Denning, Sgt A E
Sergeant A.E.Denning was the secretary of what was commonly held to be the first 'City Club' when it was founded in 1893. Based at the Higher Barracks he was an early example of what proved to be a strong link between the military and football in Exeter.
During the period leading up to the Great War many a military man appeared for Exeter City as an amateur either in Exeter or Plymouth district league football. Often based at the Higher Barracks or at Topsham Barracks, they were invariably known as 'battery men' at a time when locally-based military teams frequently provided opposition for the embryonic Grecians.
One such figure. a decade earlier, was Sergeant A.E.Denning of the Devonshire Regiment who became secretary of Exeter AFC formed in August 1893. He is pictured in a team photograph, reproduced in Aidan Hamilton's The Story of Exeter's St James' Park, that is said to be the oldest-known image of an association football team in Exeter. Alongside him are Sergeant Byrne and Sergeant-Major McDermott both of the same regiment.
This is probably Albert Edward Denning born in the Portsmouth area in 1868 and recorded on the 1891 census as a lance corporal in the infantry serving in Exeter. Aged around twenty-five at the time of the formation of Exeter AFC, he is believed to have died in the city in 1902 by which time had been invalided out of the army having reached the rank of Colour Sergeant.
During the period leading up to the Great War many a military man appeared for Exeter City as an amateur either in Exeter or Plymouth district league football. Often based at the Higher Barracks or at Topsham Barracks, they were invariably known as 'battery men' at a time when locally-based military teams frequently provided opposition for the embryonic Grecians.
One such figure. a decade earlier, was Sergeant A.E.Denning of the Devonshire Regiment who became secretary of Exeter AFC formed in August 1893. He is pictured in a team photograph, reproduced in Aidan Hamilton's The Story of Exeter's St James' Park, that is said to be the oldest-known image of an association football team in Exeter. Alongside him are Sergeant Byrne and Sergeant-Major McDermott both of the same regiment.
This is probably Albert Edward Denning born in the Portsmouth area in 1868 and recorded on the 1891 census as a lance corporal in the infantry serving in Exeter. Aged around twenty-five at the time of the formation of Exeter AFC, he is believed to have died in the city in 1902 by which time had been invalided out of the army having reached the rank of Colour Sergeant.
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