Brian Godfrey, manager of Exeter City between January 1979 and June 1983, led the Grecians to the 6th round of the FA Cup in 1981 and 8th and 9th place finishes in Division Three. A former Welsh international, his time at St James’ Park rather surprisingly represented the entirety of his time as a manager in the Football League.      

An inside-forward from North Wales, Brian Godfrey had made a solitary league appearance for Everton before enjoying a 552 game (128 goals) Football League career with Scunthopre United, Preston North End, Aston Villa, Bristol Rovers and Newport County. After a brief spell in North America, he became player-manager of Bath City in 1976 where he won the Southern League championship in 1977/78. Capturing the eye of the board at Exeter City, he was ensconced in the manager’s office at St James’ Park the following January following Bobby Saxton's move back down the road to Home Park.

Immediately picking up on his predecessor’s good work by taking City to 9th place in Division Three at the conclusion of his first half-season, he improved this to 8th by the end of the next term when City were boosted by the March 1980 return of Tony Kellow from Blackpool. And, if 1980/81’s 11th place -  an unprecedented third consecutive top-half finish in the third tier - may have satisfied the majority of supporters, it was nothing compared to the mounting excitement caused by successive FA Cup victories over Leatherhead, Millwall and Maidstone United that took the Grecians to the 4th round for the first time in thirty years. Drawn away to Leicester City, Exeter forced a draw and won the home replay. Drawn at Newcastle United in the 5th round, the same happened again with the Grecians memorably winning the home replay 4-0 only for the odyssey to finish at White Hart Lane in the quarter-finals.

From then on, City couldn’t maintain the momentum and slipped to 18th in 1982 and 19th in 1983. Brian Godfrey left in that summer of 1983 and the incoming Gerry Francis - an innovative, still-young ‘big name’ appointment - could only oversee a hapless 1983/84 that resulted in relegation after seven years in the third tier. Mr Godfrey, settled in the Bristol area since his time at Eastville, went on to manage Weymouth and Gloucester City before eventually moving to Cyprus where he died in February 2010 aged sixty-nine.