away 1-4 James Dodd         
08/09/2018 League Swindon Home 1-2 Jordan Dyer        
22/09/2018 League Forest Green Rovers Home 2-1 Tom Preece Will Dean       
26/09/2018 Cup Swindon Home 2-0 Frank Lovett James Dodd      
29/09/2018 League Oxford United Away 0-3 :        
06/10/2018 League Yeovil Home 1-1 Frank Lovett        
13/10/2018 League Newport County Away 4-1 Will Dean 2 (2 pen) Louis Morrison James Dodd    
20/10/2018 League Cheltenham  Away 3-2 Jay Stansfield Will Dean (pen) James Dodd    
26/10/2018 Cup Bristol Rovers Away 4-1 Jay Stansfield 3 James Dodd (pen)      
03/11/2018 League Portsmouth Home 3-0 Jay Stansfield Nelson Iseguan Cheick Diabate    
24/11/2018 League Oxford United Home 0-2 :        
01/12/2018 League Forest Green Rovers Away 2-4 James Dodd 2        
08/12/2018 League Yeovil Away 4-0 James Dodd 2 A Trialist Cheick Diabate    
15/12/2018 League Newport County Home 2-1 Jay Stansfield James Dodd       
18/12/2018 League Plymouth Argyle Home 3-0 Will Dean (pen) Og Charlie Lawrence    
05/01/2019 League Bristol Rovers Away 5-1 Jordan Dyer Cheick Diabate Jason Dodd Theo Simpson Og
09/01/2019 League Swindon Away 1-2 Jordan Dyer        
11/01/2019 Cup Northampton Home 2-1 Theo Simpson A Trialist      
19/09/2019 League Bournemouth Home 2-0 Cheick Diabate Theo Simpson      
01/02/2019 Cup  Southend Away 2-1 Theo Simpson James Dodd (pen)      

Final Table

1 Oxford United U18 20 14 5 1 55 23 32 47
2 AFC Bournemouth 20 11 7 2 52 28 24 40
3 Exeter City U18 20 11 1 8 39 31 8 34
4 Yeovil Town U18 20 9 3 8 35 28 7 30
5 Swindon Town U18 20 9 3 8 42 45 -3 30
6 Portsmouth U18 20 8 5 7 46 44 2 29
7 Cheltenham Town 20 9 2 9 36 43 -7 29
8 Bristol Rovers U18 20 7 4 9 40 42 -2 25
9 Forest Green Rovers 20 6 5 9 35 44 -9 23
10 Plymouth Argyle 20 3 4 13 21 40 -19 13
11 Newport County U18 20 2 3 15 29 62 -33 9


Merit 1 Results

Qualified For Merit 1 by Finishing in 3rd place
16/02/2019 Merit 1 Stevenage Home 2-2 Theo Simpson Charlie Lawrence      
23/02/2019 Merit 1 Swindon Home 2-2 Lewis Wilson Theo Simpson      
02/03/2019 Merit 1 Southend Away 1-1 Theo Simpson        
09/03/2019 Merit 1 Bournemouth Home 3-0 Theo Simpson Lewis Wilson Louis Morison    
16/03/2019 Merit 1 Portsmouth Away 0-3 :        
23/03/2019 Merit 1 Oxford United Home 1-2 Louis Morison        
30/03/2019 Merit 1 Peterborough Away 1-2 Jack Veale        
06/04/2019 Merit 1 AFC Wimbledon Home 2-4 Lewis Wilson Jack Veale      
13/04/2019 Merit 1 Luton Town Away 2-2 Cheick Diabate Theo Simpson      
27/04/2019 Merit 1 Northampton Home 3-4 Will Dean Theo Simpson Og    
29/04/2019 Cup Wigan U-18 Home 0-2 :       Att. 390
04/05/2019 Merit 1 Yeovil Away 1-0 Jay Stansfield        

Final Table

Southend United 11 7 2 2 24 17 7 23
AFC Wimbledon  11 5 5 1 25 16 9 20
Swindon Town  11 6 2 3 23 18 5 20
Oxford United 11 6 2 3 21 16 5 20
Peterborough 11 4 3 4 23 26 -3 15
Northampton Town 11 4 2 5 23 26 -3 14
Portsmouth  11 3 4 4 18 17 1 13
Yeovil Town 11 3 4 4 13 15 -2 13
AFC Bournemouth 11 2 5 4 17 22 -5 11
Stevenage  11 2 4 5 15 18 -3 10
Exeter City 11 2 4 5 18 22 -4 10
Luton Town  11 1 5 5 15 22 -7 8

Central League South 
Results
18/09/2018   Forest Green Rovers Home 7-0 Jay 3 Hartridge O'Shea Seymour  Ogbene
16/10/2018   Cheltenham Town Away 7-1 Jay 4 Seymour  Sparkes  Gilkes og  
20/11/2018   Plymouth Argyle Home 1-1 Sparkes        
05/02/2019   Forest Green Rovers Away 0-3 :        
19/02/2019   Plymouth Argyle Away 0-1 :        
05/03/2019   AFC Wimbledon Home 3-0          
19/03/2019   Luton Town Away 2-0          
26/03/2019   Peterborough Home 6-1          
02/04/2019   Bristol Rovers Home 3-2 Boateng        
04/04/2019   Cheltenham Town Home 2-1      
16/04/2019   Southend Away 2-1 Martin A  Simpson      
18/04/2019   Bristol Rovers Home 1-1        
23/04/2019   Milton Keynes Away 1-2 Martin A        


Final Table
Central League South 2018-19
Milton Keynes 13 9 1 3 37 21 28
Exeter City 13 7 2 4 34 15 23
AFC Wimbledon 13 7 1 5 30 17 22
Plymouth Argyle 13 6 4 3 27 17 22
Bristol Rovers 13 6 4 3 22 22 22
Southend United 13 5 3 5 27 37 18
Peterborough 13 4 4 5 33 37 16
Forest Green Rovers 13 4 0 9 23 39 12
Cheltenham Town 13 3 1 9 24 37 10
Luton Town 13 1 6 6 10 25 9

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