Wotton, Lionel ('Nomad')
Lionel Wotton, writing as 'Nomad', covered Exeter City for the Football Express and Express and Echo from 1933 until his death twenty-two years later.
Taking over from Cyril Payne - 'the Chiel' - the Exeter-born Lionel Wotton immediately found himself reporting on one of the club's finest-ever sides as it pushed for the sole promotion place from Division Three (South). Having confidently forecast City's promotion in his first column on 1 April 1933 - on the day the Grecians defeated Norwich City in front of a 15,000 strong St James' Park crowd - the dream soon faded as Exeter finished as runners-up behind Brentford and just ahead of Norwich. The high water mark of Nomad's time reporting City had already started to recede.
Yet he had a trophy success to report at the end of his first full season when City beat Torquay United at Home Park in May 1934 to win the Division Three (South) Cup. Thereafter, notable FA Cup ties apart, there was not always too much excitement to report as City oscillated between a high of ninth - and a low of twenty-third - in the southern section.
There was also the best part of six years away from the job, from the suspension of football in September 1939 to the emergency leagues of 1945/46, followed by gradual recovery and occasional boardroom upheavals and financial crises. 'Nomad' also became the first Exeter City correspondent to cover games played under floodlights as the club tentatively staged a series of friendlies in the 1950s. He also reported on the first overseas teams to visit St James' Park.
The last of the Football Express correspondents to report under an old-style moniker, Lionel Wotton died in May 1955 around the time the era of the Football Express drew to a close. As the Express and Echo moved to produce a replacement Saturday evening sports edition, Mr Wotton was to be succeeded by Tony Court who soon found himself reporting on Exeter City the length and breadth of the country as the new third and fourth divisions took over from the old regionalised sections.
Lionel Wotton died at the age of fifty-one having suffered a stroke shortly after attending the 1955 FA Cup Final between Newcastle United and Manchester City.
Taking over from Cyril Payne - 'the Chiel' - the Exeter-born Lionel Wotton immediately found himself reporting on one of the club's finest-ever sides as it pushed for the sole promotion place from Division Three (South). Having confidently forecast City's promotion in his first column on 1 April 1933 - on the day the Grecians defeated Norwich City in front of a 15,000 strong St James' Park crowd - the dream soon faded as Exeter finished as runners-up behind Brentford and just ahead of Norwich. The high water mark of Nomad's time reporting City had already started to recede.
Yet he had a trophy success to report at the end of his first full season when City beat Torquay United at Home Park in May 1934 to win the Division Three (South) Cup. Thereafter, notable FA Cup ties apart, there was not always too much excitement to report as City oscillated between a high of ninth - and a low of twenty-third - in the southern section.
There was also the best part of six years away from the job, from the suspension of football in September 1939 to the emergency leagues of 1945/46, followed by gradual recovery and occasional boardroom upheavals and financial crises. 'Nomad' also became the first Exeter City correspondent to cover games played under floodlights as the club tentatively staged a series of friendlies in the 1950s. He also reported on the first overseas teams to visit St James' Park.
The last of the Football Express correspondents to report under an old-style moniker, Lionel Wotton died in May 1955 around the time the era of the Football Express drew to a close. As the Express and Echo moved to produce a replacement Saturday evening sports edition, Mr Wotton was to be succeeded by Tony Court who soon found himself reporting on Exeter City the length and breadth of the country as the new third and fourth divisions took over from the old regionalised sections.
Lionel Wotton died at the age of fifty-one having suffered a stroke shortly after attending the 1955 FA Cup Final between Newcastle United and Manchester City.
Comments