Hopes and Expectations
1961/62
Exeter City Football Club
'The Grecians'
SEASON
1961/1962
Compiled by A. Wilson
EXETER CITY FOOTBALL CLUB IN SEASON 1961-62
AIMS MUST BE TO BUILD, AND REACH SAFETY
IMPROVE OR SINK FROM THE LEAGUE
This season of 1961-62 is a crisis one for Exeter City. A season in which must be seen a big improvement or the end of League football for the club. Lucky enough to get re-elected after finishing in the bottom four this year, they will not get a second chance, so it's now or never. The supporters don't want any unrealistic promises of promotion by a club that is struggling along on a shoe-string budget and a mere handful of players, some good, others not so good. And even if they did the player-manager Mr Glen Wilson is not in the slightest prepared to give any. Obviously, the manager and everyone else connected with Exeter City will be satisfied if they see some building for the future and a series of steady performances resulting in a nice secure place in the League table at the end of the season. This must be what Mr Wilson is aiming at, but at the moment he cannot even promise that. He wants two new players, and refuses to forecast anything until he gets them.
MAIN REASON IS LACK OF MONEY
How is it that a club can be in a position where they start off the season with only sixteen players, and only six of them forwards? In the City's case there are several reasons, and first and foremost
it is lack of money. It was the lack of money which stopped them from buying their way out of trouble last season; it was lack of money that brought about the decision on the part of the directors to scrap the reserve side, and it was lack of money which stopped them getting the players that the manager wanted this summer.
These things, in the opinion of many, were false economies. And it is certain that the board will still be sorry for the day that they made the decision to do away with a good reserve team and start a season with such a pitifully small staff list. Next week, if they take the field with all but one of the forwards on their books and one of them is injured at Mansfield Town, what sort of attack will they be able to put out against Chesterfield on the following Wednesday?
If one of the forwards loses form what is the answer? The position in which the club finds itself today, according to the manager, was, in the first place, brought about by the fact in the early weeks of the close season they didn't even know whether or not they would be re-elected, and in the second case it was the same old bogy of having no money.
There were plenty of players on the list that Mr Wilson fancied, but he had to wait and see if they would get their fees reduced, which of course they didn't or they were signed by someone else. A manager cannot buy players unless his clubs allows him the money, and finding the money is not the manager's part of his job. The City manager refuses to sign any old Tom Dick or Harry_simply because he is on a free transfer, so the question of new players has to wait until the money comes from somewhere, and then hope that there are some suitable players available.
READY FOR THE FIRST TEAM
Even so, Mr. Wilson has made six close-season signings, and all but one of them, Hughes, is ready to go straight into the first team. Hughes, a wing half-back from Cardiff City, is a young player who is full of promise, and although the club could use a really good class reserve team to put him into, he should in any case come along well. So what are the prospects of the side as a whole? According to the manager the team will concentrate on trying to play good football. They are lucky to have such a good defence, and although they have trouble with the strength of the forwards they are not the only club in that boat by any means. Fitness is as important a part of the game as football science, in the opinion of Exeter City's trainer, who states that the five weeks of progressively hard training the players have had so far have been a pleasure. The following players will start the season:
Goal:- Alan Jones, Colin Tinsley (Darlington).
Backs:- Les MacDonald, Brian Whitnall, Geoff Hudson (Halifax Town), Brian Turner (Newton Abbot Spurs).
Half-backs:- Keith Harvey, Arnold Mitchell, Derek Sullivan (Cardiff City), Glen Wilson, Mike Hughes (Cardiff City), Peter Rutley.
Forwards: Ray Carter, Peter Gordon, Brian Jenkins (Cardiff City), Graham Rees, Archie Blue (Heart of Midlothian), Peter Quarrington, Eric Welsh.
Departures:-
AIMS MUST BE TO BUILD, AND REACH SAFETY
IMPROVE OR SINK FROM THE LEAGUE
This season of 1961-62 is a crisis one for Exeter City. A season in which must be seen a big improvement or the end of League football for the club. Lucky enough to get re-elected after finishing in the bottom four this year, they will not get a second chance, so it's now or never. The supporters don't want any unrealistic promises of promotion by a club that is struggling along on a shoe-string budget and a mere handful of players, some good, others not so good. And even if they did the player-manager Mr Glen Wilson is not in the slightest prepared to give any. Obviously, the manager and everyone else connected with Exeter City will be satisfied if they see some building for the future and a series of steady performances resulting in a nice secure place in the League table at the end of the season. This must be what Mr Wilson is aiming at, but at the moment he cannot even promise that. He wants two new players, and refuses to forecast anything until he gets them.
MAIN REASON IS LACK OF MONEY
How is it that a club can be in a position where they start off the season with only sixteen players, and only six of them forwards? In the City's case there are several reasons, and first and foremost
it is lack of money. It was the lack of money which stopped them from buying their way out of trouble last season; it was lack of money that brought about the decision on the part of the directors to scrap the reserve side, and it was lack of money which stopped them getting the players that the manager wanted this summer.
These things, in the opinion of many, were false economies. And it is certain that the board will still be sorry for the day that they made the decision to do away with a good reserve team and start a season with such a pitifully small staff list. Next week, if they take the field with all but one of the forwards on their books and one of them is injured at Mansfield Town, what sort of attack will they be able to put out against Chesterfield on the following Wednesday?
If one of the forwards loses form what is the answer? The position in which the club finds itself today, according to the manager, was, in the first place, brought about by the fact in the early weeks of the close season they didn't even know whether or not they would be re-elected, and in the second case it was the same old bogy of having no money.
There were plenty of players on the list that Mr Wilson fancied, but he had to wait and see if they would get their fees reduced, which of course they didn't or they were signed by someone else. A manager cannot buy players unless his clubs allows him the money, and finding the money is not the manager's part of his job. The City manager refuses to sign any old Tom Dick or Harry_simply because he is on a free transfer, so the question of new players has to wait until the money comes from somewhere, and then hope that there are some suitable players available.
READY FOR THE FIRST TEAM
Even so, Mr. Wilson has made six close-season signings, and all but one of them, Hughes, is ready to go straight into the first team. Hughes, a wing half-back from Cardiff City, is a young player who is full of promise, and although the club could use a really good class reserve team to put him into, he should in any case come along well. So what are the prospects of the side as a whole? According to the manager the team will concentrate on trying to play good football. They are lucky to have such a good defence, and although they have trouble with the strength of the forwards they are not the only club in that boat by any means. Fitness is as important a part of the game as football science, in the opinion of Exeter City's trainer, who states that the five weeks of progressively hard training the players have had so far have been a pleasure. The following players will start the season:
Goal:- Alan Jones, Colin Tinsley (Darlington).
Backs:- Les MacDonald, Brian Whitnall, Geoff Hudson (Halifax Town), Brian Turner (Newton Abbot Spurs).
Half-backs:- Keith Harvey, Arnold Mitchell, Derek Sullivan (Cardiff City), Glen Wilson, Mike Hughes (Cardiff City), Peter Rutley.
Forwards: Ray Carter, Peter Gordon, Brian Jenkins (Cardiff City), Graham Rees, Archie Blue (Heart of Midlothian), Peter Quarrington, Eric Welsh.
Departures:-
- Dale to Chelmsford City,
- Reg Jenkins to Torquay United,
- Theo Foley to Northampton,
- Norman Packer to Bridgwater,
- Graham Bond to Weymouth,
- Alvan Williams to Hyde United,
- John Lobbett to Bath
- Fred Donaldson to Chester.
Directors:- Messrs S. Thomas, J.Rigby, R. Rose, G.Gillin.
New secretary:- Mr K.Honey succeeds Mr Gilbert.
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