Dick Mitchell photographed Exeter City for the Express andEcho from the mid-1950s until his untimely death in 1981. Several of his most notable pictures have been prominently displayed at St James’ Park.

Dick started working for the Express and Echo (then published six times a week) shortly after leaving school in the early 1950s and was soon covering Exeter City’s home games together with major events such as the Exeter floods of 1960 and the ‘Big Freeze’ of 1963. During these early newspaper days Dick was a keen amateur footballer himself and it was said that Norman Dodgin, the Grecians' manager between 1953 and 1957, offered him terms to play for the club.  

Concentrating on photography and taking up his customary position at the end of St James’ Park that the Grecians were attacking, Dick was on hand in January 1969 to record the FA Cup game against Manchester United, the reigning European champions. Dick’s picture of Alan Banks making a diving header, with goalkeeper Alex Stepney and England World Cup winner Nobby Stiles as onlookers, was later blown up and given pride of place at St James’ Park.     

Nor was photographing the Grecians for his paper the extent of Dick’s contribution to Exeter City for, in his own time, he took team and player photographs for use in the programme and other club publications. In recognition for this and his wider efforts over the years, he was awarded a small shareholding in the club when new shares were made available.  

Richard Francis Mitchell was in his mid-forties when he died in July 1981. He had still been picturing the Grecians until falling ill several months before his death.

[The Grecian Archive is grateful to Dick’s son Michael for supplying information about his father]