Can Exeter City surprise us all this season?
With Sky Bet League 2’s season about to kick-off again, Exeter City are preparing themselves for their first game of the season. They are set to play against Cambridge United at home in St James Park Stadium on August 5th.
St James Park has been home to the club for many years, with their record attendance figure standing at 20,984, when fans watched Exeter lose 4–2 to Sunderland in 1931 at the FA Cup Sixth Round Replay.
Early on in the history of the stadium, there had been complaints that the ground wasn’t regulation length, with Stoke (in 1909) and Reading (1910) refusing to play FA Cup games there. The club then purchased the land to the east of the ground and extended the pitch, constructing the Big Bank stand at the same time. A roof was then added to the Cowshed stand and in 1926 they re-built the Grandstand which had been destroyed by a fire the previous year. The current capacity of St James Park is 8,541.
Founded in 1904, Exeter City FC is owned by supporters through the Supporter’s Trust, and managed by ex-professional footballer, Paul Tisdale. They played in League 1 during the season 2011-12 but were moved back into League 2 the following year and have remained there ever since. With a nick-name of The Grecians (no-one seems to know, exactly, why?) Exeter City is set to head into this season with captain Jordan Moore-Taylor. Moore-Taylor suffered several injuries last season, but is expected to be fully fit heading into the new campaign.
With the pre-season matches starting at the beginning of July, the Grecians should be up-to-speed quickly as their last game (against Blackpool, where they missed out on promotion due to a 2-1 loss) was only just over a month before the first game of this year’s pre-season match against Bath City, scheduled on July 14th. Games against Weymouth (July 18th) and Taunton Town (July 20th) will follow, with Poole Town in Tatnum Stadium on July 25th and the final pre-season game against Dorchester Town, in Avenue Stadium, on July 29th.
Could this be a life-changing summer for Ethan Ampadu, the teen midfielder sensation (also has defence ability), who is constantly being watched by the big league clubs? Son of former Exeter and Swansea player, Kwame Ampadu, Ethan is a product of the Grecian’s Academy and is rumoured to have had trials at Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool, with both United and Liverpool possibly having offered him contracts. As Exeter City’s youngest player, making his debut for Exeter last August in a League Cup game against Brentford, it is unknown whether he will stay in Devon, move to Wales (where he was called into the senior Wales squad ahead of their World Cup qualifier this year) or be signed to one of the League clubs.
Although Ampadu is young, Tisdale has praise indeed for the promising player, “…the biggest compliment I could give him is that he plays like a 35-year-old, he plays like Matt Oakley”, he said.
Exeter fans will be hoping that players like Ampadu will be able to make a difference to the team’s fortune in the season; and finally enable the squad to get closer to their ultimate goal of League One promotion. Online sports betting operators like Sportingbet, do not see the Grecians offering a serious promotion challenge, as they are currently 14/1 to actually win the league. On the other hand, the favourite to be the League Two champion is Mansfield at 6/1; which implies there is no one team that anyone feels can dominate for the entire season.
Therefore, Exeter City, if they play to their full potential and get a few lucky breaks, may very well be real contenders to the title and promotion!
