SATURDAY JANUARY 14TH 1956 

CITY BETRAYED BY SOUTHEND MUD.

SOUTHEND UNITED 6
EXETER CITY 0

Played at Southend, Half-time 1-0,

To see Southend hammer Exeter City was not a game of football, it was to see a game from which all skill, artistry and thought had been taken, It was to see 22 men ploughing andslithering through a slushy, oozing mixture of sand and mud. It was the worst pitch seen for a long time, That fact established City did not deserve to lose 6-0.

For the first 20 minutes City were on top, twice Burke was through when the ball stopped dead on the mud and he went sliding on, twice Dunne missed two simple chances from close range, In the second half City should have had a goal when Iggledon was blatantly fouled ten yards from goal, Southend's first goal resulted from a Harvey back pass that stuck in the mud, another came from a penalty which was a border line case, as the ball had rebounded from the crossbar on to the mud on the goalline,

Southend's biggest advantage was that they had two fast wingers on the comparatively firm outer spaces who were constantly plied with the ball, Forward City had one success, Burke who tried every minute of the game without reward which he so deserved, Dunne was switched to the outside right because he was suffering from a heavy cold. John who filled Dunne's place worked tirelessly,

Southend:- Threadgold; Williamson, Howe; Duthie, Stirling, Lawler; Lockhart, McCrory, Hollis, Baron, McGuigan.
Referee:- Mr R.H.Mann.
Exeter City:- Hunter; Doyle, Mitchell; Davey, Harvey, John; Dunne, Burke, Iggleden, Murphy, Rees.

Scorers:- Hollis, Lockhart, Lawler, Baron 2 (1 penalty), McCrory.

Southern League
CITY RESERVES 5 BARRY TOWN 2, ATTENDANCE 2,122.

At St James's Park,
City Reserves:- Kelly; Foley, Parr; Bowkett, Packer, Walton; Grinney, Ellaway, Sword, Houghton, Whiteside
Referee Mr G.F.Sawyer of Weston.
Barry Town:- Morris; Clark, Bagott; Squires, Bellas, Brewer; Dyke, Allen, Pyke, Clissold, Bright.

Scorers:-
Grinney 2, Sword 3 for Exeter;
Dyke, Allen for Barry.

EXETER CITY v MANAGERS' INTERNATIONAL ELEVEN.

FRIENDLY (FLOODLIGHTS)
AT ST JAMES'S PARK, EXETER.

Monday January 16th 1956,

Exeter City were in no way to blame for the non appearance of Tommy Lawton, Raich Carter, Joe Mercer and Tm Ward, The four former England stars had assured City that they would play but when the City manager Norman Dodgin went to meet them he found the International Manager's XI boss George Swindin in a pickle, for he had just heard only an hour before that all four were absent, Lawton was injured, Mercer was on a transfer deal, Ward had an important board meeting and Carter was ill and confined to bed, he quickly rounded up three other players including the former City centre forward Andy Donaldson at Peterborough and also pressed Frank Houghton into service,

The biggest crowd to attend a floodlit friendly at Exeter were not happy when the team was announced before the kick off, but their disappointment was soon forgotten in the excitement, laughter and applause during 90 minutes of fne football and thrills. There were frequent glimpses of past greatness shown by the managers X1, Rees latched on to a square pass from Iggledon to crack City into a 15 minute lead, Burke scored City's second goal after 30 minutes, Grinney was in the act of scoring when Hardwick bundled him over to give away a penalty from which Iggleden scored in the 70th minute. So City led 3-0 with 20 minutes to go. Mine for the regular playing Exeter side to pile on the score on a heavy tiring groundNo it was time for Mitten to score a goal and miss another through meddling around with a penalty and time for Bates to head in Barnes's long free kick.

Attendance 7,322,receipts £899.15s 9d

Referee:- Mr F.J.Bricknell of Exeter. Linesmen: Messrs B.Shorland and G.Ogley.

CITY:- J.Lobbett; Doyle, Mitchell; Davey, Harvey, John; Grinney, Worthington, Iggleden, Burke, Rees.

MANAGERS XI:
G.H.Swindin (Peterborough United);
W.Barnes (Arsenal),
G.F.M.Hardwick (Oldham Athletic);
W.Watson (Halifax Town),
E.Boot (Huddersfield Town), F.C.Houghton (Exeter City),
F.H.Broome (Notts County),
A.Donaldson (Peterborough United),
E.Bates (Southampton),
P.O.Doherty (Doncaster Rovers), C.Mitten (Fulham).

Exeter City 3 (Rees, Burke, Iggleden) Managers 2 (Mitten, Bates).


TUESDAY 17th JANUARY 1956.

THOMAS OPEN TO OFFERS.

Exeter City are willing to receive offers for outside right Peter Thomas who joined them from Cardiff City last season, Thomas wants to leave the city and Exeter are prepared to release him if he found another club