On this day in:- 

1912
West Ham United were the visitors to St James Park for a Southern League fixture which drew a crowd of 3,000Although the Hammers enjoyed most of the play. they were unable to beat Exeter City goalkeeper Dick Pym who was in inspired form, and who made a string of fine savesUnfortunately, little was seen of the City attack and an inevitable goalless draw was the result.

1937
Two goals each from Harry Bowl and Stan Pope gave Exeter City a 4-1 home win over Northampton Town in Division three South,. This was only the Grecians third victory of the season, but two in a row at St JamesPark. Despite the poor form of the team there will still 6,000 spectators at the game.

1946
Arc lights were used for the first time at St James Park, when on a floodlit pitch, part time professionals and amateurs on the Exeter City playing staff were able to complete a training session. The lights were given to the club by the Grecians Association, and they were judged to be a big success and a real innovation. Meanwhile plans had been drawn up to terrace the small bank behind the St James Road goalThe work was due to commence just as soon as the necessary approval was given, with the terracing being completed in sections as time and money permitted.

1950
Exeter City chairman Sidney Thomas was quick to point out that the rumours that the club were to sell players to raise finance were completely untrue. He also denied that the club had received an offer of £8,000 for one particular player. He was speaking at the annual meeting of the Shareholders where it was reported that the club had made a loss of £5,241 on the years trading. It was revealed that match receipts totalled £23,549 and season ticket sales of £5,000 was a new club record Nearly half of the club's income went on wages. In 1908 the club expenditure budgeted for £3,212, but in 1950 it was £34,000. The main asset of the club was St James' Park which a conservative estimate put at £25,000 (including the stands and equipment)The club also owned houses worth £9,000 and it was reckoned that the players were worth £15,000. The meeting closed with Mr Thomas stating that if Exeter City had to continue to rely on attendances of 10,000 for home matches, then they would never be in a position to spend lavishly.

1954
Over 26,000 fans were inside Ashton Gate to watch Bristol City's Third Division South fixture with Exeter City, and most will have left the ground very happy as the home side won 2-0. Goalscoring had been a real problem for the Grecians since day one of the season and at this point they boasted the worst scoring record in the entire Football League! Back at St James' Park the City Reserves were entertaining Hereford United in the Southern League and winning 5-2, with goals from Bill Ellaway (3), Tom Dunne and Eddie Murphy. The attendance was 2,588.

1957
Keith Havey is chosen to play for a representative Division 3 South XI against a Division 3 North XI at Selhurst Park. It ended 2-2

1964
For the first time in their history Exeter City appointed a woman as their company secretary. Mrs. Patricia Smith, who lived in Exeter, became the only female secretary in the Football League. Born in Isleworth, Middlesex, she had been living in Exeter for the past four years and was a company secretary before joining the Grecians, although had no previous football experience. The Club also made another appointment to fill the position of trainer. Since Jack Edwards had taken over as manager the previous season from Cyril Spiers, he had been combining the role of guiding the team with that of trainer. However, it was now decided that Edwards should concentrate on management, so City appointed Albert Keetley as trainer. Keetley had previously been trainer at Bradford City for four years, and as a player had appeared for Bury and Bournemouth.

1965
Jimmy Blain makes his debut for Exeter City in a 1-1 draw, home to Swindon. He would go on to make over 340 appearances for the Club. 

1971
Exeter City travelled to Elm Park, the home of Reading FC, looking to continue their record of having scored in their previous eleven Fourth Division matches. This they achieved with a goal from leading scorer Fred Binney, but sadly from the Grecians point of view they also conceded three. Reading's third goal bordered on the bizarre as they were awarded a free-kick as a result of Exeter keeper Bob Wilson pushing the ball into the face of a home playerThe free-kick awarded by the referee was duly despatched into the back of the net.

1976
Injury hit Exeter City signed Plymouth Argyle central defender Peter Darke on a months loan. Whilst the Exeter born player was training with his City colleagues for the first time, the club's chief scout, Tony Long was taking the registration forms to London so that the player could be registered in time to make his debut in the following match against Southport. One player who wanted to leave the Grecians though was Keith Clapham, who was placed on the transfer list after talks with manager John Newman. The player had been unhappy that he had been overlooked for a first team place and the fact that Darke had been signed. Newman felt that it would be a good thing from Clapham's point of view if he made a fresh start elsewhere.

1979
Exeter City produced a superb performance at Anfield as they lost 2-0 to Liverpool in the fourth round of the Football League Cup. Liverpool manager Bob Paisley was full of praise for the manner in which the City approached the game. City keeper Vince O'Keefe had a magnificent game which drew plaudits from his Liverpool counterpart Ray Clemence. Unfortunately the night was marred by trouble outside the ground when a gang of Liverpool supporters attacked eight Exeter fans who were waiting for a bus to take them home. They had to take refuge in a nearby Chinese takeaway.

1982
A Keith Viney goal was enough to earn Exeter City a point on their visit to Oxford United in a 1-1 draw. There was much relief amongst the travelling City fans, for they had only seen the team win three games in the opening thirteen matches as the side drifted towards the bottom of the Third Division.

1990
It was expected that 34-year old striker Trevor Morgan would be rejoining Exeter City for the third time in his career, and link up again with manager Terry Cooper. The Grecians had offered Morgan the role of player-coach which had been left vacant since the departure of Clive Whitehead to Yeovil Town. Morgan had been playing in Hong Kong for Happy Valley, but his three-month contract with them was due to end. Morgan had a full coaching badge and was keen to get into that side of the game. City secretary Stuart Brailey was working overtime on getting international clearance for Morgan's return to English football, but the time difference between Hong Kong and England were hampering things a little bit. It meant late night calls by City to try and contact Morgan in Hong Kong at the start of his working day.

1992
A ghost from the past was planning to come back to Exeter City and haunt them once again. This followed the draw for the first round of the FA Cup which had paired the Grecians with Kidderminster Harriers at St James' Park. Five times in the previous 20 years City had been dumped out of the competition by non-league opposition, and now Kidderminster boss Graham Allner was planning to repeat one of those humiliations. For in 1973, Exeter City, then managed by John Newman, crashed to a 1-0 defeat against Alvechurch thanks to a goal from Graham Allnerl Southern League Alvechurch went on to their best run in the FA Cup by reaching the third round before losing to Bradford City.

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