08 May
On this day in :-
1945
Exeter City formed a new board of directors as the Club looked to resume playing football after the Second World War. Sidney Thomas was elected as chairman and Fred Cottey, vice-chairman. Both men had followed the game form their boyhood, with Thomas having played for the Grecians as an amateur and then becoming secretary. Cottey was a former local referee and chairman of the East Devon FA. The Club had told the Football League that they intended to be back in the competition for the start of the 1945-46 season, although no decision had been made by the League as to the format the Third Division might take. Travelling was still bound to be difficult and it was thought that a more regionalised competition might be the answer.
1949
It was announced that the City were to free six players and retain a further 19. The six freed were, Coles, Cumming, Dymond, Grant. Jeffrey and O'Hagan. A further two players were transfer listed, including captain Harry Bartholomew and forward Ron Johnston who had cost Exeter £1,500 when he had been signed from Rochdale a year earlier.
1953
Exeter City and their two trainers, Jimmy Gallagher and Stan Cutting were to part company. By mutual consent the contract between Gallagher and the City would be terminated and in those circumstances the Club decided to start the following season with a completely new training staff. Gallagher had received offers from a number of other clubs, including Stoke City, but he was likely to rejoin his former Exeter boss George Roughton at Southampton. Gallagher had been appointed as head trainer at St James' Park in 1946, with former Grecians half-back, Cutting, joining as an assistant shortly after.
1957
The name of Exeter City's new manager was due to be announced that week with several being mentioned as favourites to fill the vacant St James' Park post. Among those linked with the job were Tonbridge manager Douglas Hunt, who was a former Sheffield Wednesday and Leyton Orient forward, and Frank Broome of Notts County. However, the person tipped by many to take over was 35-year old Bill Thompson who was in charge of Guildford City and who made many appearances for Portsmouth in their Football League championship winning teams.
1959
Exeter City sent Shrewsbury Town a congratulatory telegram after the Shropshire side had clinched promotion to the Third Division following a 4-1 win over Watford. The win meant that the Grecians had just missed out on promotion and had to cattle for a fifth place finish. City chairman Albert Line said that he was optimistic for the future and was confident that the stepping stones of success had been laid. Plans for next season would shortly be drawn up and the board of directors resolved to bring to Exeter football of the highest quality as soon as possible.
1964
Having secured promotion for the first time in the history of the Club, the City board of directors announced a new admission pricing structure for St James' Park and Third Division football. Ground season tickets would be increased from £7 to £8. Individual matches would cost Adults four shillings, an increase of sixpence, whilst juveniles would pay two shillings, an increase of threepence. City chairman Reg Rose said that the Club were trying to bring better football and conditions at St James' Park and that everyone knew that Third Division football would be harder and new players would have to be brought in ht during the summer, A new set of floodlights were also needed and they would cost between £8,000 and £10,000.
1969
John Newman accepted the position of player-manager of Exeter City and wasted no time in shaping his squad of players for the next season. He released four players on free transfers, Keith Harvey, Dermot Curtis, Keith Whatling and John Kirkham. This left a total of just 12 players retained, as follows:- Peter Shearing, Cecil Smyth, Jimmy Blain, Campbell Crawford, Graham Parker, Mike BalsonJohn Corr, Alan Banks, John Wingate, John Mitten, David Pleat and Newman himself. The new player-boss said that it was going to be a big challenge for him as manager of Exeter City and he only took the job after thinking long and hard about it.
1976
Following the resignation of Gerald Vallance as chairman of Exeter City, it was expected that Clifford Hill would take over the position. Mr. Hill said: "We have a good staff and we appreciate thisI have every faith in Exeter City as a viable soccer club." He added that the Club would not at that stage be seeking to appoint any new directors, as there was no one in mind..
1982
Exeter City may have won their battle against relegation, but there was very real danger off the field that the Club itself might not survive. That was the stark message from City chairman Gerald Vallance who said: "We are expecting a loss of more than £100,000 in the current financial year and we simply cannot go on like that. Another year like this and Exeter City FC are finished. We have to look to make savings of £70,000 because we are budgeting to reduce the loss to one of around £30,000." This was a disappointing position that the Club had found itself in, especially as they had just wiped out accumulated losses of £250,000. But there had been a dramatic fall in income and attendances had fallen.
1989
Exeter City announced that they were planning no further increases in admission prices for the next season. Matchday admission would remain at £5 for the grandstand and £3 for the rest of the ground, with reductions for senior citizens and children. Although the Club were still in debt to the tune of £500,000 and there were strong economic grounds for increasing the prices, Financial Director Murray Couch explained: "We have been very appreciative of the increased hard core support this season. We felt as a board, that we didn't want to put prices up as a sign of gratitude for the loyalty of our supporters."
1993
Exeter City appointed their first ever chief executive, City FC company secretary and director Allen Trump would assume the role immediately and take on the job as a full time post from 1st July. Meanwhile striker Eamonn Dolan was hopeful that he would make a full recovery from the illness which had kept him out of the game. City physio Mike Chapman said that although Dolan would require further hospital treatment he was sure he would make a speedy recovery. The Club were expecting serious repercussions from the Football League following incidents that occurred at the end of the game with Port Vale when referee Roger Gifford was knocked to the ground by a supporter. It was hoped that the offender had been caught either on television, or by the closed circuit cameras and the appropriate action would be taken against them.
1994
A visit to Exeter City's match against Stockport County was described as follows:- "St James' Park is a metropolitan ground, affording parking for a dozen or more cars, It is a bread and butter sort of venue., A place for hewers of wood and drawers of water and the crowd has been known to be so small that they were introduced to the players over the public address system. On Monday there were 1,992; a few hundred with flat caps and flat vowels who had come down from the north - Stockport to be exact. "There were a few of the faithful who attend matches regardless of performance, They called out good advice to the players, also voiced contempt for the bullet headed linesman with the yellow flag., They are also hospitable at Exeter City. In the guests room they serve crisp roast potatoes and garlic bread as well as obligatory quarters of cheese sandwich, pasties, coffee and strong tea.
Birthdays
1945
Exeter City formed a new board of directors as the Club looked to resume playing football after the Second World War. Sidney Thomas was elected as chairman and Fred Cottey, vice-chairman. Both men had followed the game form their boyhood, with Thomas having played for the Grecians as an amateur and then becoming secretary. Cottey was a former local referee and chairman of the East Devon FA. The Club had told the Football League that they intended to be back in the competition for the start of the 1945-46 season, although no decision had been made by the League as to the format the Third Division might take. Travelling was still bound to be difficult and it was thought that a more regionalised competition might be the answer.
1949
It was announced that the City were to free six players and retain a further 19. The six freed were, Coles, Cumming, Dymond, Grant. Jeffrey and O'Hagan. A further two players were transfer listed, including captain Harry Bartholomew and forward Ron Johnston who had cost Exeter £1,500 when he had been signed from Rochdale a year earlier.
1953
Exeter City and their two trainers, Jimmy Gallagher and Stan Cutting were to part company. By mutual consent the contract between Gallagher and the City would be terminated and in those circumstances the Club decided to start the following season with a completely new training staff. Gallagher had received offers from a number of other clubs, including Stoke City, but he was likely to rejoin his former Exeter boss George Roughton at Southampton. Gallagher had been appointed as head trainer at St James' Park in 1946, with former Grecians half-back, Cutting, joining as an assistant shortly after.
1957
The name of Exeter City's new manager was due to be announced that week with several being mentioned as favourites to fill the vacant St James' Park post. Among those linked with the job were Tonbridge manager Douglas Hunt, who was a former Sheffield Wednesday and Leyton Orient forward, and Frank Broome of Notts County. However, the person tipped by many to take over was 35-year old Bill Thompson who was in charge of Guildford City and who made many appearances for Portsmouth in their Football League championship winning teams.
1959
Exeter City sent Shrewsbury Town a congratulatory telegram after the Shropshire side had clinched promotion to the Third Division following a 4-1 win over Watford. The win meant that the Grecians had just missed out on promotion and had to cattle for a fifth place finish. City chairman Albert Line said that he was optimistic for the future and was confident that the stepping stones of success had been laid. Plans for next season would shortly be drawn up and the board of directors resolved to bring to Exeter football of the highest quality as soon as possible.
1964
Having secured promotion for the first time in the history of the Club, the City board of directors announced a new admission pricing structure for St James' Park and Third Division football. Ground season tickets would be increased from £7 to £8. Individual matches would cost Adults four shillings, an increase of sixpence, whilst juveniles would pay two shillings, an increase of threepence. City chairman Reg Rose said that the Club were trying to bring better football and conditions at St James' Park and that everyone knew that Third Division football would be harder and new players would have to be brought in ht during the summer, A new set of floodlights were also needed and they would cost between £8,000 and £10,000.
1969
John Newman accepted the position of player-manager of Exeter City and wasted no time in shaping his squad of players for the next season. He released four players on free transfers, Keith Harvey, Dermot Curtis, Keith Whatling and John Kirkham. This left a total of just 12 players retained, as follows:- Peter Shearing, Cecil Smyth, Jimmy Blain, Campbell Crawford, Graham Parker, Mike BalsonJohn Corr, Alan Banks, John Wingate, John Mitten, David Pleat and Newman himself. The new player-boss said that it was going to be a big challenge for him as manager of Exeter City and he only took the job after thinking long and hard about it.
1976
Following the resignation of Gerald Vallance as chairman of Exeter City, it was expected that Clifford Hill would take over the position. Mr. Hill said: "We have a good staff and we appreciate thisI have every faith in Exeter City as a viable soccer club." He added that the Club would not at that stage be seeking to appoint any new directors, as there was no one in mind..
1982
Exeter City may have won their battle against relegation, but there was very real danger off the field that the Club itself might not survive. That was the stark message from City chairman Gerald Vallance who said: "We are expecting a loss of more than £100,000 in the current financial year and we simply cannot go on like that. Another year like this and Exeter City FC are finished. We have to look to make savings of £70,000 because we are budgeting to reduce the loss to one of around £30,000." This was a disappointing position that the Club had found itself in, especially as they had just wiped out accumulated losses of £250,000. But there had been a dramatic fall in income and attendances had fallen.
1989
Exeter City announced that they were planning no further increases in admission prices for the next season. Matchday admission would remain at £5 for the grandstand and £3 for the rest of the ground, with reductions for senior citizens and children. Although the Club were still in debt to the tune of £500,000 and there were strong economic grounds for increasing the prices, Financial Director Murray Couch explained: "We have been very appreciative of the increased hard core support this season. We felt as a board, that we didn't want to put prices up as a sign of gratitude for the loyalty of our supporters."
1993
Exeter City appointed their first ever chief executive, City FC company secretary and director Allen Trump would assume the role immediately and take on the job as a full time post from 1st July. Meanwhile striker Eamonn Dolan was hopeful that he would make a full recovery from the illness which had kept him out of the game. City physio Mike Chapman said that although Dolan would require further hospital treatment he was sure he would make a speedy recovery. The Club were expecting serious repercussions from the Football League following incidents that occurred at the end of the game with Port Vale when referee Roger Gifford was knocked to the ground by a supporter. It was hoped that the offender had been caught either on television, or by the closed circuit cameras and the appropriate action would be taken against them.
1994
A visit to Exeter City's match against Stockport County was described as follows:- "St James' Park is a metropolitan ground, affording parking for a dozen or more cars, It is a bread and butter sort of venue., A place for hewers of wood and drawers of water and the crowd has been known to be so small that they were introduced to the players over the public address system. On Monday there were 1,992; a few hundred with flat caps and flat vowels who had come down from the north - Stockport to be exact. "There were a few of the faithful who attend matches regardless of performance, They called out good advice to the players, also voiced contempt for the bullet headed linesman with the yellow flag., They are also hospitable at Exeter City. In the guests room they serve crisp roast potatoes and garlic bread as well as obligatory quarters of cheese sandwich, pasties, coffee and strong tea.
Birthdays
|
Dennis |
Churms |
08/05 |
1931 |
|
Gareth |
Sheldon |
08/05 |
1980 |
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