ST SIDWELLS UNITED
1901/02 

St Sidwell’s United were formed in 1901 with players from several clubs in Exeter. While there appears to have been particular links to one of these clubs, Exeter Wesleyan United, reports suggest that St Sidwell’s were a new organisation. Sid Thomas, an ECFC Hall of Famer, was a founder member, and he represented the club, along with E.Eveleigh, at the formation of the Exeter & District Junior League on 3 June 1901. St Sidwell’s competed in this League for two seasons. The club’s first ground was off Pinhoe Road, a sloping pitch which would later make way for the development of Monks Road and surrounding streets. Before the 1903/04 season, by which time St Sidwell's United had joined the East Devon Senior League, there was a move to St James’ Park, and at the AGM on the 31 May 1904 a decision was taken to change the club's name to Exeter City Association Football Club.    

Saturday 5th October 1901

St SIDWELLS UNITED 7 (Sellick 3, Eveleigh 2, Thomas, Morgan)
EXETER YMCA 2 

Saturday 12th October 1901

St SIDWELLS UNITED 6  (Coles 3, Eveleigh 2, Sellick) 
St DAVIDS 2 

Team:  Robinson, Flood, Campbell, Avery, Mann, Hawkey, Morgan, Sellick, Thomas, Eveleigh, Coles

Saturday 26th October 1901,

CREDITON GRAMMAR SCHOOL 3,
St SIDWELLS UNITED 4.

Scorers
Crediton :- Not Known
St Sidwell's :- Coles 2, Warner, Eveleigh  



Saturday 2nd November 1901.

St SIDWELLS UNITED 5.
Robinson; Flood, Campbell; Avery, Mann, Warner; Morgan, Sellick, Thomas, Eveleigh, Coles,

TRAINING COLLEGE (St Luke's) RESERVES 1,
Watts; King, Godbeer; Collings, Lake, Williams; Fry, Robertson, Nugent, Haydon, Brown,

Scorers
St Sidwells Thomas, Eveleigh 2, Sellick, Mann,
College Not known 

St Sidwells started operations by kicking a good goal, taking the ball from the starting point right through to goal, Thomas scoring. Play ruled even for a time until the College attacked and kept up the pressure till just on half time, when they were given a penalty kick which was successfully put through, The Saints had thebest of the play in the 2nd half. Eveleigh started the scoring which was quickly followed by Sellick, Mann and Eveleigh again,

SATURDAY 9th NOVEMBER 1901,

EXMOUTH ALBION 1.
St SIDWELLS UNITED 4.

Scorers:- Sellick 2, Coles, Mann  

SATURDAY 23rd NOVEMBER 1901,
At Pinhoe Road,

St SIDWELLS UNITED 2,
TORQUAY UNITED 1,

Scorers
St Sidwells Sellick J.Thomas.
Torquay :- Not Known

J. Sellick scored in the first half, and S. Thomas in the 2nd, Torquay also scored a goal after the interval,

SATURDAY 7th DECEMBER 1901,
JUNIOR LEAGUE CUP.

At Marsh Barton,

St DAVID'S  2.
Hutching; Maunder, Dennis; Curry, Berry, Marshall; Carter, Bates, Westaway, Smeath, Lavis,
St SIDWELLS UNITED 1.
Robinson; Flood, Campbell; Avery, Mann, Morgan; Preece, Sellick, Thomas, Eveleigh, Coles,

Scorers
St Davids's Berry, Smeath,
St Sidwells Sellick.

United kicked off against a strong wind, St David's commenced to attack and a foul by St Sidwells gave a penalty which Berry put through, United tried to make progress but were driven back, Sellick was hurt but played on, and shortly afterwards, Smeath scored, Play in the 2nd half opened in favour of the United, and in 15 minutes Sellick scored. The United failed to score with a penalty kick and were beaten by 2-1.

SATURDAY 14th DECEMBER 1901

DAWLISH 2
St SIDWELLS 2 (Sellick, Coles)
at Dawlish 

Team:  Robinson, Flood, Campbell, Avery, Mann,  Morgan, Preece, Sellick, Thomas, Eveleigh, Coles

SATURDAY 11th JANUARY 1902,

EXETER UNITED 3,
Ashford; Hogan, Luke; Harvey, Wallage, Thorpe; Horner, Bamfield, Tyte, Jesty, Marshall,
St SIDWELLS UNITED 2,
Robinson; Campbell, King; Avery, Mann, Morgan; Preece, Sellick, Thomas, Eveleigh, Coles,

Scorers
Exeter United Marshall, Tyte 2.
St Sidwells Preece, Eveleigh,

Locally this match caused considerable interest, the junior team having built up for themselves a good record this season, and it was expected that they would give Exeter United a good game, Thomas started and St Sidwells attacked hotly, Morgan getting the better of Harvey on the wing and taking play right up to the United goal, Luke heading out strongly, St Sidwells were not to be denied, however, and at the end of 5 minutes play Preece shot a splendid goal. Coles had hard lines in not getting a 2nd goal when his shot hit the post and rebounded, Hogan and Luke by dint of good play sent the ball upfield, and Marshall levelled the scored, After Jesty had missed with a fast shot, Tyte gave the United the lead, but as the result of a combined forward rush by the visitors, Eveleigh was able to score, once more placing honours even, Play was even on the restart of the 2nd half, St Sidwells having as much of the game as their opponents, Hogan and Luke formed the pillar of the home team's defence and in attack Tyte was excellent. A few minutes before the finish Tyte scored the winning goal.

SATURDAY 18th JANUARY 1902,

NEWTON G,W,R, STUDENTS 1,
St SIDWELLS UNITED 3.

Peters; Campbell, King; Warner, Mann, Hawkey; Preece, Sellick, Thomas, Eveleigh,Morgan

Scorers
Students Hodges,
St Sidwells Sellick 2, Eveleigh,

SATURDAY 8th FEBRUARY 1902,

CREDITON Y.M.C.A 1.
St SIDWELLS UNITED 9, (Coles 4, Eveleigh 3, Thomas 2). 



SATURDAY 15th FEBRUARY 1902.
At Marsh Barton,

FRIERNHAY 3,
St SIDWELLS UTD. 4, (Coles 3, Sellick)


SATURDAY 1st MARCH 1902,
At Mount Pleasant,

St SIDWELLS UNITED 4,
NEWTON G,W.R, 2.

Scorers

Newton had the best of play at the start and quickly scored two goals, Nothing further was scored up to half time. In the 2nd half St Sidwells played up the better, scoring four goals in quick succession and ultimately winning by 4-2. The Newton goalkeeper was injured and had to retire.

SATURDAY 8th MARCH 1902,

St LUKE'S COLLEGE 1,
St SIDWELLSUNITED 3,

Scorers
St Luke's:- Unknown
St Sidwells Thomas 2, Sellick,

The match played on the College ground, was for the Junior Final of the League, it turned out to be a splendid game. The United were mainly on the agrresive in the first half, and goals were scored for then by Thomas and Sellick, The College attacked in the 2nd half but poor shooting lost them goals. They were, however, awarded a penalty, which was put through. Later the game became very exciting. St Sidwells going at it for all they were worth. Thomas gave his side a further lead in the closing stages, and a well contested game left St Sidwells winners of both the League and Cup.

SATURDAY 15th MARCH 1902.
At Mount Pleasant."

St SIDWELLS UNITED 3.
Mr MERMAGEN'S X1 (CREDITON) 3,

Scorers

SATURDAY 29th MARCH 1902.

St SIDWELLS UNITED 8.
EXMOUTH ALBION 0.
Scorers

MONDAY 31st MARCH 1902.

St SIDWELLS UNITED 7,
ASHLEY VILA (BRISTOL) 2.

Scorers
St Sidwells Eveleigh 4, Sellick 2, Thomas.
Ashley V. Bullock, Hoyle,

This Easter Monday match kicked off at 11 am, at the Blackboy Ground, St Sidwells. From the outset the home club established themselves as the stronger X1, as far as weight and swiftness were concerned, but the Bristol team showed much finer combination. But if the game had been played on a ground on which the ups and downs were better acquainted with by the visitors, it might have been fatal for the Exeter team, In the first half all the scoring was done by St Sidwells, Eveleigh obtaining the first two goals and Sellick the 3rd. Play commenced in the 2nd half with the slope of the field in the favour of St Sidwells, and they quickly made their advantage felt, time after time sweeping down the field towards the Ashley goal. The goalscoring of the first half was repeated, Sellick getting.one goal and Eveleigh two, The Bristol team, however, towards the end of the game, rallied in exceptionally fine style, and Bullock and Hoyle scored, Thomas accounted for the final goal for the Exeter team,

SATURDAY 19th APRIL 1902,

St SIDWELLS UNITED 2,
Robinson; Camble, Hood; Avery, Mann, Peters; Coles, Eveleigh, Thomas, Sellick, Bates,
EXETER UNITED 3,
Bolley; Maunder, Luke; Harvey, Bailey, Wallage; Ashford, Jesty, Tyte, Hogan, Horner,

Scorers
St Sidwells Bates, Eveleigh,
Exeter United Tyte, Jesty,

This match played on the ground of St Sidwells United at Blackboy Road in fine but windy weather, where there was a large crowd of spectators to witness with what sort of success the champions of the Junior League would match themselves with the United, who certainly have more football in them than any other team in the City. The United started the game under most favourable auspices for there was an easy slant down to their opponents goal, and a good wind in their favour besides, They were not slow to make use of their advantages, for within threeminutes of the kick off, a splendid bout of passing and a swift rush culminated in a goal by Tyte. This seemed ominous of victory, but St Sidwells were determined not to let it be. Within another three minutes the junior team had returned the compliment per Bates, whose shot brought about a beautiful goal from a quick centre by Eveleigh, But the rest of the half was undoubtedly in the hands of the United, who by dint of superior combination kept the play on the Saints side of the ground and the ball perilously near goal. Jesty and Tyte scored, and the first half resulted in the United 3 St Sidwells 1, In the 2nd half the Saints played with increased vigour and their forwards chivied the ball down the slope many times, only to find that Maunder and Luke were well nigh impassable, Several brilliant rushed were ingloriously checkedby Maunder and Luke, who noted both for their accurate kicking, fed their forwards splendidly. St Sidwells, however eventually augmented their score by one goal from Eveleigh, the final score being 3-2in favour of the United,

SATURDAY 26th APRIL 1902,

St SIDWELLS UNITED 0,
Robinson; Campbell, Flood; Morgan, Mann, Avery; Preece, Sellick, Thomas, Eveleigh, Coles,

REST OF THE LEAGUE 1.
Payne (St Leonards); Maunder (St Davids), Godbeer (St Lukes); Antcliffe(St Leonards),, Berry (St Davids), Sprague (Y,M,C,A,); Rowlands (Friernhay), Robertson (St Lukes), Brown(St Lukes), Davies (St Johns), Lavis(St Davids),

Scorer
League Brown,

St Sidwells United the Champions of the Exeter Junior League met a team from the Rest of the League, at the ground of the Exeter Rugby Union F, C., County Ground, St Thomas this afternoon. The match started at 2 p.m, at which hour the attendance was not a large one, The Rest opened with a clever attack, and three or four shots were sent in of a rather feeble nature, which Robinson cleared without difficulty. The Champions had a brief turn at attacking as the result of a combined effort, but it was short lived, and their goal was again beseiged. A free kick to the Rest went behind, but in a further hot attack Robinson failed to clear and Brown hooked the ball into the net. St Sidwells had rather the better of the game after the change of ends, and Sellick put in one or two useful shots, a centre By Coles was headed in by Thomas, but Payne made an excellent save which drew loud applause from the crowd, which had by now grown to 5,000. Maunder was conspicuously successful in defence for the Rest,

SATURDAY 26th APRIL 1902,

GRAND EXHIBITION MATCH.

At The County Ground,

WOOLWICH ARSENAL 0,
Ashcroft; McNichol, Jackson; Coles, Dick, Anderson J.; Edgar, Main, Gooing, Anderson W, Foxall,

W.B.A. 1.
Webb; Kifford, Adams; Nurse, Stevenson, Hadley; McLean, Simmons, Lee, Worton, Dorsett.

Scorer W,B,A, Stevenson,

The great exhibition match which had been anticipated with so much unterest locally, took place at the County Ground at the conclusion of the St Sidwells United versus the Rest of the League match, between those well known exponents of Soccer, Woolwich Arsenal, the crack London team, and W,B.A. winners of the English Cup in 1877-78 and 1891-92, It being the first occasion on which professional teams had appeared in Exeter, there was naturally a confident anticipation of a keen and highly scientific exposition of the game of soccer, Excursion trains brought a fair contingent of visitors from all parts of the County, and at 3,15 p.m. when the two teams appeared, there were quite 6,000 spectators present, of whom a considerable proportion were boys from schools and colleges, who are ardent lovers of the soccer game, The Arsenal gave a pretty passing exhibition, but their opponents were equally clever, if not a littlemore so, Just before half time Stevenson drove in a swift shot which the Arsenal goalkeeper was unable to negotiate, There was considerable cheering at the opening of the scoring, which was the result of a really fine piece of work, After the players had had their medicine, consumed from a large bottle while they sat on their haunches in the centre circle, looking for all the world like Indians in a pow wow, the game resumed, Arsenal appeared to have the Devonian crowdon their side, but they were unable to equalise, despite their efforts. On the Grandstand side of the ground, the turf although ideal for Rugby, washardly of the billiard table surface, which League teams like, Though not so spirited as competition football, the match was voted a great success, and considered by all the experts to be a very fair one for showing up all the finer arts of the code of Association Football,