Jake Richards, a central midfielder from Exeter, signed for Exeter City as a scholar/trainee after finishing school in 2023. He had been with the club’s academy since the under-12 category. Soon after starting at the club on a full-time basis he made his debut in a League Cup tie on his 16th birthday.

He played as an under-16 for Exeter City under-18s in Youth Alliance games in 2022/23 and also featured in the squad for FA Youth Cup games that season. Becoming a trainee/scholar in July 2023, Jake appeared in a first-team friendly at Mousehole before making his full debut as a late substitute in the League Cup against Crawley Town on 8 August 2023 followed by his first league game - as a starter - against Leyton Orient on 9 September 2023.

Participating in one league game, an FA Cup tie, two League Cup matches and two Football League Trophy fixtures during his first half-a-dozen appearances for the first-team, Jake also featured in the club's FA Youth Cup side. After spending the middle part of the season playing for the club's under-18 team, he returned to the first-team in April 2024 with a substitute appearance against Stevenage and a start in the game at Leyton Orient followed by three other substitute appearances.

With such a strong run at the end of the season, Jake had clocked-up a dozen first-team appearances whilst still a 16-year-old scholar/trainee and was duly named as the Supporters' Trust young player of the year for 2023/24. Not involved in the opening games of the new season because of injury, Jake made his first appearance of the 2024/25 campaign as a second-half substitute against Swindon Town in the EFL Trophy at the start of September 2024 and followed through with his first-ever goal - a free-kick from twenty-five yards - in the same competition against Tottenham Hotspur under-21s three weeks later. 

Continuing to appear for the under-18s, Jake was part of the club's squad for FA Youth Cup games and also played for the under-21s in the Premier League Cup.