Season Summary
Cause for Concern.
Rumours which have recently circulated would make out the future of Exeter City to be a very gloomy one, but most of the rumours have no foundation in fact. The outlook is not all that one might wish for, being in more than one respect problematical, but it is no worse than it was last year and the year before. The question of summer wages gives cause for concern regarding the future of the club, but if the Management drop the proposals of one or two of their members, the team for next year may be quite as good as this year's at its best. The proposal that no players were to be re-engaged, and the summer wages saved up until August led directly to Arthur Chadwick's delay in accepting an offered re-engagement. He felt that it was imposing upon him an unfair responsibility to ask him at the end of July, when every other club had searched out the land, to pick up talent good enough to keep the Southern League flag flying at Exeter.
The Ground Difficulty.
The crux of the trouble is the difficulty of the St. James's Park ground, for while Exeter City has no ground upon which it can play English Cup matches, so long will the organisation muddle along in a precarious path. The matter must be faced boldly, and the Management cannot close
their eyes to the fact that there is no prospect whatever of any year producing a profit sufficient to wipe off the preliminary debts of the club while League gates alone are depended upon. St. James's Park is not Cup measurement, and Cup measurement cannot be got out of it. The purchase of land to permit of an extension is also impracticable, because the owner of the adjoining field says he will sell all or none, and the price he asks for the whole is beyond the means of the club.
The County Ground.
The only practicable solution appears to be that negotiations with a view to sharing the County Rugby ground at St. Thomas's with the Exeter Rugby Club should be at once opened up, and then playing all the League and Cup games there next season. The County Ground could thus become the registered ground of Exeter City, with its first team matches there on alternate Saturdays, retaining St. James's Park for Reserve fixtures and such other events as they could let it for.
The Season's Record.
The outstanding feature of the 1910-11 season has been the fine form of the Grecians away from home and their repeated failures at St. James's Park. But for the latter failures they would undoubtedly qualified for talent money, which is payable to the first five clubs in the table, and probably have given the Railwaymen a run for the Championship, for a team which can win at Swindon and Brighton is some thing out of the ordinary ruck. The following lists show what much better performances have been put up on foreign soil than those at Exeter.
HOME MATCHES
Won
Brighton, Bristol Rovers, Leyton, Luton Town, Norwich City, Southend United, Swindon Town, Watford.
Lost
Coventry City, Crystal Palace, Millwall, Northampton, Plymouth Argyle Portsmouth
AWAY MATCHES
Won
Brighton, Bristol Rovers, Coventry City, Southampton, Southend United,Swindon Town
Lost
Brentford, Crystal Palace Leyton, Luton Town Millwall, New Brompton,Northampton, Q.P.Rangers,West Ham
In addition, the City have drawn at Norwich, Plymouth, Portsmouth, so that in ten away fixtures they have either drawn or won, compared with nine losses on opponents' grounds. From all points of view the away matches have resulted in a highly creditable record, and the home matches in just as indifferent a record.
The final position in the League was 13th, but that fine sequence of results in the middle of the season lifted the club from 18th to 10th, a position that was held for some weeks, and at one period they were as high as seventh, with an apparent chance of talent money.
WHERE THEY PLAYED:
Goal: W.Whittaker 38.
Right back: Evans 29, Coates 9.
Left back: Jones 24, Coates 14.
Right half: Bassett 31, Duffy 7.
Centre half: Pratt 35, Griffiths 3.
Left half: Prideaux 35, Griffiths 2, Bassett 1. Outside right: Parnell 29, E.Whittaker 9.
Inside right: Watson 24, James 10, Parnell 2, Bell 1, Hughes 1.
Centre forward: Hughes 14, Smith 12, James 11, Maxsted 1.
Inside left: Bell 27, Kent 5, Hughes 3, James 3. Outside left: Garside 32, Cooke 4, Parnell 2.
GOALSCORERS: Bell 14, Garside 8, Hughes 7, James 6, Smith 4, Parnell 3, Jones 2, Evans 1, Pratt 1, Watson 1, E.Whittaker 1. Two goals were put through by Collyer of Crystal Palace, and one by Mackenzie of Norwich City. Total 51.
Rumours which have recently circulated would make out the future of Exeter City to be a very gloomy one, but most of the rumours have no foundation in fact. The outlook is not all that one might wish for, being in more than one respect problematical, but it is no worse than it was last year and the year before. The question of summer wages gives cause for concern regarding the future of the club, but if the Management drop the proposals of one or two of their members, the team for next year may be quite as good as this year's at its best. The proposal that no players were to be re-engaged, and the summer wages saved up until August led directly to Arthur Chadwick's delay in accepting an offered re-engagement. He felt that it was imposing upon him an unfair responsibility to ask him at the end of July, when every other club had searched out the land, to pick up talent good enough to keep the Southern League flag flying at Exeter.
The Ground Difficulty.
The crux of the trouble is the difficulty of the St. James's Park ground, for while Exeter City has no ground upon which it can play English Cup matches, so long will the organisation muddle along in a precarious path. The matter must be faced boldly, and the Management cannot close
their eyes to the fact that there is no prospect whatever of any year producing a profit sufficient to wipe off the preliminary debts of the club while League gates alone are depended upon. St. James's Park is not Cup measurement, and Cup measurement cannot be got out of it. The purchase of land to permit of an extension is also impracticable, because the owner of the adjoining field says he will sell all or none, and the price he asks for the whole is beyond the means of the club.
The County Ground.
The only practicable solution appears to be that negotiations with a view to sharing the County Rugby ground at St. Thomas's with the Exeter Rugby Club should be at once opened up, and then playing all the League and Cup games there next season. The County Ground could thus become the registered ground of Exeter City, with its first team matches there on alternate Saturdays, retaining St. James's Park for Reserve fixtures and such other events as they could let it for.
The Season's Record.
The outstanding feature of the 1910-11 season has been the fine form of the Grecians away from home and their repeated failures at St. James's Park. But for the latter failures they would undoubtedly qualified for talent money, which is payable to the first five clubs in the table, and probably have given the Railwaymen a run for the Championship, for a team which can win at Swindon and Brighton is some thing out of the ordinary ruck. The following lists show what much better performances have been put up on foreign soil than those at Exeter.
HOME MATCHES
Won
Brighton, Bristol Rovers, Leyton, Luton Town, Norwich City, Southend United, Swindon Town, Watford.
Lost
Coventry City, Crystal Palace, Millwall, Northampton, Plymouth Argyle Portsmouth
AWAY MATCHES
Won
Brighton, Bristol Rovers, Coventry City, Southampton, Southend United,Swindon Town
Lost
Brentford, Crystal Palace Leyton, Luton Town Millwall, New Brompton,Northampton, Q.P.Rangers,West Ham
In addition, the City have drawn at Norwich, Plymouth, Portsmouth, so that in ten away fixtures they have either drawn or won, compared with nine losses on opponents' grounds. From all points of view the away matches have resulted in a highly creditable record, and the home matches in just as indifferent a record.
The final position in the League was 13th, but that fine sequence of results in the middle of the season lifted the club from 18th to 10th, a position that was held for some weeks, and at one period they were as high as seventh, with an apparent chance of talent money.
WHERE THEY PLAYED:
Goal: W.Whittaker 38.
Right back: Evans 29, Coates 9.
Left back: Jones 24, Coates 14.
Right half: Bassett 31, Duffy 7.
Centre half: Pratt 35, Griffiths 3.
Left half: Prideaux 35, Griffiths 2, Bassett 1. Outside right: Parnell 29, E.Whittaker 9.
Inside right: Watson 24, James 10, Parnell 2, Bell 1, Hughes 1.
Centre forward: Hughes 14, Smith 12, James 11, Maxsted 1.
Inside left: Bell 27, Kent 5, Hughes 3, James 3. Outside left: Garside 32, Cooke 4, Parnell 2.
GOALSCORERS: Bell 14, Garside 8, Hughes 7, James 6, Smith 4, Parnell 3, Jones 2, Evans 1, Pratt 1, Watson 1, E.Whittaker 1. Two goals were put through by Collyer of Crystal Palace, and one by Mackenzie of Norwich City. Total 51.
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