Diamond Players from Exeter City’s Academy
Exeter City are currently on the charge in League Two, and hoping that they can make a real challenge to claw their way up the table and solidify themselves in the play-off places come the season’s end. The team had a decent first half of the season, and now all fans will be asking themselves whether Exeter City will achieve promotion to Football League One.
Nothing excites a football fan more than getting to cheer on a player who has come up through the ranks of the club. Despite being a club of much smaller stature compared to the so called ‘super clubs’ at the top of the football pyramid, and having far more limited resources and facilities, Exeter City have still managed to produce some real talent in their academy.
Here, then, is a quick rundown of some of the shiniest diamond players that Exeter City’s academy have produced.
Christy Pym
Goalkeeper can be a position that gets overlooked by football fans, but when an outstanding one turns up, the fans can truly take a shine to them. That’s what happened when the fantastically named Christy Pym made his debut for the Grecians back in February 2014. Pym was born in Exeter, and became a mainstay in the club’s youth setup, before eventually even becoming captain of the under-eighteen team.
The excellent shot-stopper then went on to become the first choice keeper of the 2014/15 season, and became a reliable presence in goal, leading to the youngster getting called up for the England under-twenty squad. Though Pym moved to Peterborough in 2018, the athletic player was a big fan favourite, and had made 151 appearances for Exeter. In fact, he was so popular that he was voted into Exeter City’s Team of the Decade in 2020.
Ollie Watkins
Probably both the most talented and exciting player to come flying out of the academy, is the forward Ollie Watkins. The now twenty-six-year-old was born in nearby Newton Abbott, and he joined the Exeter City academy at the under-elevens level, having previously failed a trial at the club when he was just nine. He quickly rose through the ranks and managed to score an incredible thirty goals for the under-eighteen team in 2013-14. Then, after a short loan to Weston-Super-Mare, Watkins managed to break into the first team in December 2015, and had become a bonafide member of the starting lineup by March 2016.
Watkins, then, went on to play a total of sixty-eight games for Exeter City, finding the net twenty-one times in all competitions. His glittering goalscoring record doubled with his pacey ability, soon caught the eye of Championship side Brentford, who signed Watkins in 2017 for a reported £1.8 million. The tricky striker continued to impress at the West London club, scoring forty-five times in his three-year spell.
Watkins proved there was no ceiling to his potential though, when Premier League side Aston Villa came calling in 2020, signing him for a then club-record £28 million on a five-year contract. His goals in the most watched league in the world even led Watkins to get a call up from England manager Gareth Southgate in 2021. The sky really does seem the limit for this magical player.
Ethan Ampadu
This Exeter born defensive-midfielder became the then youngest ever player to make a competitive first-team appearance, when he debuted for Exeter back in August 2016. Ethan Ampadu was only aged fifteen, ten months and twenty-six days, when he lined up against Championship side Brentford in the EFL Cup, and he actually put in a man-of-the-match performance, helping the side to a one-nil victory. He first entered the academy in 2008, and is actually the son of previous Exeter City player Kwame Ampadu.
The now twenty-one-year-old ended up only making eight first-team appearances for Exeter before his major talent, and calmness on the ball, forced the higher ups to come sniffing around the player. Premier League giants Chelsea managed to secure his services, and he signed for the current Champions League holders in 2017.
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