Celebrating league title victory for Terry Cooper’s team
25 years ago today (Saturday 28th April 1990), Exeter City secured the Barclays League Division Four title with a 3-2 victory against Scarborough at St James Park.A midweek win at the Park on Wednesday 25th April 1990 (which, incidentally, was Liam Sercombe’s date of birth) against Southend United guaranteed that the Grecians would be playing in the third tier in the 1990/91 season. But the win against the Seasiders helped Exeter to claim their first (and to date, only) championship title in front of the 6,850 fans jammed inside the Park.
After going to the summit on Boxing Day 1989 with a win in Aldershot, the Grecians – under Terry Cooper’s stewardship – rarely faltered and spent a majority of the rest of the season at the top of the pile.
A pair of penalties by Scottish full-back Tom Kelly (pictured), as well as a sole strike from Richard Young, secured the Division Four title against mid-table Scarborough and put second-placed Grimsby Town out of contention with two games remaining for the Grecians.
It was the 61st fixture of a gargantuan campaign which saw City reach the third round of the FA Cup (taking each round to a replay), getting to the fourth round of the League Cup, and being knocked out in the regional quarter-final of the Leyland DAF Cup.
Throughout the 2014/15 season, Will Barrett has been chronicling the anniversary of the 1989/90 Division Four title triumph in The Grecian, Exeter City’s matchday programme. Each edition has told the story, week-by-week, of the long and arduous campaign which ended with glory for Exeter.
The 24th and final instalment will come in this weekend’s programme as we face Dagenham & Redbridge at St James Park, and will detail the final weeks of the title-winning season.
If you have missed any issues of The Grecian this season, pop into Reception where you’ll be able to get your hands on old copies.