Legends look forward to this weekend's big football derby

Two legends that know all about the Devon Derby dropped by at St James’ Park recently, ahead of this weekend’s much-anticipated meeting between Exeter City and Plymouth Argyle.

John Delve and Johnny Hore each played for both the Grecians and the Pilgrims in their day – both as teammates, and as opponents!  And both will be in attendance at the latest instalment of the derby on Saturday, for the midday kick-off.

Delve will be at the match as usual with many of his old friends and former teammates from his two spells with Exeter.  He joined Plymouth from QPR, just down the road from his home in Ealing, and made 132 appearances for Argyle before joining Exeter, where he played 228 times.

Johnny Hore will be attending as a guest of the club, and he moved to St James’ Park at the end of the 1970s after spending over a decade as a Plymouth player.  He featured 400 times for the Pilgrims before moving to St James’ Park, making 193 appearances for City.

Johnny Hore said: “One game sticks out in my memory, because I probably played the worst game of football I’ve ever played!  I was playing for Exeter at Home Park as captain under Brian Godfrey.  I had a nightmare game – I was so geed up and over the top.  That’s the one thing I hope none of the players go through!

“I got so tense that I couldn’t do anything on the day.  I used to get all excited from about Thursday on.  I’d wind down a little on Friday and then I’d build up again for the Saturday – but I think that’s because local derbies are always going to be special.  We all like to play in them, and we all wanted to put one over on our mates.

“We all love the area.  I’m from this neck of the woods originally and I had no great ambitions to move too far away, so it was the ideal move when I’d finished at Plymouth to come to Exeter.”

John Delve said: “I was involved in half a dozen or so of these derbies over the years, at both ends and with both clubs.  I loved them – it was a real buzz, and you knew the crowd was going to be near capacity, and certainly the biggest crowd of the season.  Most of us knew players from both teams too which added a bit of spice.

“Sometimes the attitude of the public these days isn’t so much about the football, as about what goes on off the park – but I really hope that doesn’t come into it in this game.  The rivalry is really good and it should be all about the football.

“Both teams have been inconsistent recently, with Exeter not doing so great at home but doing really well away.  And Plymouth’s games have all been really tight lately and they’re not conceding many goals.  So who knows – flip the coin again!  I just hope at the end of the day, the football wins.”