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All You Need To Know About Exeter City

Posted on: Mon 31 Jan 2011

List of our all time records are available here. Click the following links to be taken to the relevant statistics:

All time goal scorers

Most goals in one season

Most appearances

Highest home and away attendances


What are the Dimensions of the St James Park pitch?

The pitch at SJP measures:

Length 104 metres
Width 64 metres

The dimensions of the field of play as laid down by The FA for all matches are as follows:

Maximum length: 110 metres
Minimum length: 100 metres
Maximum breadth: 75 metres
Minimum breadth: 64 metres

As you can see from these figures we are right on the limit for width but have some leeway with the length.


STAND CAPACITY
FLYBE (Doble) 2,116
Big Bank 3,971
St James Road (Away End) 1,053
Stagecoach Family Stand 1,401

Total

8,541


All time top goal scorers

Rank Player Goals
1 Kellow 129
2 Banks 96
3 Binney 90
4 Neville 88
5 Flack 86
6 Rees 85
7 Rowbotham 84
8 Houghton 79
9 MacKay 76
10 Bowker 66
11 Regan 63
12 Pratt 61
Whitlow 61
14 McCleland 60
15 Beer 52
16 Bell 51
Purcell 51
18 Carter R 50
Ebdon 50
20 Calland 49


Most amount of goals in a season

Rank Player Goals
1 Whitlow 33
2 Williams R 29
3 Binney 28
4 Calland 27
5 Dent 26
6 Blackburn 25
Varco 25
Binney 25
Kellow 25
10 Bowl 24
11 Godwin 23
Bell 23
13 Smith 22
14 Banks 21
Beer 21
Kellow 21
17 MacKay 20
Beer 20
Pratt 20
Rowbotham 20
Devine 20


Most amount of ECFC appearances

Rank Player Appearances
1 Mitchell 495
2 Harvey 483
3 Flack 378
4 Hatch 346
5= Rees 345
5= Hiley 345
7 Kellow 332
8 Blain 320
9 Clark 315
10 Giles J 313
11 Neville 305
12 McDonald 294
13= Balson 276
13= Davey F 276
15 Miller 274
16 Smyth 273
17 Viney 270
18 Richardson J 267
19 Banks 258
20 MacKay 257
21 Wingate 248


Highest home attendances

Rank Opponent Season Attendance
1 Sunderland 30/31 20 984
2= Chelsea 50/51 20 000
2= Luton 59/60 20 000
4 Plymouth 26/27 19 221
5 Leeds 30/31 19 130
6 Plymouth 50/51 19 000
7 Manchester U 68/69 18 500
8 Grimsby 50/51 18 117
9 Newcastle U 80/81 17 668
10 Blackburn 27/28 17 310

Highest away attendances:

Rank Opponent Season Attendance
1 Manchester U 2004/05 67 551
2 Sunderland 30/31 51 642
3 Liverpool 49/50 45 000
4 Cambridge 2007/08

42 511

5 Tottenham H 80/81 41 000
6 Morecambe 2006/07 40 043
7 Chelsea 50/51 40 000
8 Newcastle 80/81 37 400
9 Notts County 49/50 32 167
10 Cardiff 46/47 32 000
11 Crystal Palace 60/61 28 551

 


Why are we called the Grecians?

This is a question that is frequently asked by football supporters the world over.

The Club adopted the nickname from the name given to inhabitants of the Parish of St. Sidwell's. (The St. Sidwellian Old Boys were co-founders of ECFC in 1904.) People from this parish have been known as "Greeks" or "Grecians" for centuries but how this nickname originated is not so easy to discover.

This term, used to describe people who lived in the area outside the Eastgate of the city, has been in usage for at least 300 years. References to the Grecians of St. Sidwell's are made in local documents from the1660s:

"The Citizens having showed their zeal for the public good in making our river navigable, on Monday last an heroic company of near 200 women... [from Alphington] appeared.
Yesterday, the gardeners and hatters of the number of 300 marched to the works likewise... and this day, 300 Grecians (?) of the Parish of St. Sidwell's... with eight drums, two trumpets, and other sorts of music."

Southey's Common-Place Book. 4th Series. 21 July 1669. Exeter. (p380.)

It is clear that the usage was so firmly established that by the 18th Century the derivation had already been lost in the mists of time. A local printer and author, Andrew Brice wrote a mock epic poem concerning Parliamentary elections held in the city in 1737. Here, he not only mentions the Grecians from the Eastgate, but also includes a footnote offering his own explanation as to the origins of the nickname.

"But whence that Hurricane of Voice we hear?
See! Crowds in Deluge through EASTGATE appear!
The yellow GREEKS with vast Huzza rush in;
And Blues look bluer at the dauntful Din."

"GREEKS. So we surname, I know not why, the rugged Inhabitants of St. Sidwell's. The Title seems to have arisen from their contending with the City at Foot-ball etc., they being called Greeks as making the Invasion, and the Townsmen perhaps Trojans in defending their Ground, etc... "

The Mobiad. Andrew Brice. Written 1738 (Published 1770).

The fact that no one document exists explaining how the nickname came about leaves us with speculation only. Debates on the subject are not new. In the 1930's explanations were offered by letters written to the Express and Echo. Anonymous correspondent "TL" followed Andrew Brice's poetic example and wrote the following:

"Grecians forsooth! but whence so great a name,
For ever foremost in the ranks of fame,
St. Sidwell's sons obtained: ah! who can know,
Or who attempt its origin to show..."


It is certain that there was animosity between the city dwellers and the people who scraped a living outside the walls. As Andrew Brice and others suggest, it is perfectly feasible for the city dwellers to perceive the ruffians outside the gate as being like the Greeks besieging Troy. The citizens seem to have been familiar with Homer's account of the Trojan Wars. An epic poem on the subject entitled De Bello Troiano was published in the 12th Century by Exonian, Josephus Iscanus. The Sidwellians were certainly a rough lot as this account of an Ascension Day celebration shows:

"There was a remote parish of St. Sidwell's... They were contumaciously called Grecians, but, the Parish being large and its warriors numerous, the citizen lads were accustomed to combine against the outer barbarians, and battles raged furiously..."
All the Year Round. Conducted by Charles Dickens. 28 October 1865.

The name "grecian" has also been used in the past as a derogatory term for itinerant labourers. It may be possible that poor immigrants of indeterminate nationality settled in the parish; the area lies on the old main road from London into the city. The Bible also uses the term "Greek" for anyone "other than us." The name could, therefore, simply imply that because St. Sidwellians lived beyond the city walls they were "outsiders."

However, until someone unearths definite proof, pick your own favourite explanation because the truth is, we just don't know!

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