"NEW" CITY MUST MAKE NEW POLICY WORK

Form Charts as Guide; 8,000 Gates Target

Last season for Exeter City was not a great deal better than the one before that. The finish of it saw Exeter City in 18th position and only just out of the relegation bracket. It also saw the last of Mr Glen Wilson as the City's player-manager, and it was reported that he left the club "by mutual agreement." 

The new manager is Mr Cyril Spiers, who was a famous goalkeeper with Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur before the war, and who has since his retirement as a player managed Crystal Palace and Cardiff City. The new trainer is Mr Jack Edwards, of Monmouth, who was perhaps not as famous a player as the new manager, but nevertheless a well known full-back with Lovells, Crystal Palace, and Rochdale.

So with a new manager, a new trainer, half a new playing staff, and a completely new policy on and off the field Exeter City commence the 1962-63 season with a set-up which poses several questions for the ordinary supporter.

REGULAR GATES OF 8000 WANTED.

What sort of reaction does Mr Cyril Spiers expect to all this? The target which he has set for the average crowd attendance for home matches is eight thousand people. Not being a magician himself he doesn't expect miracles, neither an immediate jump of 4,000 in the turnstile figures. But he thinks that this is a workable and reasonable average which could, and should be, attained and maintained. What are his chances of reaching it? Has he over-estimated, and well over-estimated, the pulling power of Soccer, and Fourth Division Soccer at that, in this part of the world? It will not be too long before the answers are known, and as usual they will depend upon just one factor, results. In one respect Mr Spiers is certainly trying the right tactics, to snap up the promising young players, train them and mould them in the right way, and sell what can be spared at 100 per-cent profit, rather than buying £1,000 and £2,000 has-beens and never-weres.

GOOD RESULTS THE ESSENTIAL FACTOR.

But it is equally certain that unless the team can pick up points at St James's Park then Mr Spiers's policy will get neither the support nor the patience it deserves. The proof of this came out last season. Correspondents all over the country praised the City team for their football but the gates still dropped to less than 4,000 when the results failed to follow. What chance is there of getting the results this year? On behalf of his staff Mr Spiers has already pledged 100 per-cent effort. He has definitely brought a new brand of football to the club. This is a simple, direct style which demands all-out effort from every one in the team if it is to succeed, but which is very effective if properly carried out.

BUT WILL IT BE PROPERLY CARRIED OUT?

This is where some of the strength of Mr Spiers's policy should be seen. Old players are not always easily adaptable, or even willing to be adapted. But the younger ones are eager and quick to learn. And it is a certainty that there will be no first-team sinecures, for if the men at the start do not play to order than the new boss will have no hesitation in replacing them, and for this season he has a big enough staff to do it. Since he took over at the beginning of the summer the manager has almost doubled his professional strength.
But has he improved on last season's quality? That remains to be seen, naturally. The majority of the close-season signings have been young players unknown and untried in Fourth Division football. But even the most critical supporter must grant that the man who is now sitting in the manager's seat should know exactly what he is doing. He has had more than forty years in football. He has brought much success to other clubs with just these methods, and he is known for his ability to spot a good young player and his contacts are endless and unquestionably good.

A NEW SPIRIT IN THE DRESSING ROOM.

Not even all these qualities can command instant success. For when it comes to the point, everything depends on the eleven men on the pitch on Saturday afternoon. If they fail Mr Spiers fails and the club fails. What can he do about this? One of his best insurances is the new spirit he has created in the dressing room. He is a firm believer that a player's character is just as equally important as his playing ability. This is no piece of idle propaganda, for it is known of the one instance when Mr Spiers has refused to sign a man who did not come up to his requirements.

In this he is strongly supported by the trainer, Mr. Edwards, who watches his players as closely off the field as on it. He says he can pick out the lazy and indifferent ones just as easily off the field. And then there is the system which Mr Spiers has used since before the war, his fully comprehensive player's progress chart. This chart covers every player, every position, and every result of every match throughout the season.

At a glance Mr Spiers can see how each man played, in what position, and whether it was a good, bad, or indifferent performance. There is a marking system from ten for a brilliant performance down to nothing. Mr Spiers insists that this is an invaluable system, and through it he can spot the team's consistent weaknesses without having to rely on memory, which is not always completely accurate. And he says he can use it for an almost immediate decision on the retained list at the end of a season. "Too many players," says Mr Spiers, "fool their clubs by putting on an all-out effort in the last month or so in order to convince their directors and managers that they are worth keeping. With my system of charts a man has to have a good overall performance or it shows up. He must end the season with an average of five marks or more."

THE RESERVES TOO.

At the same time the City's old goalkeeper, Barney Singleton, will be making a regular report on the reserve team's performances. He will use a slightly different star-making system and pass it on to the manager. These will be graded slightly more sympathetically because of the varying conditions of reserve team football. But the players still have to reach a certain standard if they want to stay. There ought not to be any trouble with the reserve team this year, for almost all the positions are covered by good professionals even without the five apprentices and the pick of the amateurs. And this comes right back to the main point of the City's policy, which is Youth. But youth almost means time, and if the club is ever to establish its mark in football without a boardroom full of millionaires then it is imperative that the manager is given this time by the Board and by the supporters. Success cannot be commanded in a single season. The supporters of Exeter City have waited a long time now, and they should be able to afford to give the new manager his chance to prove that what he has done at Cardiff and Crystal Palace he can repeat here. 
THE NEW GRECIANS:
EXETER CITY'S RECRUITS.

• George Davis, left-back, from West Ham United
• David Johnston, right back, from Leicester City
• Barry Redwood, inside right, from Newton Spurs
• Bruce Stuckey, outside right, from Newton Spurs
• Brian Wills, outside left, from Torquay United
• Cecil Smyth, right back, from Belfast Distillery
• Robert Rackley, outside left, from Folkestone
• David Cann, goalkeeper, from Starcross
• Desmond Anderson, centre half, from Glenavon
• Roy Southcombe, centre forward, from Newton Spurs
• Barry Pierce, inside left, from York City
• Ken Palmer, outside right, from Bristol City
• Charlie Sells, inside right, from Q.P.Rangers
• Derek Grace, left half, from Q.P.Rangers
• Brian Green, centre forward, from Heywood
• Hamilton McMeechan, outside left, from Glasgow Ashfield
• James Sanders, centre half, from Cheltenham

Rackley played for Exeter City in 1958-59 and 1959-60 and since then has played for Bristol Rovers and Oldham Athletic before joining Folkestone.

PLAYERS RETAINED FROM LAST SEASON.

• Goalkeepers:- C.Tinsley and T.Clark.
  Backs:- L.MacDonald and P.Quarrington.
• Half backs:- A.Mitchell, K.Harvey, M.Hughes, and P.Rutley.
• Forwards: R. Carter, B.Jenkins, J.McMillan, G. Rees, and E.Welsh.

TRANSFERRED:

• P.Gordon and D.Sullivan to Newport County.
• G.Hudson to Crewe Alexandra.
• B.Whitnall to Bath City.
• A.Blue to Carlisle United.
• A.Jones to Norwich City.

Directors and Non playing staff 

President:- Mr S.H.Thomas.
Vice-president:- Mr J.Rigby.
Chairman:- Mr R.J.Rose.
Directors:- Messrs G.Gillin, J. Rogers, and A.W.Crawshaw.
Secretary:- Mr K.F.Honey.
Manager:- Mr C.H.Spiers.
Trainer:- Mr J.Edwards.

PRACTICE MATCH:
REDS v WHITES.
Saturday August 11th 1962
at St James's Park.

Exeter City's latest signing is Charlie Sells, the former amateur international inside-forward of Hendon and Queen's Park Rangers. The practice match proved that this signing was necessary, as the Reds (Probables) lacked much in their attack that Sells is able to provide, and it took them until well into the second half to show any semblance of danger or a grip on the game.

The Whites (Possibles) started right away with a fast-moving and quick-passing pattern of play which resulted in an interval lead for them of two goals, both by Welsh, and a full time lead of four to two with goals from McMeechan and Sells (penalty) with Carter and Pierce scoring for the Reds.

Reds: Tinsley; Johnston and MacDonald; Cockell, Mitchell, and Grace; Carter, Rees, Green, Pierce, and Jenkins.

Whites: Clark; Smyth and Davis; Brown, Anderson, and Rutley; McMillan, Sells, Southcombe, Welsh, and McMeechan.

It is true that the Reserves almost invariably look better than the senior players in a trial. They have more to play for.

EXETER CITY'S NEW MEN.

David Johnston and Cecil Smyth are the new full-back pair. Johnston, who captained Leicester City Reserves last season, will go straight into the first team. Smyth, a former amateur in Ireland, is a good cover for either side of the field. Derek Grace and Desmond Anderson are the two new half backs, and the former Irish International (amateur) Anderson will get his chance in the first team immediately because of Harvey's injury in the first trial match a week ago. Grace is a forceful attacking wing half of only seventeen years of age, but he could also get his chance soon. Barry Pierce, from York City, and Charlie Sells, from Queen's Park Rangers, are probably the two most experienced new forwards. The others are Roy Southcombe (Newton Spurs), Ken Palmer (Bristol City), and Hamilton McMeechan (Glasgow Juniors). Tony Clark, of Exeter City Juniors, is to be this season's reserve goalkeeper.

Paul Farley