Oliver, Tom
Tom Oliver, landlord of the Red Lion on Sidwell Street, played host to the meeting in May 1904 when St Sidwell's United became Exeter City. He later became a director when the club turned professional in 1908.
Tom was born in Cheriton Fitzpaine in 1858, arrived in Exeter aged sixteen and for a number of years worked with the St Anne’s Brewery. His connection with the Grecians originated from his time as landlord of the Red Lion pub in Sidwell Street which he had taken over in 1900. Tom had allowed St Sidwell’s United, who started playing at St James Park in 1903, to use the pub as a base and it was here - on 31 May 1904 - that the St Sidwell’s United AGM was held and the decision made to change the club’s name to Exeter City. At the meeting there was also a vote of thanks for Tom ‘for the use of a dressing room during the season’.
Tom's involvement took a further step, when as the club turned professional in 1908 and joined the Southern League, he became a director of the new company. Pictured in the 1910/11 squad photo, he also supported the wider game in Exeter and in 1909 donated a cup to be competed for by schools in the city.
In June 1909 Tom was instrumental in improving the drainage at St James Park by organising a group of volunteers to work on the pitch. As a result, according to 'Rover' in the local press, there was a ‘vast improvement’ in the playing surface. Then, three years later in 1912, Mr Oliver was a central figure when an FA inquiry found the club guilty of financial malpractices. One of three directors who reported the club to the FA for paying illegal bonuses, he was nonetheless censured along with several other directors.
Tom’s son Reg, who played for City after making his senior debut against Gunnislake in a Plymouth and District League fixture in December 1906, also became a pub landlord and advertised his Mount Pleasant hostelry on the Exeter City fixture card for the 1926/27 season.
Tom Oliver died on 10 February 1937 and is buried in Higher Cemetery, Heavitree.
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Aidan and Martin
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