BOXING DAY SUCCESS AT BRIGHTON

The Grecians gave a big boost to their drive for promotion with a Boxing Day win at Brighton on 26 December 1963.

There was much discussion in the local papers and match programmes about how life at Christmas had changed for professional footballers. The old tradition of Christmas Day matches had ended. City’s last game on 25 December had been in 1957 when they won 3-1 at Torquay.

But the festive period had been even more intense in the yearsbefore the First World War. Maurice Golesworthy, in his ‘Club Chatter’ column in the Exeter programme when Brighton returned to St James Park two days after the Boxing Day clash, wrote ‘I was astonished to find that in season 1910-11 our first team, who were then competing in the Southern League, had to play four games in five days, six games in eight days!’

Whatever the challenges in 1963, City’s Manager, Jack Edwards, did all he could to keep the players’ feet on the ground.  Tony Court reported on a typical training regimeearlier that month: ‘Training today consisted of a morning walk with the afternoon off. Tomorrow the programme will be morning and afternoon sessions; Wednesday there will be golf all day and a five a side tournament in the evening; morning and afternoon sessions on Thursday, and a final loosen-up on Friday morning’.  

So when Exeter went to Brighton they were well prepared and encouraged by a 4-1 home win against Bradford City and a 1-1 draw at Lincoln in the two previous games. They were further lifted by the signing of Adrian Thorne for £1500 from Plymouth Argyle.

It was a very significant signing for the Boxing Day game as Thorne had also played for Brighton. And after the home side took a first half lead who was it but Thorne that equalised after ‘streaking through the mud’ according to the Echo. Their report raved about the new signing: ‘Thorne’s enterprise and marksmanship was something that Brighton simply couldn’t match as he made a triumphant return to the Goldstone Ground’.

Brighton were ‘forced to back pedal anxiously as City went flat out for a win and with only five minutes remaining Alan Banks seized his chance’.  So City won 2-1 in front of a 10,250 crowd. The Echo reflected that ‘the home players were given the slow handclap as they strove to recapture their snap of the first half’.

The headline over the match report in Mike Blackstone’s book ‘Grecians Going Up’ simply reads ‘Happy Christmas Exeter City’.  

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There was Boxing Day action at St James Park too although not with the best of view for spectators. The Reserves were losing 4-1 to Bristol City when the match was abandoned due to the ever thickening fog. George Spiers had netted for the Grecians.