As our 2024/24 League One season has come to a close it’s time for end of year review to break down the season that was, month-by-month. A campaign that began at home to Rotherham and ended at Mansfield has seen ups and downs, FA Cup runs, penalty heartbreak and last minute winners.
Here's our breakdown of the early months of the season.
August
City’s season began on a hazy Saturday evening as Rotherham United visited for a 5.30pm kick-off. Summer signing Johnly Yfeko endeared himself to the SJP faithful with a pinpoint cross for Caleb Watts to turn in the only goal of the game to kick off the campaign with three points. After two league defeats and a cup disappointment at Walsall, the Grecians ended the month with a superb 2-0 win away at Bolton, with Kamari Doyle’s free-kick the highlight of a brilliant win.
September
The Grecians continued their good form throughout September, kicking off the month with a 2-1 EFL Trophy victory over Swindon Town thanks to Jack Aitchison’s stunning winner. Despite defeat to Blackpool, City bounced back with consecutive 2-0 wins over Stevenage and Spurs U21 – the latter again in the EFL Trophy when an audacious free-kick from 17-year-old Jake Richards secured the points. A 0-0 draw at Wigan saw City end the month with three straight clean sheets.
October
Clean sheets are a good habit to have, and the shutouts continued into October as Leicester loanee Amani Richards’ sole goal securing a 1-0 win at Leyton Orient. The screamers kept coming as Ryan Woods’ strike against Cambridge saw him win goal of the month, before Joe Whitworth pulled off a performance of the season away at Shrewsbury as he made save after save to help the side win 2-0, live on Sky Sports. City’s run of six consecutive clean sheets came to an with a 2-1 defeat to Reading, but Gary Caldwell’s team finished October with a 3-2 win at Bristol Rovers, securing three wins out of three in the EFL Trophy in a match marking the long awaited return of Demetri Mitchell just shy of a year since his injury.