Exeter City Football Club 
1950-51 

It is appropriate that another season opens with a visit from old friends and rivals Millwall, a club whose directors at the time did so much towards securing Exeter City's admission into the Southern League and professional football 42 years ago.

The "Lions," backed by as loyal a band of supporters as can be found anywhere, have enjoyed a fair measure of success, but the team fell on bad times last season and finished at the bottom of the Southern Section of the Third Division.

They were also knocked out of the national cup competition by Exeter City in the first round, the match, which was on the Millwall ground, providing one or two sensations.

That Millwall will rise again is one of the biggest certainties in the football world, and two players who will help them along "Recovery" Road are Gerry Bowler, the Irish international half-back, formerly of Distillery, Portsmouth, and Hull City, and Frank Neary, a powerfully built and hard-hitting centre forward, who has gone the rounds of the London clubs in his service with Queen's Park Rangers, West Ham, and Leyton Orient.

CITY RELYING ON LAST YEAR'S MEN.

Fittingly, in view of the form shown during the second half of season 1949/50, when only three League games were lost, Exeter City's team in the forthcoming campaign will differ but slightly from where it left off four months ago.

The players who staged a magnificent come-back from January onwards are again available, and the twenty re-engaged are reinforced by six newcomers, all of whom acquitted themselves satisfactorily in the two trial games. Last season from Exeter's point of view was one of early failures that
Last season from Exeter's point of view was one of early failures that preceded a grand recovery of form later on. Had the 1950 form been shown in 1949 the Grecians might have been in the front rank of challengers to Notts County, Northampton Town, and company, for promotion instead of remaining in the lower reaches of the League table and coming in 16th at the finish. This is the City's lowest placing since the war. The 1949/50 campaign was noteworthy also for a useful run in the Cup competition. For the first time since 1937 Exeter succeeded in reaching the fourth round, and those who saw the club's gallant dismissal on the Liverpool F.C. ground at Anfield will long remember the game as one which almost ended in the greatest shock of the round. Liverpool on the day they played Exeter City stood at the head of the First Division list, whilst the City, two divisions below, were last but one. But so well did Exeter play that although finally beaten by 3 goals to 1 they were far from outclassed by the famous Liverpool side which went on to reach Wembley and the Cup Final.

EXETER CITY'S NEW LOOK.

This season the Grecians will be hoping to establish themselves as a leading contender for honours in the Third Division South, and at the same time looking forward to another successful run in the F.A.Cup. If the form of the latter part of last season can be maintained, and perhaps even improved on, there seems no reason why these optimistic objectives cannot be achieved.

Exeter City teams will wear a "new look" this season. The old colours of red and white are retained, but the new jerseys will be all red, with white collars and cuffs. The knickers will be white, last worn by the club in 1923.

The following players are retained.
All have signed on.

Carter, Clark, Davey, Digby, Doyle, Fallon, Goddard (capt), Greenwood, Harrower, Hutchings, Johnstone (vice-capt), Mackay, MacClelland, Powell, Regan, Rowe, Singleton, Smart, Smith, Warren.

New players

Reg. Dare, centre-forward, from Southampton.
William Dunlop, inside-right, from Dunfermline Athletic.
Arthur Robert Greenaway, centre-forward, from Plymouth Argyle.
Joseph Lynn, inside-left, from Huddersfield Town.
Peter Smyth, inside-left, from Albion Rovers.
Harold Wilkinson, left half-back, from Chelsea.

Player destinations 

Of last year's players who were not retained Walker has been engaged by Minehead as manager and coach and Durrant to Dover Town as player manager. Hoyle and Murphy are transferred to Bristol Rovers, Squires to Weymouth, and Rew to Glastonbury. Gibson, victim of a series of injuries, has had to retire. Mitchell is hoping to return to Scottish football.

EXETER CITY BOARD OF DIRECTORS.

Messrs S.H. Thomas (chairman), F.P.Cottey (vice-chairman),
A.T.Ford, C.W.H.Hill, J.Lake, J.G.R.Orchard, J.Rigby, L.J.Seward, J.G.Warne, H.L.White.
G.J.Gilbert (secretary),
W.G.Roughton (manager).

PRACTICE MATCHES AT ST. JAMES'S PARK.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 5TH 1950, REDS v BLUES.

Practice matches are notoriously unreliable straws-in-the-wind. But one fairly firm indication to the 3,500 spectators at Exeter City's first trial was that the St James's Park management should not have any headaches about defence for either the Third Division South or the Southern League elevens.

REDS 2 (Smith, Hancock)
BLUES 1 (Mackay)

Whether there has been the needed improvement in attack to justify skipper Ray Goddard's optimism that the City will win more often than they will lose this season remains to be proved. It was clear that the City's policy of signing on new inside men is fortified by the hope that the insides of last season will make good on the wings. More thrust appears to be a requisite of the newly constituted attack, for this match revealed some inadequate finishing, a squandering of chances which cannot be afforded in the hurly-burly of the struggle for League points or Cup success. For all his customary industrious approach work, Archie Smith was a notable culprit in this phase, while McClelland was disinclined to go through with the ball when challenged by the burly Doyle. The same appeared the case when Greenaway, the new centre forward from Plymouth Argyle, was confronted by Goddard. Peter Smyth, late of Albion Rovers, made the best impression among the new boys. Lynn, from Huddersfield Town, showed some deft touches, but he was less in the picture than Smyth.

Teams:
Reds: G.Lear (Exmouth Town); Warren, Rowe; Wilkinson (Chelsea), Goddard, Davey; Harrower, R.Parsons, Smith, Lynn (Huddersfield), McClelland.

Blues:- K.Salter (Cullompton); Johnstone, Clark; Doyle, Carter, Powell; Mackay, Dunlop (Dunfermline Athletic), Greenaway (Plymouth Argyle), Smyth (Albion Rovers), Regan.

Second half changes: Hitching, Hancock (Friernhay), Bolt (Topsham), replaced Harrower, Smith and Lynn (Reds); Short (Plymouth Argyle) and G.Peach (Torpoint) replaced Mackay and Dunlop (Blues).

REGAN'S INJURY A BLOW TO EXETER CITY.
FINAL PRACTICE MATCH PRODUCED THRILLS A-PLENTY.

REDS v BLUES,
SATURDAY, AUGUST 12TH 1950.

Exeter's most popular pastime of the moment is picking the City team to meet Millwall in the season's opening Third Division engagement at St James's Park next Saturday. Most of the "Park" clients are convinced that the Exeter directors, following their usual conservative policy, will try the "mixture-as before," at any rate for the initiation of the season. But, having seen the imbroglio which the second practice turned out to be, the grandstand and popular bank team-builders have other ideas. Seldom has a practice match been such a cut-and-thrust, no quarter asked, and none given, affair. The new men played their hardest for inclusion in the first XI.

REDS 5  (Mackay, Hutchings, Smart, Smith, McClelland)
BLUES 2 (Greenaway, Smyth)

Half-time Reds 3 Blues 1.
Attendance 4,000.

Reds: Singleton; Johnstone, Clark; Fallon, Doyle, Davey; Mackay, Smart, Smith, Lynn, McClelland.
Blues:- Salter; Warren, Rowe; Wilkinson, Carter, Greenwood; Harrower, Dunlop, Greenaway, Smyth, Regan.

Injury, however, intruded its unwelcome head. The victim was Duggie Regan. Early in the second half, after a tussle with Johnstone, the Blues' winger developed a pronounced limp, and soon was hobbling into the dressing room, helped by the assistant trainer, Stan Cutting. It turned out that the injury was to the same foot which he had broken in a tackle by Tagg at Bournemouth over three years ago. Harrower, who had been rested at half-time, was recalled to take the place of Regan, and Alan Short came on in Harrower's position. In the Reds' team Hutchings substituted for Mackay after the interval.

At the end, when the Reds had written off the Blues by 5-2, the most likely team for the opening match appeared to be Singleton; Johnstone, Clark; Fallon, Goddard, Davey; Mackay, Dunlop, Greenaway, Smyth, and McClelland.