📝 Match Preview: MK Dons (H)

The Dons make the journey to Devon this weekend

3 September 2022

Exeter City are looking to get back to winning ways this weekend when we take on MK Dons at St James Park.

Following defeat by Newport county in the Papa John's Trophy on Tuesday, Matt Taylor's side hope to make amends against the Dons.

Liam Manning's side lost their first three games of the season without scoring but are now three unbeaten having won 4-0 at Morecambe last weekend - though they were also beaten in the Papa John's Trophy on Tuesday night.

Matt Taylor's Thoughts

"This is potentially the biggest test we've faced this season. They're an impressive team," Matt said.

"They've recruited well and recruited strongly - they're a well backed football club. Looking at their recent results, they've found the winning formula.

"Their manager is someone I know well and I look forward to catching up with him on Saturday. The game could show the very best of what League One has to offer this weekend and that has to inspire us mentally.

"We are looking for a proper home performance from ourselves."

Hear more from Matt, including an update on trasnfer deadline day 👇

Opposition View

LM: "I know Matt Taylor well as I did my pro-licence with him. He's a really good guy who has done an outstanding job there. Taking over from someone who had been there for a long time, is never easy but they got promoted and he has done an outstanding job" pic.twitter.com/BTGLeUS3vD
— Milton Keynes Dons (@MKDonsFC) September 1, 2022

Tickets

By buying tickets in advance you can save money and avoid the queues on match day. Tickets are selling well for the clash under the lights with around 950 Big Bank and 100 seats left in the stadium as of Monday, August 15.

E-tickets

E-tickets are the easiest and quickest way to buy tickets for City matches. On ordering you can select to receive an e-ticket which will be emailed to your phone for you to show on the turnstile - no need to print!

Admission prices

Big Bank			Selco BW/Stagecoach
Ticket Type	Advance	Gate	Ticket Type	Advance	Gate
Adult	£20	££22	Adult	£27	£28
Senior	£17	£19	Senior	£24	£25
Young Adult 18-23	£17	£19	Young Adult 18-23	£24	£25
Under-18	£8	£10	Under-18	£13	£14
Wheelchair Area	£17	£19	Wheelchair Area	£24	£25
Junior Grecians		---	Junior Grecians		---

How to Buy

To purchase tickets online, please click here. Please note that you will need to log in to purchase.

You can also call the club during the normal office hours on 01392 411243 or visit the club shop and reception in person between 10am - 4pm Monday to Friday. We ask that you please buy online where possible.

Fan Zone Activity

This Saturday in the Fan Zone, First Time Visitors can pick up a Welcome brochure that defines all you need to know about your local Club. If it is your first visit please let us know by emailing customerservices@exetercityfc.co.uk and we will endeavour to make it memorable for you.

Les the Fez is back! He will be touring the Fan Zone, JG Zone and hospitality areas with his table magic and balloon modelling.

The player badge to collect from the Ambassador Team, Shop or in the JG Zone will be Sonny Cox. The Ambassador Team are located at entrance points and immediately inside the stadium. They will be happy to assist you with directions or questions.

The activity on Saturday will be “Play Your Cards Right” to win a shirt or a football – your choice.

Announcements will include away travel update, Women’s football and an Exeter and MK Dons supporter announcing their respective teams around 2pm.

The information Point is the ideal meeting place and will have programmes and team sheets available. The Information Point will be happy to help the Trust with meeting prospective new members especially or those who want to find out about all the work the Trust is engaged in.

Guard of Honour

The Guard of Honour for Saturday is full. If your child would like to be part of the flag waving team welcoming the players and officials onto the pitch for a future game please email customerservices@exetercityfc.co.uk. Children taking part not only get on the pitch but also receive a certificate of participation and a bag of sweets.

Stadium Tours

If you want to join the FREE 11am Tour advance booking is required Stadium Tours - Exeter City FC. The tours start at 11.00am, meeting in the Fan Zone beside the entrance to the Centre Spot and provide a wonderful opportunity to go behind the scenes of your club on a match day when the ground is coming alive and visit the Museum. Tours last between an hour and 90 minutes.

How to Follow

Can't make it to St James Park on Saturday? Why not get the next best thing with a LIVE stream on iFollow?

iFollowBy purchasing a match pass at the cost of just £10 in the UK you'll get access to the stream which includes BBC Radio Devon commentary, score overlay and replays.

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To purchase a match pass please click here.

For further details on iFollow, iFollowplease click here
For a first time guide to iFollow, iFollowplease click here

Exeter City on social media

The Key Timings

Centre Spot Bar

The Centre Spot Bar will be open from 11am and will be showing the day's early and late kick offs ooffsn their selection of TV screens. After the match, draft pints of Tribute, Carlsberg and Thatchers are on offer for just £3 a pint.

The Centre Spot is also home to The Famous Exeter City Real Ale and Cider Emporium, offering a great selection of real ales and ciders.

Junior Grecians Zone

The Junior Grecians Zone is open to members from 12.30pm a30pmnd open to all from 1.30pm, with plenty of activities for all our young Grecian supporters.

In Red Square, the bar and Kenniford Farm's van will also be open for refreshments and hot food.

Family Zone 9.jpg

Club Shop

The club shop is open from 12pm - 5pm on matchdays and is stocked with all three of City's kits for the 21/22 season as well as a range of training gear and pocket money items.

Don't forget, Supporters' Trust members save 10% on full prices purchases!

Club Shop.jpg

Jungle Path Kiosk

From Saturday, the kiosk on the Jungle Path will be selling pints of Thatchers Big Apple, cans of Thatchers Gold and bottle of Carlsberg, as well as all the usual half time snacks including pies, pasties and beverages.

Food and Drink

One of the most important part of any match day! We have a wide range of hot and cold drinks and snacks available at the kiosk for away fans. CONTACTLESS CARD PAYMENT NOW AVAILABLE!

Hot Food

In the Fan Zone you will find the Kenniford Farm van serving local delicious hot food such as hog roasts and chips.

Matchday Programme

Our award winning programme returns for the 22/23 season and is priced at just £3 per copy! The programme features lots of content on the men's team, including a new feature on the cover star's all-time five-a-side team!

Make sure you grab a copy from around the ground!

Match Reports

📝 Match Report: City 1 MK Dons 0

Cheick mate to The Grecians

3 September 2022

Exeter City returned to winning ways, recording a 1-0 win over MK Dons at St James Park thanks to Cheick Diabate's bullet header.

The young defender's first goal of the season secured all three points against an in-form Dons, on the day that Jay Stansfield - wearing number 9 - came on to rapturous applause for his Grecians debut.

Matt Taylor made only the one change from the last league outing away to Accrington Stanley with Jonathan Grounds coming in to replace the injured Alex Hartridge, while deadline day signings Stansfield and Harry Smith were named on the bench.

The opening ten minutes of the game did not see too much action, but the pressure on The Dons defence by both Jevani Brown and Sam Nombe was forcing mistakes and causing plenty of issues in the final third.

MK's chances were few and far between, but a slip from keeper Jamal Blackman in a one on one with Will Grigg, almost looked like the away side were going to take the lead. The City defence held firm and cleared the ball away, the game was now starting to heat up.

A beautiful free kick from Jack Sparkes a little under the 20 minute mark almost sent the home support into delirium but the ball agonisingly flew inches over the bar, with Dons keeper Jamie Cumming getting nowhere near the effort.

The chances were starting to come more and more for City as the game went on, with the French midfield maestro Tim Dieng combining well with Sparkes, Brown and Nombe, but with all the efforts they were still struggling to find the target.

Some magical football from Harry Kite saw the midfielder combine with Dieng and Nombe once again almost opened the scoring, but a heavy touch from Sam led to the ball rolling into the hands of an unbothered Cummings in the MK goal.

A searching ball into the area from the marauding Kite down the right hand side missed the boot of Brown on the edge of six yard box by millimetres after a gut busting run into the area.

Seconds later and the ball was then at the feet of The Dons, and with that their biggest chance of the game but an on rushing Blackman in the City goal made himself as big as possible and made a fantastic save from point blank range, keeping the game goalless.

Nombe once again got himself in the right place, but he couldn’t find the back of the net. From the resulting corner, the Dons keeper Cummings had to claw the ball off his goal line twice in quick succession. First a bullet header from Dieng, followed up by another header this time from captain Pierce Sweeney.

With only 20 seconds played in the second half, The Big Bank erupted after a huge penalty shout for an alleged foul on Nombe in the area, but the shouts waved away by referee Ben Toner.

Moments later and Sparkes almost made it 1-0 but an inspired Cumming in goal for Dons made another superb save to keep the game at 0-0. The Big Bank was absolutely bouncing after the emphatic start to the second half.

Another chance went a miss, this time Brown is the player whose shot sailed just over the bar, after some lovely football down the right hand side this time from Josh Key finding Brown six yards out but the game was somehow still 0-0.

With 63 minutes played Taylor made his first change of the game with Rekeem Harper coming on to the field of play to replace Dieng.

The deadlock was broken with 25 minutes to go as a floated corner from Brown found Diabate lurking at the back post. A bullet header from the colossal centre back found the back of the net, erupting SJP into delirium.

The moment that every City fan had been waiting for came in the 79th minute, with the introduction of transfer deadline day Stansfield, the son of the legendary Adam, donning the number nine shirt worn by his father. The noise from The Big Bank was deafening with every touch from the young forward.

Stansfield almost had his moment as he found himself just inside the penalty area but his effort flashed just wide of the far post.

It was complete performance from the Grecians, who pick up their third win of the season.

The next game for City is an away trip east to play Charlton Athletic in an exciting clash at The Valley on Saturday 10 September.

City: Blackman, Key, Sweeney (C), Diabate, Grounds, Sparkes, Kite, Collins, Dieng (Harper), Brown, Nombe (Stansfield)

Subs not used: S. Brown, Caprice, Chauke, Jay, Smith

MK Dons: Cumming, Lewington (C), Tucker, O’hora, Grigg (Dennis), Johnson, Grant (Smith), Burns (Kayode), Harvie, Lawrence (Oyegoke), Devoy

Subs not used: Ravizzoli, Kayode, Barry, Jules

Referee: Ben Toner

Attendance: 5931 (286 away)

Ticket News

🎟 Grab tickets for our next home league game against MK Dons

Back the Boys at the Park

31 August 2022

The Grecians are next in EFL Sky Bet League One action at the Park on Saturday, September 3 in a 3pm kick-off against MK Dons.

By buying tickets in advance you can save money and avoid the queues on match day.

E-tickets

Admission prices

Big Bank			Nevada Construction/Optimising IT
Ticket Type	Advance	Gate	Ticket Type	Advance	Gate
Adult	£20	£22	Adult	£27	£28
Senior	£17	£19	Senior	£24	£25
Young Adult 18-23	£17	£19	Young Adult 18-23	£24	£25
Under-18	£8	£10	Under-18	£13	£14
Wheelchair Area	£17	£19	Wheelchair Area	£24	£25
Junior Grecians		---	Junior Grecians		---

How to Buy

To purchase tickets online, please click here. Please note that you will need to log in to purchase.

You can also call the club during the normal office hours on 01392 411243 or visit the club shop and reception in person between 10am and 4pm Monday to Friday. We ask that you please buy online where possible.

Junior Grecians Tickets

Junior Grecians members get access to free match tickets when purchased alongside a paying adult. There are three family friendly areas available at St James Park, section E in the IP Office Main Stand, in Block A of the Stagecoach Adam Stansfield Stand, and a section of the Thatchers Big Bank which is identified by the white barriers).

How to buy

To book Junior Grecians tickets, please make sure you are logged in first. Then select an Adult and either one or two Junior Grecian tickets to the basket. The system will validate you and change the Junior Grecians tickets to free.

Please note that this will not work if under-18 tickets are added, or tickets are selected in non-family areas. If you experience any issues, please email tickets@ecfc.co.uk who can help.

Tickets are limited and it is advisable to book early. Click here to find out more about the Junior Grecians.

Matchday Hospitality

Experience City in style, with corporate or personal use, by joining us in our premium bar and Supporters' Trust Suite by John Lewis.

The hospitality package includes:

Reserved seat in the main stand
Two course meal served at your table by our friendly hospitality team
Pre match Player interview
Man of the Match interview
Man of the Match presentation
Complimentary match day programme and team sheet
Large screens showing SKY Sports and BT Sport

The Cost

Adult £59 inc VAT
Child £35 inc VAT

Discounts available for Trust members and existing Season Ticket holders.

How to book

For further information or to book tickets, please call our commercial team on 01392 411 243 Option 5, email commercial@ecfc.co.uk, or online via newtickets.ecfc.co.uk

Click here to view our Match Day Hospitality Terms and Conditions