On this day in:-

1946
Office staff at Bournemouth and Boscombe FC had been working overtime since the FA Cup draw had paired the Dean Court club against Exeter City. They said that applications for tickets had arrived in their thousands. The Grecians received an allocation of 400 tickets and there had been a brisk demand. One of the bookings had been for 30 tickets for some Cullompton supporters who were to make the trip by charabanc. A special train was also being organised to Bournemouth, leaving Exeter Central at 10am and arriving in Bournemouth at 1pm. Meanwhile Exeter City reserves were to include a trialist outside left in their team for the forthcoming fixture at Guildford City. Cyril Jones had linked up with the City, hailing from the Merthyr Tydfil area, after just coming out of the Army.

1952
The Express and Echo featured a report about Exeter City's FA Cup first round tie at Port Vale. They wrote:- 'At midnight on Friday a coach load of Exeter City zealots will depart for the Potteries, the distance being 202 miles, and they intend to be there to cheer the City, win, lose or draw. The trip is being organised by Les Kerslake, the secretary of the Grecians Association, whose membership has reached an time record of 2,200.'

1956
The Exeter City chairman sounded pout three warning notes on the future of the club at the annual meeting held at the Imperial HotelWarning number one, the strongest, concerned the City reserve team which Mr Thomas felt may soon be functioning in the Exeter and District LeagueThe present Southern League side had to be subsidised by the first team receipts and this had proved to be very uneconomicalHe visualised the reserves consisting of amateurs, so that local youngsters could be brought along. Warning number two concerned the clubs loss of £3,976, much of which had come about through expenditure in the transfer market. The previous year City had paid out over £6,200 in transfer fees and this simply could not be allowed to happen againThe club went heavily into the transfer market and were taught the lesson that success cannot be bought. Warming number three was the plea for a cut in Entertainment Tax, or many smaller clubs would be dropping out of the Football League. Something had to be done by the Chancellor.

1961
The club announced that it would be appealing against the decision made by Exeter City Council to turn down a £150,000 bowling alley development scheme at St James Park. The plan would have provided for a 20 lane bowling alley at the rear of the Big Bank end of the ground, where the practice pitch was presently located. Equally important to the club and its supporters, it would have meant extra facilities and revenue. The construction firm building the proposed new development had agreed to build a new entrance to St James Park from Old Tiverton Road, as well as a gymnasium which would have given the players somewhere to train in bad weatherThe board of directors visualised that this facility could be used by supporters as a centre for various functions.

1973 Exeter lose 5-1 to Wolves in the League Cup 4th round. 

1974
Exeter City announced that they were losing £300 per week, with club chairman Gerald Vallance saying: "I feel sure we shall see out the seasonWhether we see out next season is a different matter." This grim warning came at a time when professional football was facing a national crisis. crowds were dipping at an alarming rate and as far as Exeter were concerned, they had to consider the following points. 1) Exeter City have to look for attendances of 4 to 5,000 per home game to break even financially; 2) At the moment they were 1,000 people a game down on the average first nine home games of the previous season; 3) Gate receipts were down £3,000 compared with the same number of games played the previous season; 4) The clubs average wage bill was about £850 per week; 6) The weekly outgoings for the club, including wages totalled around £1,300; 7) the average gate receipts per match was £1,000.

1988
Four East Devon teenagers and one from Torbay signed schoolboy forms for Exeter City. Dean Reed, a centre half from Clyst Vale Community College; midfielder Stephen Murch and defender Mark Turvey from St Thomas High School; midfielder Kevin Sercombe from St James High School; Torbay Schools midfielder Toby Redwood, son of former City player Barry Redwood. Youth Development Officer Mike Radford said; "Two or three years ago I had a squad right from where they were, 14-years old. We enjoyed quite a bit of success in various competitions and produced professionals for the club like Mark Robson, Scott Hiley, Jamie Harris and Richard MasseyI am looking forward to do the same with this current crop of youngsters"

1990
Brian McDermott left Exeter City to join GM Vauxhall Conference League club Yeovil Town as assistant manager in a £10,000 deal. Manager of Yeovil was another former City player, Clive Whitehead, who had earlier returned to St James Park to sign Steve Harrower for £5,000. Visiting fans had been asking why they had to pay more than City supporters for games at St James Park. Visitors were paying £5 whilst everyone else was charged £4 to stand on the terraces. A club spokesman explained that the justification for this was due to the fact that policing costs for away fans were considerable. The club had decided against banning away fans altogether, such as the policy then followed by Torquay United

1992
The Football League placed a transfer embargo on Exeter City as the club had failed to settle a payment due to striker Gary ChapmanThe Professional Footballers Association had asked the League to order the transfer block. City chairman Gerald Vallance said: "What can I say? We haven't got any money at the moment but we will pay Gary Chapman as soon as we can. Manager Alan Ball is not looking to sign any players at the moment so the transfer embargo should not make any difference. I am worried about the shortage of money at Exeter City. Grecians commercial manager Steve Birley described the club's current position as "turbulent" following the embargo.

1993
Manager Alan Ball denied that there was a rift between him and striker Ronnie Jepson Speculation of a disagreement spread after Jepson said that he would be happy to stay at Exeter City if the club offered hi ma new contract. Ball explained: "There is no rift. The atmosphere at the club could not be better. If and when the right offer come sin for Ronnie, my board will consider it. Until then he is under contract to this club People do not appear to trust the manager to do the job'I am well paid to do. They must think I am an idiot But Ronnie has seven months of his to run and am expecting him to play his heart out for Exeter City during that time." Company secretary and director Peter Carter was also commenting on the the average attendances being attracted to games at the 'Park, which was 3,500. he said: "Obviously bigger crowds would help our financial position Although results dictate the size of the crowd the immediate effects of a good performance on gates do not tend to be as dramatic as bad performances., It takes a while and a number of good results before this is reflected in increased attendances. The recession is still having an affect on our gates which have been falling for some time. The trend is hard to reverse"

2003
The Inland Revenue launches a test case against city to challenge. the legality of the clubs CVA.


Birthdays