Exeter City in 1936-37
CITY'S CUP VALIANTS FAIL AT THE ACID TEST

Credit for Giant-Killing, But League Demands Consistent Merit

ANOTHER DISAPPOINTING SEASON ENDS

Evidence has been completed, and Exeter City are again found to be guilty of inconsistency. The jury, having seen for themselves, are unanimous that during the season just ended the failures have out numbered the successes. And the general verdict is that it has been a campaign, slightly brighter than the last, but disappointing all the same. The League position (21st) tells its own story. This is a far more demanding test than a Cup match run which, however pleasant while it lasts, is apt to dazzle and blur the correct assessment of the team's worth. The Cup competition may be likened to a spirit in which the luck of the draw influences the fate of the competitors to a marked degree. As a test of merit it is not nearly so reliable as the League, as this, calling for stamina, consistency, and skill, gives much the clearer indication.

CITY REACHED THE FIFTH ROUND.

Exeter City, in reaching the fifth round of the Cup, caused quite a few sensations this season. They surpassed the fondest and most optimistic hopes of all their supporters, and the players deserve the highest credit for beating Folkestone, Walthamstow Avenue, Oldham Athletic, and Leicester. Furthermore, the City's splendid fight at Preston against all odds almost created the shock of the season! But retrospect, if it is to serve any useful purpose, must be fair and balanced. Equal attention must be paid to the bad and the good. So the verdict is that it has been a disappointing season. The worst feature has been the ridiculous sacrifice of points, at home, often to moderate opponents. The rot started on the second Saturday of the season, when Clapton Orient, a very ordinary side, made the City look like a collection of units, devoid of cohesion, craft, and method. It has gone on. In other years supporters were proud to talk fondly of the Grecians as a most difficult team to beat at St James's Park. How different the existing state of the club's affairs is shown by the fact that this term seven visiting teams have won and five have drawn here. With nineteen points dropped at home it is no wonder that the City are once again having to seek re-election. St James's Park used to be regarded as the graveyard of promotion hopes. This season it has been the breeding ground of re-election fears, and the fears have now materialised. Away from home Exeter have done better. Admittedly their only win was secured at nearby Torquay, but there have been drawn battles with such good sides as Luton, Watford, Millwall, Bournemouth and Southend. How is it possible to reconcile those performances with defeats at home by the likes of Aldershot, for example?

TEAM SELECTION.
When the season opened it was recognised that the selection of the best team was going to present an unusually difficult problem. With so many new players the big task was to sift out the material until the strongest combination was found. Supporters waited patiently while the process was carried out, but patience gave way to misgiving, and misgiving was replaced in the end by exasperation when experiments were made from week to week without apparent justification. Not until midway through the season did the Selection Committee cry a halt. Not until January was there placed in the field what could be described as a settled team. The mistaken policy of the selectors is therefore responsible to a large extent for this disappointing season. As regards future activities, and assuming that Exeter succeed in their appeal for re-election, it is a very obvious fact that great attention needs to be paid to all departments of the team except goal.

NO FAULT OF WILLIAMS.
In Roderick Williams the club has one of the best centre - forwards who has ever represented it. He has been a prolific goal - getter, a menace to Southern Section defences, who has met with astonishing success considering the inadequate support which was accorded him, particularly prior to the arrival of Bussey and Owen. The failures of the season are certainly not the fault of Williams. Similarly, Jack Angus has played a prominent part in the season's activities. Restored to the centre half-back position in which he first of all attracted notice, he has risen to great heights. His subjection of Bowers in the Leicester City cup-tie was one of the highlights of the year, locally. Individually the season's honours have gone to Williams, Angus and Tierney.  The acquisition of Bussey and Owen in mid-season was a move in the right direction. The inclusion of these players certainly brought more stability into the attack, especially during the period from January to March when goals were coming in regularly.

A PLAYER OF POSSIBILITIES.
It was in the opinion of many a pity that Stan Pope, the Tiverton former amateur, was deposed from the first team towards the end of the season. Pope is a young player of distinct possibilities. He has good command of the ball and is a quick-actioned footballer. What he needs to cultivate is better judgment in the matters of tackling and heading. Another player who should have been given more chances is Dick Ebdon, who apart from Williams, is about the most thrustful forward on Exeter's books. Regarding the re-election application it is a probability, in fact almost a certainty, that the City will be re-admitted to the fold this time. With all that, the position is not pleasant. This sort of thing can happen once too often, and the club should commence right now to put its house in order. Otherwise Exeter City might eventually find itself without a Football League side, out in the wilderness from which there will be no prospect of an immediate return. The writing was on the wall twelve months ago. It is still there at the end of the 1936-37 season.

CHESTERS AND CLARKE NOT RETAINED.

Exeter City's retain and transfer list shows that terms have been offered to thirteen players, namely Tierney, goalkeeper; Brown and Stimpson, backs; Angus, Bamsey, and Shadwell, half backs; Bussey, Williams, McGill, Owen, Pope, Pollard, and Ebdon, forwards. One of the most notable features is the non-retention of Chesters and Clarke, both of whom have rendered the club excellent service. Clarke has been with the City for ten seasons, and has played for them in well over 300 first-team matches. Chesters took over from Davies as first-team goalkeeper two or three years ago, and has played about one hundred first-team games.

GOALSCORERS (LEAGUE MATCHES)

29 Williams
6 Owen
5 Bussey and Scott
4 Pope
3 F.Smith 
2 Clarke
1 Johnson, Keane, McGill, Shadwell

Most Goals in season 

• Williams also scored 7 goals in the F.A.Cup and 3 in other first team matches, total 39, which is a club record. Whitlow in the 1932-33 season scored 34 goals in League matches, and Bell scored thirty-six goals in all matches, season 1908-09.

Southern League Goal scorers:-
Ebdon 11, Johnson 10, Urmson 7, C. Smith 6, F.Smith 6, Keane 5, McGill 3, Pope 2, Williams 2, Pope, Chudleigh, Hobbs, Scott each 1, Johnson (Torquay United own goal)

League Appearances by position 
Positions:-

Goal: Chesters 26, Tierney 16.
Right back: Brown 32, Stimpson 6, Boyle 4.
Left back: Stimpson 23, Boyle 19.
Right half: Clarke 30, Shadwell 6, Young 5, Pollard 1.
Centre half: Angus 25, Hobbs 11, Bamsey 5, Clarke 1.
Left half: Shadwell 24, Young 14, Angus 3, McGill 1.
Outside right: F.Smith 24, Keane 10, C. Smith 4, Thompson 4.
Inside right: Bussey 20, Scott 14, Johnson 6, Ebdon 1, Pollard 1.
Centre forward: Williams 40, Johnson 2.
Inside left: McGill 20, Pope 13, Scott 3, Ebdon 2, Johnson 2, Pollard 1, Williams 1.
Outside left: Owen 24, Urmson 10, McGill 4, Keane 3, Johnson 1.