On this day-17th January

1951: Angry Scenes At St James Park

There were angry scenes outside St James' Park this afternoon when hundreds of Exeter City supporters who had gone there to get an allocation of tickets for the cup match against Chelsea saw a notice that no tickets would be sold. Apparently unable to believe the announcement, crowds hovered about outside the ground until well into the afternoon. The cause of the trouble was a request from Chelsea last night for an allocation of tickets. Previously they had said they did not want any for the Cup tiebut following the announcement of a cheap excursion train to Exeter, they were inundated with applications. George Gilbert, the Exeter City FC secretary said he had no alternative but to send the Stamford Bridge club the 2,500 tickets which would have been on sale at St James' Park this afternoon, and he added that it was too late for the tickets already issued to other selling agencies in the city to be reallocated to allow a distribution at St James' Park. Hundreds of City supporters went without their lunch today to make sure of getting a cup ticketand although they were on sale from the two selling points in exeter-W.H. Smith in Gandy Street and Bartletts in Cowick Street until 12.30pm-queues built up long before 11am. There was a queue stretching half a mile long in Gandy Street and it was estimated to contain 2,000 people eager to get ticket. These were allocated two to a person. City FC directorLes Seward, said: Naturally we want to give our own supporters first chance and this is why a big allocation has been made to the accredited agents on the city"

1951
City's 4-9 defeat away, to Gillingham would become the Third Division (south) record highest scoring game.

1958: Broome Starts Work.

Frank Broome started settling into his new job as Exeter City manager this morning with a variety of tasks. He spoke to the players collectively and individually, had a tour of his new headquarters and had a chat with the chairman, Albert Line. He then got down to the problem of choosing the team for the next game against Newport county. Broome's appointment was confirmed at last night's board meeting and the terms of his contract agreed, which is described as lengthy and substantialBroome will be in complete control of the playing staff, scouting and signing of players, in fact every part of Exeter City which is concerned with the performances on the field.

1961: Vandals Do Damage To Park

Vandals broke into St James' Park last night doing an estimated £30 of damage to the goal posts and nets. They uprooted one of the posts at the Big Bank end and then pushed it on tis side, so that the whole structure collapsed. At the St James Road end of the ground, they ripped the side netting on both sides of the goal. No other damage was caused to the club's property. Groundsman Sonny Clarke said the posts are buried two feet deep and require a lot of shifting.

1963: City Match With Bees In Danger

Exeter City's home match with Brentford on Saturday is very doubtful. The pitch is still frozen and an inspection will be made tomorrow by local referee, Jack BricknellLast night's snow fall and heavy frost has made an almost impossible situation even worse. The City reserves Western League match at Bridgwater Town has been postponedThere is almost four feet of snow on their pitchAlso postponed for the second time is City's FA Youth Cup tie, third round game, at BexleyheathThis will hopefully be played on Saturday week

1969 Waterlogged Pitch

Exeter City's scheduled Fourth Division match with Workington at, St James Park tomorrow is off the pitch is waterlogged after torrential rain that swept across the west country. After a pitch inspection this morning revealed the worst, City contacted the Workington party who were having lunch in a motorway services restaurant and prevented then from travelling any further.

1970
Peter Shearing, goalkeeper, breaks his arm in the 2-0 deleat, away, at Port Vale. Peter played on and it was not until the game finished that he realised the extent of his injury. 

1989: Withey On His Way

Graham Witheythe Exeter City striker plagued with injuries since joining the club last summer, has had his contract cancelled by mutual consentHe left yesterday after little more than six months with the club he had joined on a one year contract from Cheltenham Town. In that time he totalled only five full first team appearances and three as substitute from a possible total of 28 games this season. He last pulled on a City shirt at Lincoln City on 11th November when he played for 63 minutes before Tommy Langley replaced him. For much of the time since then 28-year-old Withey has been suffering from sciaticaThe back problem on top of earlier knee and ankle injuries have made his stay at St James Park an unhappy one. He was transfer listed a month ago by manager Terry Cooper who felt that the target man could not cope with full time training and would be better off reverting to non league football. Withey described Cooper's comments as "absolute rubbish He said at the time that he intended to stick around with City until a better offer came along, but now he has decided to quitCooper. who for some time has made little secret of his desire to remove the player from City's wage bill, said Withey now planned to continue his career in Australia. Cooper added. He's  keen to go to Australia and he could be off as early as next week. So it has worked out well for him and us Meanwhile reserve goalkeeper Richard Smeath sees a specialist tomorrow about his recurring knee injury and Paul batty enters hospital for an operation to repair the split bone in his right leg. Teenage defender Chris Small is also due to see a specialist after breaking down once more with an abdominal strain.


SOME MATCHES PLAYED ON THIS DAY

1914 Exeter City 1 Crystal Palace 1
Southern League

1920 Luton Town 3 Exeter City 1
Southern League

1925 Queens Park Rangers 1  Exeter City 4
Division Three South

1931: Torquay United 0 Exeter City 0
Division Three South

1948: Exeter City 0 Torquay United 2
Division Three South

1951 Gillingham 9 Exeter City 4
Division Three South

1953 Walsall 2 Exeter City 2
Division Three South

1970 Port Vale 2 Exeter City O
Division Four

1976 Exeter City 0 Lincoln City 0
Division Four

1978: Sheffield Wednesday 2 Exeter City 1
Division Three

1986:Port Vale 0 Exeter City O
Division Four

1987: Exeter City 2 Colchester United G
Division Four

1990: Bristol Rovers 3 Exeter City 0
Leyland Daf Cup


Birthdays