City's historic first match in the Football League took place on Saturday 28 August 1920, when Brentford were the visitors to St James Park. Exeter won 3-0.

In 1931, City reached the sixth round of the FA Cup, losing a replay 4-2 to Sunderland in front of their largest ever home gate. Fifty years later, City reached the sixth round again, but lost 2-0 to eventual winners Tottenham Hotspur. Earlier they had beaten Newcastle United 4-0, perhaps City's greatest ever result.

City's only major trophy was the Fourth Division Championship which they won in 1990. In that incredible season, City won 20 league games at St James Park, and remained undefeated in 31 home matches, including dramatic draws against Norwich (FA Cup) and Sunderland (League Cup 4th round) both of which featured heart-breaking late equalisers for the visitors.

Following that promotion, City rarely shone at the higher level. The departure of manager Terry Cooper and key players such as Shaun Taylor, Richard Dryden, Clive Whitehead, Brian McDermott and Steve Neville left new boss Alan Ball to pick up the pieces. There were some happy times under the former World Cup winner - including taking six points off local rivals Plymouth in the clubs' first derbies for a decade - but Ball left for Southampton and the returning Cooper spent money the club couldn't afford trying, and failing, to avoid relegation.

Back in the bottom division, City struggled for several seasons, with chairman Ivor Doble taking the club into Administration and starting a chain of events which resulted in the sale of the club's ground for what was considered a very low sum.

In 2003, City finished 23rd in Division Three and were relegated to the Nationwide Conference as a result - the first club to suffer automatic relegation without finishing bottom of the league. Exeter won their last game but were still relegated as Swansea's victory over Hull left the Grecians one point short of safety.

Following relegation to the Conference, the club was taken over by the Exeter City Supporters Trust. In May 2007 two of the Directors who had been in charge during season 2002-2003 were convicted.John Russell received a prison sentence and Mike Lewis Community Service for fraudulent trading at the Club. Several million pounds in debt and with no big investor in sight, the Trust kept the club alive through desperate fund-raising amongst rank and file supporters. Complex legal arguments with both the Inland Revenue and the football authorities meant that City's first season of non league football was a nightmare of never-ending off the field uncertainty.

In 2004, a Creditors Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) was finally put in place to reduce the club's debts. Hundreds of fans pledged at least £500 each to fund the CVA repayments, but the FA Cup proved to be the miracle the Grecians had been praying for.

City beat Braintree, Grimsby of League 2 and Doncaster of League 1 to reach the third round, and the Sunday afternoon Cup draw proved to be the saving of the club: "Manchester United will play - number 64 - Exeter City". City drew 0-0 at Old Trafford in January 2005, and the romance of the Cup brought with it £653,511 as City's share of receipts from the near 70,000 attendance.

Further income from a televised replay - won 2-0 by United - coupled with ongoing fund-raising and unpaid work from the club's dedicated supporters helped the club to finally repay its debts, and the CVA was cleared in December 2005.

The club continues to strive to bring League football back to Exeter, while also working to involve the community. Its Youth Development work is a key success, with Exeter City reaching the FA Youth Cup 3rd Round in 2006, when they lost at home to Newcastle United. City's first team finished that 06/07 season in fifth place, thereby qualifying for the end of season Conference play-offs They lost at home in the first leg to Oxford United, 0-1. The second leg at Oxford was 1-2 in normal time, extra time remained scoreless and City won 4-3 on penalties. They went on to meet Morecambe FC at Wembley on Sunday May 20th for a chance to be promoted, but lost 2-1 after going 1-0 up early on and keeper Paul Jones saving a Morecambe penalty.

The club's nickname has a disputed history, with many theories being proposed for its origin. No one is sure of the definitive answer to why Exeter City became known as the Grecians but one source suggests that the club voted for the name in 1908^[2] because of its association with St Sidwells parish:

The Parish Of St Sidwells Theory:

Exeter City football club formed from the predecessor club St Sidwells United in 1904. People living in the parish of St Sidwells in Exeter have been know as "Greeks" or "Grecians" for many centuries, as noted in Southey's Common-Place Book in 1669.^[3] This is possibly due to the parish's location outside the city walls. In Homer's epic poem "The Iliad" the Greek forces laid siege to the walls of Troy. The association possibly arrose because of rivalries between city boys and St Sidwellians during the annual beating the bounds.^[4]

It has also been suggested that there was a group of children in St Sidwells who were referred to as the 'Greasy Un's' and another possible, but unlikely source for the name was from clock that hung outside a jeweller's shop in Sidwell Street, close to the ground, which had the word 'Grecians' engraved or painted on the face.

The Caerwysc Theory:

A further possible source for the name is that it is a corruption of Caerwysc, a Roman name for Exeter. Citizens would have been called Caer Iscuns which became Grecians.

The "we hate green scum" theory:

It has been suggested that after a derby game against fierce rivals Plymouth Argyle, Exeter fans were reported by a bemused local newspaper as chanting "we are Grecians". In fact, they were chanting "we hate green scum". Nevertheless, the name stuck.^{[citation needed]}

This is unlikely for a number of reasons, as the club were known as "The Grecians" from their earliest days, before they even played Plymouth in a competitive match. Also, Exeter's first strip was green. More to the point, the 'theory' was invented by City fanzine The Exe Directory as part of a comic look at nickname theories.

In May 2004 in commemoration of the club's centenary a friendly fixture was arranged against a Brazilian masters team at St James Park. Which, bearing in mind the 1914 fixture in Brazil, meant things had come full circle. The Brazilian team contained such notable players as Careca and Dunga. Brazil won 1-0.

Famous players who have played for Exeter City include Cliff Bastin, who went on to play for Arsenal F.C. and England and goalkeeper Dick Pym, who went on to play for Bolton Wanderers F.C. and England. Other club legends included prolific 1930s striker Fred Whitlow, Arnold Mitchell, who played 495 games for City, Tony Kellow, City's record goalscorer, Ian Main, the gifted goalkeeper from the club's most successful years who died very young, and Darran Rowbotham in the 1980s and early 90s. Former England winger Lee Sharpe played four games for Exeter at the beginning of their 2002-03 Division Three campaign, scoring two goals.

After managing the club to a famous F.A. Cup Third Round draw at Old Trafford with Manchester United in 2005, Alex Inglethorpe left the club in June 2006 and Paul Tisdale was appointed. Past managers include the former England internationals Gerry Francis, Terry Cooper and the late Alan Ball. A moving tribute to Alan Ball was held at St James Park before City's Conference game against Southport, when Ball's name was again sung in Devon four days after his death.

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• Uri Geller was once associated with the club, but he has NEVER been chairman, director or held any other meaningful post. He has not been seen at a City game since the arrest of his associates on suspicion of carrying out fraud at ECFC ^[5]

• On June 22 2002 Michael Jackson famously visited the clubs ground as a favour for his friend Uri Geller where he arrived onto the pitch in a vintage car and spoke to the fans over a tannoy. David Blaine also made an appearance that day and bored onlookers with a range of different card illusions.

• FA Cup
  • Quarter-finalists - 1930-31, 1980-81

• Football League Third Division South
  • Runners-up - 1932-33

• Football League Third Division South Cup
  • Winners - 1934

• Football League Fourth Division
  • Champions - 1989-90
  • Runners-up - 1976-77

• Conference National
  • Play-off Final Runners-up - 2006-07

• FA Trophy
  • Semi-finalists - 2005-06

• FA Devon St. Lukes Challenge Bowl (Incomplete)
  • Champions - 1953-54, 1954-55 (Shared), 1958-59, 1960-61, 1961-62, 1973-74, 1996-97, 2000-01, 2001-02, 2003-04, 2004-05
  • Runners-up - 1936-37, 1945-46, 1957-58, 1969-70, 1971-72, 1997-98, 2006-07

Tenure Manager Notes 1908 - 1922 Arthur Chadwick 1923 - 1927 Fred Mavin 1928 - 1929 Dave Wilson 1929 - 1935 Billy McDevitt 1935 - 1939 Jack English 1945 - 1952 George Roughton 1952 - 1953 Norman Kirkman 1953 - 1957 Norman Dodgin 1957 - 1958 Bill Thompson 1958 - 1960 Frank Broome 1960 - 1962 Glen Wilson

Tenure Manager Notes 1962 - 1963 Cyril Spiers 1963 - 1965 Jack Edwards 1965 - 1966 Ellis Stuttard 1966 - 1967 Jack Basford 1967 - 1969 Frank Broome Second tenure 1969 - 1976 Johnny Newman 1977 - 1979 Bobby Saxton 1979 - 1983 Brian Godfrey 1983 - 1984 Gerry Francis 1984 - 1985 Jim Iley 1985 - 1987 Colin Appleton

Tenure Manager Notes 1988 - 1991 Terry Cooper 1991 - 1994 Alan Ball 1994 - 1995 Terry Cooper Second tenure 1995 - 2000 Peter Fox 2000 - 2001 Noel Blake 2001 - 2002 John Cornforth 2002 - 2003 Neil McNab 2003 - 2003 Gary Peters 2003 - 2004 Eamonn Dolan 2004 - 2006 Alex Inglethorpe 2006 - Present Paul Tisdale

• Complete season-by-season record since 1908.

Season	Division	Position	Notes
1997-98	Division Three	22nd
1997-98	Division Three	15th
1998-99	Division Three	12th
1999-00	Division Three	21st
2000-01	Division Three	19th
2001-02	Division Three	16th
2002-03	Division Three	23rd
2003	Relegated to Conference National
2003-04	Conference National	6th
2004-05	Conference National	6th
2005-06	Conference National	6th
2006-07	Conference National	5th	First ever qualification for the playoffs (losing to Morecambe in the final).

Source: Exeter City at the Football Club History Database

^[6]

No. Position Player 1 GK Andy Marriott 2 DF Steve Tully 3 DF George Friend 4 MF Matthew Gill 5 DF Danny Seaborne 7 MF Andy Taylor 8 FW Jamie Mackie 9 FW Adam Stansfield 10 MF Wayne Carlisle 11 MF Lee Elam 12 FW Steve Basham 14 MF Bertie Cozic 15 DF Rob Edwards

No. Position Player 16 DF Matt Taylor 17 MF Paul Tisdale (Manager) 18 MF Neil Saunders 19 DF Jon Richardson 20 FW Richard Logan 21 MF Dean Moxey 22 MF Liam Sercombe 23 MF Neil Martin 24 MF Matt Bye 25 MF Chris Shephard 26 FW Dean Stamp 27 GK Paul Jones

Traditionally, Exeter City's two greatest rivals are the local teams Plymouth Argyle and Torquay United.

Exeter City's last competitive game against Plymouth Argyle was held in 2002 at Home Park in a Division 3 fixture that Exeter City lost 3-0. Due to the difference in leagues between the two clubs (Argyle are currently three divisions above Exeter) it is unlikely that the two clubs will meet in the near future other than in the FA Cup, should Exeter make it to the Third Round for only the second time in fifteen years.

Exeter City's last competitive game against Torquay United was held in 2003 in Division 3 at Plainmoor in a fixture that Torquay United won 1-0. This was Torquay United's first double over Exeter City for 40 years. The derby will be played again in the 2007-08 season after Torquay's relegation to the Football Conference was confirmed on 14th April 2007 and Exeter failed to win promotion through the play-offs.

• List of Fan Owned Teams

• Official Website
• Supporters Trust
• Exeter City F.C. on BBC Sport: Club News - Recent results - Upcoming fixtures - Club stats

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