Manager pays homage to away support throughout the campaign
Following the Grecians’ 2-1 defeat at Hartlepool United, manager Paul Tisdale paid tribute to the travelling support after the final away fixture of the season.Of the 149 supporters that made the way up to Victoria Park, many were completing their perfect attendance record at Exeter City’s 25 away fixtures in the 2014/15 campaign. That amounts to well over 10,000 miles traversed on the road from Devon over the course of a year following the Grecians.
During that period, it hasn’t always been plain-sailing for Exeter’s away fans – but the commitment to the Grecian cause has on occasion been richly rewarded, including the euphoria that was created with dramatic late winning goals in Dagenham and Luton.
As well as giving the Exeter players a boost with plenty of noise from the away end week to week, the travelling City fans this campaign have also been fantastic ambassadors for the club and the city of Exeter, and have been praised on numerous occasions by hosting clubs as being a credit to football.
Unfortunately circumstances made it untenable for the Exeter City team to go and thank the travelling support in person after the final whistle at Victoria Park – Hartlepool supporters quickly swarmed the pitch in celebration of their ‘great escape’ and guaranteed survival, making access impossible within the stadium. However many supporters and players were able to mingle near the team bus after the game before embarking on the long journey home.
And as well as speaking of his gratitude to the core of home fans at St James Park, Tis was also grateful to those that have committed their time, money and emotional energy to being part of Exeter’s away days in 2014/15.
“It’s a shame that we didn’t get a chance to thank our supporters at the end of the game,” reflected Paul after the match.
“I did issue a direction to our players to get across the pitch, but with the pitch invasion it was probably sensible for them to come off in the end.
“Apologies to our supporters – and thank you very much for the efforts. It has been another good year on the road in terms of results and the way we have played, and I thank them for their part in it because they have travelled so far for us.
“So thank you to them, and apologies that we couldn’t get to them today.”