Exeter City started out as St Sidwell’s United – and it was on this day in 1901 that we hear about the club for the first time.
Buoyed by the growing appeal of association football in Exeter, a meeting was held at St David’s Guild House on 3rd June 1901 for the purpose of forming a Junior League in the Exeter area. St Sidwell’s United were represented along with hosts St David’s AFC, Exeter United, St Luke’s, and St John’s Athletic.
Most of what we know about how the club was formed comes from reminiscences by one of its members, Sid Thomas, who attended the Exeter Junior League meeting with another member, Edward Eveleigh. Sid says the club was born from a meeting of ‘selected youngsters in the city who were known to be good exponents of the game’. And there’s evidence for this in a newspaper report in September 1901 which states that the St Sidwell’s United team was made up of players from six clubs.
A sketch of Sid Thomas
Sid, for instance, along with teammate Jimmy Sillick, had been registered with St Thomas Past, but they’d both been playing too for Exeter Wesleyan United AFC. Players were allowed to get a game for whoever they wanted. In fact, we know that over half of the very first St Sidwell’s United XI were turning out for the Wesleyans in April 1901.
The meeting of ‘selected youngsters’ Sid refers to – he says it was at the Drum & Monkey pub on Sidwell Street – took place sometime near the end of the 1900-01 season. It helped that the club’s first secretary, George West, had held the same post for the Wesleyan organisation. But regardless of the links in personnel to the Wesleyans, the club that emerged, with green and white colours that distinguished them from the Wesleyans’ red and black, was clearly a ‘new’ one – and that’s how contemporary reports referred to it.
A report from the Western Times
Sid also makes a comment about the club enjoying ‘instant success’, referring to an undefeated run of matches. And stats for St Sidwell’s United back this up. Beginning with a 4-2 home win against Dawlish on 21st September 1901, they went eleven games without defeat.
The club’s first ground was off Pinhoe Road, a sloping pitch which would later make way for the development of Monks Road and surrounding streets. The move to St James Park took place in 1903.
And in May 1904, at St Sidwell’s United’s annual meeting, it was decided to change the name of the club to Exeter City AFC.
Exeter City will be celebrating their 125th anniversary during the 26/27 season with features, events and a special range of merchandise. Watch this space!