Exeter City F.C.
The Exeter City Football Club is a 1904 arising from the merger of two earlier clubs football club from the south-western English city of Exeter. The club played throughout 1920-2003, but also largely unsuccessful in the lower two seasons of the English professional football of the Football League. 2003-2008 played the club in the highest scale of non -league football, the Football Conference, before he ascended back to the 2008/09 season and again is one of the English professional football.
The club is like almost all English organized ( semi-) professional football clubs not as a club but corporation, sole owner of the company has been the descent 2003, however, an organized as an association alliance of supporters of the club, the Exeter City Supporters Trust.
1914 Exeter City was the opponent of the Brazilian national football team in their historic first official game.
History
Pre- Football League (1904-1920)
In 1904 the club Exeter United United (founded 1890) and St Sidwell 's United to merge after a friendly match and compete together as Exeter City Association Football Club. St Sidwell 's United also brought nicknamed The Grecians. The name derives from the nickname of the inhabitants of Exeter 's St. Sidwells, which were called Greeks and Grecians since the 17th century.
The club played from the start at St James' Park, which he uses even today. Beginning played Exeter City in the East Devon League. In 1908 a corporation from the club and he joined the Southern League in.
In the summer of 1914 Exeter City traveled South America. First, only eight games were held in Argentina. At the end of successful stay there two games were still arranged against representative teams from Rio de Janeiro, as the boarding in the harbor there was booked. These games were the first of a European professional teams in Brazil. First Exeter City won against a panel of residents in Rio and around Brits 3-0, then against a city selection 5-3. On July 21, Exeter City lost to the selection of the company founded as Federação Brasileiro de Sports in the previous month, the Brazilian Football Association in Estádio das Laranjeiras Rio 0-2. This was the first game an official Brazilian national team. The most historically significant players of the Brazilian team was Arthur Friedenreich, who is considered one of the most outstanding football player in history and in that of Exeter rough run game lost two teeth.
First time in the Football League (1920-2003)
1920 of the 1908 to 1922 by Arthur Chadwick coached Exeter City FC - invited as almost the whole first season of the Southern League from the Football League, the new third division of the Football League to join. In order to acquire the St. James Square - today home of the club - to enable the future goalkeeper Richard " Dick" Pym was for season 1921/22, for his term world record transfer fee of £ 5,000 at Bolton Wanderers FC sold, where he great success should celebrate.
The first game in the Football League played Exeter on August 28, 1920 at home to Brentford FC. For the next 45 years played the club, with an interruption of the gaming operation during the Second World War, 1939-1945 - Always in the respective lowest rung of the Football League, only notable successes were the reach the quarter-finals of the FA Cup in 1933, as well as the runner-up the Football League Third Division South, two years later, but usually played the club in the lower middle of the leagues.
Only in 1963 succeeded as fourth place in the Football League Fourth Division, the first rise of the club history, but took the guest appearance in the Football League Third Division just two years to decline again.
End of the 70's then broke the most successful period in the club: 1977 is increased to as runner-up of the fourth division, and could this time keep the third class for seven years and this not only achieve two -digit table spaces at the end of the season, but was in 1981 again in the quarter finals of the FA Cup.
In 1990, as a fourth division champion of the new promotion, but you fought this time throughout the descent, the financial burden in the third division proved to be too large, was so placed that immediately after the relegated again in 1994 the club into administration and only through the sale of up to then the club's own stadium could be prevented the bankruptcy, but the buyer was planning to develop the site as building land. Only the purchase of the stadium by the city of Exeter was able to secure the operation of gambling.
2003, the club rose last but one of the Third Division after 83 years of the system of the Football League from and had football in the area of Non -League switch.
Non- League Football 2003-2008 and re-emergence
At the end of the descent of the season was the club's board of since May 2002 officiated because of accusations of fraud and embezzlement, and arrested the false statement and false certification and 2007 convicted. It was found that the club with more than 3.5 million pounds was completely over-indebted and could only by the assumption by the Exeter City Supporters Trust as well as debt restructuring, in which the creditor against payment of 10 % waived the remaining debt, be saved from bankruptcy.
Sporty it ran better after the descent, 2004 and 2005 is narrowly failed in taking part in the rise playoffs. 2005, the Club for FA Cup drew attention to himself when they met Manchester United in the third round away and was able to achieve a draw at Old Trafford, but the replay at home lost with 0:2.
In the 2006/07 season the team failed in the play-offs for promotion only in the final at Wembley in front of over 40,000 spectators at FC Morecambe. In the season 2007/ 08 Exeter came in 4th place in the National Conference and qualified for the play-offs for promotion to the Football League Two. In the semi-finals the team Torquay United, the final game defeated 18 May 2008 against Cambridge United at Wembley Stadium in front of 42 511 spectators ended in a 1-0 win for Exeter City. The decisive goal was scored by the defender Robert Edwards.
The 2008/09 season ended unexpectedly successful for the club and Exeter City reached 79 points the second rise in a row.
Stadium
The club plays since its establishment at St James' Park, a former pig farm, which now has a capacity of 8,830 spectators, but the attendance record is 20,984, which saw the replay in the FA Cup quarter-final in 1931 against Sunderland.