Cec Smyth, arriving from Distillery in Belfast, made 273 league appearances for Exeter City between 1962 and 1969 including 44 games when the club won promotion in 1964. After leaving St James’ Park he played around twenty league games for Torquay United. 

Signing from Distillery in August 1962, he made his Football League debut against Brentford at Griffin Park in September 1962 ahead of making 39 league appearances during his first term with the club. A quick tackling full-back, he missed just two matches when City clinched promotion to the Third Division in 1963/64.

Requesting a transfer on several occasions in December 1964, March 1966 and  January 1967, Cec nonetheless remained with the club and made in excess of forty league appearances in both 1965/66 and 1967/68 so that his season-by-season league record over his seven seasons eventually read 39, 44, 40, 44, 27, 40 and 39.

A particular highlight towards the end of his time at St James' Park had been appearing in the January 1969 home FA Cup tie against current European Cup holders Manchester United (who included the likes of Best, Charlton, Law and Stiles), a game that was watched by a crowd of 18,500.He had also faced Sheffield Wednesday (home) and Tottenham Hotspur (away) in that season's League Cup.  

Finally after over 270 league appearances, and one goal against York City in October 1963, he left St James’ Park to make the short move to Torquay United in August 1969 for £2,500.

But Cec never recaptured the sort of form at Plainmoor that he had so consistently displayed with City and only had 23 league outings before being released. Later returning to City, he played a number of reserve team matches to help nurture the younger players in the side ahead of starting a long career with the prison service.

Cecil Smyth died in Exeter on 7 November 2008 aged sixty-seven.