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Click here for a history of SJP
Click here for the ground regulations
History of St James' Park
Not many people know this, but back in 1654, when Lady Anne Clifford owned the site of the present St James Park, she rented it out for fattening pigs. The proceeds went to a charity set up to pay for the apprenticeship of a poor child from the parish of St Stephen, an arrangement that was supposed to be renewed "yearly to the world's end." It's a fact.
The world ended for the poor kids rather sooner than intended, but the pigs remained in situ for 250 years, latterly sharing their space with sundry other tenants whose presence was forbidden by the terms of a new lease granted in 1904. No doubt, the expression: "what a bunch of oinkers!", commonly heard (or slightly misheard) at the ground in our own time, has a history dating back centuries, probably originating in the parlance of local pig-fanciers in Cromwell's day.
In documents still extant, relating to that historic lease of 1904, it was stipulated that "no menageries, shows, circuses or steam roundabouts" were to be allowed on the premises. The clear intention was to stamp out cheap and tawdry family entertainment, which explains why the former St Sidwell's Old Boys FC, newly reconstituted as Exeter City, came to be granted exclusive use of the land.
It is said that most of the 600 crowd for the first match, on 10 September 1904, came only to protest over the expulsion of the pigs and the menagerie, but after only 45 minutes, when they watched the team devouring their half-time oranges in the centre circle, they were convinced that nothing much had changed.
City closed their first campaign as champions of the East Devon Senior League, with only one loss at St James. The threat that fans would come to expect too much was neatly averted by a switch to the Plymouth and District League, where defeats were more readily obtained, but even higher aspirations were expressed in 1908, when the club turned professional, transferred to the Southern League, entered the FA Cup, and erected a grandstand.
That season's league highlight was the Christmas Day fixture against Millwall, which drew a record crowd of 11,500 and yielded a 2-1 victory, but hardly less remarkable was the Cup run, which opened with a 14-0 drubbing of Weymouth in the first qualifying round. The first three ties at the Park produced 28 goals for and only one against, and on we galloped as far as the second round proper, where we suffered a 2-0 defeat away to a South Devon team based at the gateway to Cornwall.
Unsurprisingly, City fans were very fond of our former pig-rearing patch, but it proved less popular with some visiting clubs, who claimed it was not of regulation length. Stoke (in 1909) and Reading (in 1910) refused to play cup-ties with us unless we switched venues to the rugby ground at St Thomas. Nelson and Burnley got snootier still when they were drawn away to us, appealing to the FA to have the ties played on their grounds; they got away with it, too, and though we stuffed Nelson on their own midden, we could not repeat the effort at Burnley.
In a bid to avoid such shenanigans in the future, City negotiated to buy the rugby ground, but the problem was eventually resolved more satisfactorily, with the owner of the land at the Old Tiverton Road end of St James being persuaded to hand over the vital slice of territory that enabled us to extend the pitch and build our beloved Big Bank.
The next important development, after our election to the Football League in 1920, was the sale of goalkeeper Dick Pym to Bolton for £5,000, a transaction which financed the purchase of St James Park in the close season of 1921. Four years later a roof sprouted over the terracing opposite the grandstand; the Cowshed, which was to become the spiritual home of generations of cider-swilling City supporters, was born - and scarcely a moment too soon. Shortly afterwards the grandstand was completely destroyed by fire, and for the cup-tie against Swansea, played in a snowstorm 11 days afterwards, the Cowshed housed most of the 10,000 who came to see us lose 3-1 to the Welshmen.
A new stand was erected in 1926, after delays caused by the General Strike, and five years later came the great FA Cup run which brought the Grecians the distinction of becoming the first Third Division club ever to feature in the semi-final draw. Half the city's workforce must have skived on that wet and windy Wednesday afternoon when St James was packed solid with 20,984 for the Sixth Round replay against Sunderland. A 4-2 defeat ended the dream and the trip to Wembley, never so close, was deferred until - well, was deferred.
It was another loss at St James against Brentford (whom we beat easily on their own patch) which cost us the championship of the Third Division (South) in 1932-33, the season when Fred Whitlow scored seven home hat-tricks, one of them in a 5-0 hammering of Torquay.
Still, after a further wait of only 57 years - interrupted by frequent crises, a World War when American servicemen committed the heresy of their brand of football on our pitch, and numerous applications for re-election - we could really call ourselves champions.
In a season of 20 home League wins and no home defeats in any competition, we cruised to the 1989-90 Fourth Division title by ten points. None of the 6,850 who saw us clinch the championship against Scarborough will forget that heady moment; the 7,544 who returned three days later to see skipper Shaun Taylor accept the trophy before the victory over Burnley may claim to have shared in the most glorious St James moment of them all. So far...
Reproduced with permission from
ExeWeb.
GROUND REGULATIONS
Notice: Entry to the Ground is expressly subject to acceptance by the visitor of these Ground Regulations and the rules and regulations of FIFA, UEFA, The Football Association, The F.A. Premier League and The Football League in respect of the relevant competition. The Ground Regulations incorporate the Club's Customer Charter (if any). Entry to the Ground shall constitute acceptance of the Ground Regulations.
"Ground" means this football stadium and all locations owned, occupied or utilised by the Club.
"Club" means this football club.
"Match" means any association football match taking place at the Ground.
1. Permission to enter or to remain within the Ground (notwithstanding possession of any ticket) is at the absolute discretion of the Club, any police officer or authorised steward. On no account will admission be granted to a person who is the subject of a current Banning Order.
2. The Club excludes to the maximum extent permitted by law any liability for loss, injury or damage to persons/property in or around the Ground.
3. No guarantees can be given by the Club that a Match will take place at a particular time or on a particular date and the Club reserves the right to reschedule the Match without notice and without any liability whatsoever .
4. In the event of the postponement or abandonment of the Match, refunds (if any) will be made in accordance with the Club's Customer Charter. The Club will have no further liability whatsoever, including (but not limited to) any indirect or consequential loss or damage, such as (but not limited to) loss of enjoyment or travel costs.
5. All persons seeking entrance to the Ground acknowledge the Club's right to search any person entering the Ground and to refuse entry to or eject from the Ground any person refusing to submit to such a search.
6. The following articles must not be brought within the Ground - knives, fireworks, smoke canisters, air-horns, flares, weapons, dangerous or hazardous items, laser devices, bottles, glass vessels, cans, poles and any article that might be used as a weapon and/or compromise public safety. Any person in possession of such items will be refused entry to the Ground.
7. Further, you may not bring into the Ground any sponsorship, promotional or marketing material save in respect of official club merchandise and/or other football related clothing worn in good faith nor may you offer (either free or for sale by any person) any goods (including literature) of any nature without the express written approval of the Management.
8. The use of threatening behaviour, foul or abusive language is strictly forbidden and will result in arrest and/or ejection from the Ground. The Club may impose a ban for one or more Matches.
8.1. Racial, homophobic or discriminatory abuse, chanting or harassment is strictly forbidden and will result in arrest and/or ejection from the Ground. The Club may impose a ban for one or more Matches.
8.2. The following acts are offences under the Football (Offences) Act 1991, as amended:
8.2.1. The throwing of any object within the Ground without lawful authority or excuse.
8.2.2. The chanting of anything of an indecent or racialist nature.
8.2.3. The entry onto the playing area or any adjacent area to which spectators are not generally admitted without lawful authority or excuse.
Conviction may result in a Banning Order being made.
9. All persons entering the Ground may only occupy the seat allocated to them by their ticket and must not move from any one part of the Ground to another without the express permission or instruction of any steward, officer of the Club and/or any police officer.
10. Nobody may stand in any seating area whilst play is in progress. Persistent standing in seated areas whilst play is in progress is strictly forbidden and may result in ejection from the Ground.
11. The obstruction of gangways, access ways, exits and entrances, stairways and like places is strictly forbidden. Nobody entering the Ground shall be permitted to climb any structures within the Ground.
12. Football League stadia are smoke free and smoking is not permitted inside the Ground.
13. Mobile telephones are permitted within the Ground, provided that they are used for personal and private use only.
14. Under the Sporting Events (Control of Alcohol etc) Act 1985, the following are offences for which a person can be arrested by a police officer and conviction could result in a Banning Order being made:
14.1. Attempting to enter the Ground or being inside the Ground whilst drunk;
14.2. Being in possession of any intoxicating liquor, or bottle, can or other portable container and which could cause damage or personal injury, when entering the Ground or in a public area of the Ground from which the event can be directly viewed.
15. Any individual who has entered any part of the Ground designated for the use of any group of supporters to which he does not belong may be ejected from the Ground either for the purposes of his own safety or for any other reason.
16. No person (other than a person who holds an appropriate licence) may bring into the Ground or use within the Ground any equipment, which is capable of recording or transmitting (by digital or other means) any audio, visual or audio-visual material or any information or data in relation to the Match or the Ground. Copyright in any unauthorised recording or transmission is assigned (by way of present assignment of future copyright pursuant to section 91 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988) to the Club.
17. No goods (including literature) of any nature may be offered either free or for sale by any person within the Ground without the express written permission of the Club.
18. Tickets are not transferable and may not be offered for sale without the prior written permission of the Club. Any tickets offered for sale may be confiscated by any steward, officer of the Club or any police officer.
19. CCTV cameras are in use around and in the Ground and the Club may itself use or pass to the police or any Football Authority, any recordings for use in any proceedings.
20. At all times whilst present in the Ground, persons must comply with any and all instructions of any steward or officer of the Club and/or any police officer. Failure to comply with any instruction may lead to immediate ejection from the Ground.
21. Entry to the Ground signifies your express consent to the use of your actual or simulated likeness in connection with the production, exhibition, advertising or exploitation of any film, video and/or audio recording of the Match, and/or any element thereof in any/all media throughout the World.
22. The Club reserves absolutely the right to eject from the Ground any person failing to comply with any of the Ground Regulations or whose presence within the Ground is, or could, reasonably be construed as constituting a source of danger, nuisance or annoyance to any other person. This could lead to further action by the Club including, but not limited to, the withdrawal of any season ticket (without reimbursement) and other benefits.
23. Entry to the Ground shall constitute acceptance of the Ground Regulations.
Published by The Football League Limited 2007
