2016–17 Exeter City F.C. season

Exeter City
2016–17 season
Owner Exeter City Supporters' Trust
Chairman Julian Tagg
Manager Paul Tisdale
Stadium St James Park
League Two 21st
FA Cup Knocked out in First Round by Luton Town
EFL Cup Knocked out in Second Round by Hull City
EFL Trophy Knocked out in Southern Group C (3rd place)
Top goalscorer League: Lee Holmes
(4 goals)
All: Lee Holmes
Reuben Reid
Ollie Watkins
David Wheeler
(4 goals each)
Highest home attendance 6,612 vs. Plymouth Argyle
Lowest home attendance 729 vs. Swindon Town
Average home league attendance 3,843
← 2015–16 2017–18 →
All statistics correct as of 26 November 2016.

The 2016–17 season is Exeter City's 115th year in existence and their fifth consecutive season in League Two.[1] Along with competing in League Two, the club will also participate in the FA Cup, League Cup and Football League Trophy. In September, Exeter City broke their all-time record for consecutive home league losses by losing their first five home matches of the season.[2] As of 26 November, the team has still failed to record a home win in nine matches, earning only two points and scoring only three goals.

The season covered the period from 1 July 2016 to 30 June 2017.

Transfers

Transfers in

Date from Position Nationality Name From Fee Ref.
1 July 2016 CB England Troy Archibald-Henville Carlisle United Free transfer [3]
1 July 2016 DM Wales Lloyd James Leyton Orient Free transfer [4]
1 July 2016 CF Republic of Ireland Liam McAlinden Wolverhampton Wanderers Free transfer [5]
1 July 2016 CF England Robbie Simpson Cambridge United Free transfer [4]
28 July 2016 CB Republic of Ireland Pierce Sweeney Free agent Free transfer [6]
13 September 2016 CF England Reuben Reid Free agent Free transfer [7]

Transfers out

Date from Position Nationality Name To Fee Ref.
1 July 2016 CF England Will Hoskins Free agent Released [8]
1 July 2016 CF Republic of Ireland Clinton Morrison Redditch United[lower-alpha 1] Released [8]
1 July 2016 RW England Alex Nicholls Barnet Free transfer [10]
1 July 2016 CM England Emmanuel Oyeleke Free agent Released [11]
1 July 2016 CM England Jason Pope Weston-super-Mare[lower-alpha 2] Released [8]
1 July 2016 RB Wales Christian Ribeiro Oxford United Free transfer [13]
1 July 2016 LM Wales Arron Davies Accrington Stanley Free transfer [14]
1 July 2016 CM Scotland David Noble St Albans City Free transfer [15]
  1. ↑ Following Morrison's release, he signed for Redditch United.[9]
  2. ↑ Following Popes' release, he signed for Weston-super-Mare.[12]

Loans in

Date from Position Nationality Name From Date until Ref.
31 August 2016 CM England Jack Stacey Reading 23 January 2017 [16]
31 August 2016 CB England Luke Croll Crystal Palace 14 January 2017 [17]

Loans out

Date from Position Nationality Name To Date until Ref.
25 July 2016 CF Northern Ireland Jamie Reid Torquay United 3 January 2017 [18][19]

Pre-season

On 19 May 2016, seven friendlies were announced on the club website. The majority were played against non-league West Country teams, but City also played Bristol Rovers, Burton Albion and a Cardiff City XI, the former of League One and the latter two of the Championship.[20] City won all seven of the pre-season friendlies, conceding only two goals.

Competitions

League Two

August

Exeter City begun the season with an away game against recently relegated Blackpool, which resulted in a 2–0 loss for the Grecians. Then followed three consecutive home fixtures, the first of which being an EFL Cup tie against a youthful Brentford side, which City won in extra time. Despite this encouraging win, the Grecians went on to lose the next two league fixtures at home. Against Hartlepool United, City were up 1–0 at half-time thanks to a Liam McAlinden strike, but conceded two goals in two minutes in the final half-hour to lose 2–1. The Grecians also went down to a late goal four days later versus Crawley Town, when Josh Yorwerth scored in the 83rd minute. After these three consecutive losses, City were bottom of the table. Up next was a trip against Accrington Stanley where the Grecians finally won thanks to two goals in a frantic six minutes in the second half. Ryan Harley opened the scoring in the 66th minute before Arron Davies, who left Exeter City in the summer after his contract expired, equalised four minutes later. City were very quickly back ahead when Jake Taylor scored in the 72nd minute. The Grecians could be labelled unlucky to have lost their final August fixture at home to promotion-chasing Portsmouth thanks to an 85th-minute penalty, but again failed to take their chances. City scored only three goals in August, picking up a mere three points from five matches. The Grecians sat in the relegation zone at 23rd place, ahead only of Cambridge United.

September

The first match of September was a tit-for-tat encounter away at recently relegated Colchester United. Robbie Simpson scored his first league goal since signing in the summer to open the scoring. However City were 2–1 down at half-time, but goals from Ollie Watkins and Joel Grant sealed a narrow win for the Grecians, their second of the season in League Two. City's next match was also at a recently relegated club, Crewe Alexandra. The Grecians lost this game 2–0 to goals either side of half-time. Then followed the Devon Derby against rivals Plymouth Argyle which City also lost 2–0, both goals coming early on in the game. Exeter City picked up their third win of the 2016–17 League Two season away at Stevenage with two quickfire goals in the second half from Lee Holmes and Ollie Watkins. City's miserable start to the season was made worse by a record-breaking streak of home losses. After a 2–0 loss at home to Notts County in which the opposition scored two early goals much like Plymouth Argyle a week earlier, the Grecians had lost every one of their first five home matches. However, the two wins that month saw City out of the relegation zone, finishing the month's action in 22nd place.

October

The Grecians fared slightly better in October, despite an opening 1–0 away loss at Wycombe Wanderers thanks to a traditional late goal from Adebayo Akinfenwa. City finally picked up their first point at home on 8 October with a goalless draw with Grimsby Town in which goalkeeper Bobby Olejnik didn't feature on the starting line-up for only the second time in over 50 league matches. Rather uncharacteristically following the Grecians' poor start to the season, City thumped Barnet 4–1 in the following fixture away from home. The League Two top scorer at the time John Akinde opened the scoring for the opposition before Jake Taylor equalized just before half-time. After the break, City scored another three goals while former Grecian Alex Nicholls failed to find the back of net. Despite this heavy win, City once again lost at home the following week to Cambridge United to two early goals, although Robbie Simpson scored a consolation goal towards the end of the match. As if to epitomise their bizarrely contrasting home and away form, the Grecians picked up another strong win at Morecambe, with first-half goals from David Wheeler, Joel Grant and Lee Holmes. By the end of October, the Grecians had earned 16 points, 15 of these away from home and stood at 19th in the league table, six points below the play-off places and one point above the relegation zone.

November

Exeter City begun the month with elimination from both the FA Cup and the EFL Trophy. The Grecians were beaten 3–1 at home in the FA Cup First Round by Luton Town after conceding two penalties, one due to a shove by Troy Archibald-Henville in his first appearance for the club. City were then knocked out of the League Trophy after a loss on penalties to Swindon Town. Striker Robbie Simpson played as a centre-back for the first half of this match due to club's ongoing injury crisis. The Grecians' first league game of the month was a 3–1 loss to Doncaster Rovers, in which City conceded three goals in the final twenty minutes of the match, subsequently dropping back into the relegation zone. Exeter City also threw away a result the following week at Carlisle United, conceding in the 90th and 97th minutes to lose 3–2. After two consecutive losses, the Grecians were bottom of the table for the first time since mid-August. City escaped from the drop zone the following Tuesday after their sixth away league win of the season, at Leyton Orient. The Grecians won 1–0 after a first-half Ollie Watkins goal. City stayed in 21st after earning only their second point at home after a 0–0 draw against Luton Town.

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
19 Notts County 19 6 4 9 24 32 −8 22
20 Accrington Stanley 19 5 6 8 20 25 −5 21
21 Exeter City 19 6 2 11 20 25 −5 20
22 Leyton Orient 19 5 3 11 21 26 −5 18
23 Cheltenham Town 19 3 9 7 20 28 −8 18 Relegation to the National League
Updated to match(es) played on 3 December 2016. Source: BBC Sport
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored

Results summary

OverallHomeAway
PldWDLGFGAGDPtsWDLGFGAGDWDLGFGAGD
19 6 2 11 20 25  −5 20 0 2 7 3 13  −10 6 0 4 17 12  +5

Last updated: 26 November 2016.
Source: BBC Sport

Results by round

Round12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334353637383940414243444546
GroundAHHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAAHHAHAHAAHHAAHHAHAHHAHAH
Result L L L W L W L L W L L D W L W L L W D                                                      
Position 21 23 24 23 23 18 21 23 20 22 23 23 20 23 19 23 24 21 21                                                      

Last updated: 26 November 2016.
Source: BBC Match result pages
Ground: A = Away; H = Home. Result: D = Draw; L = Loss; W = Win; P = Postponed.

Matches

On 22 June 2016, the fixtures for the 2016–17 season were announced.[21]

August
September
October
November
December

Score overview

  Win   Draw   Loss

Opposition Home Away Dou. Agg.
Accrington Stanley 2–1
Barnet 4–1
Blackpool 0–2
Cambridge United 1–2
Carlisle United 2–3
Cheltenham Town
Colchester United 3–2
Crawley Town 0–1
Crewe Alexandra 0–2
Doncaster Rovers 1–3
Grimsby Town 0–0
Hartlepool United 1–2
Leyton Orient 1–0
Luton Town 0–0
Mansfield Town
Morecambe 3–0
Newport County
Notts County 0–2
Plymouth Argyle 0–2
Portsmouth 0–1
Stevenage 2–0
Wycombe Wanderers 0–1
Yeovil Town

Note: Exeter City goals are listed first.

FA Cup

EFL Cup

EFL Trophy

Goals and assists

Source: Exeter City FC website
Correct as of 26 November 2016

Pos Player Goals LG2 FAC LGC LGT
=1st England Lee Holmes 4 4 0 0 0
England Reuben Reid 3 1 0 0
England Ollie Watkins 3 0 0 1
England David Wheeler 2 0 0 2
=5th Jamaica Joel Grant 3 3 0 0 0
Wales Jake Taylor 2 0 1 0
Republic of Ireland Liam McAlinden 1 0 0 2
8th England Ryan Harley 2 1 0 1 0
=9th England Robbie Simpson 1 1 0 0 0
England Matt Jay 0 0 0 1
Pos Player Assists LGE CUP
1st England Reuben Reid 3 2 1
=2nd England Lee Holmes 2 2 0
England Jack Stacey 2 0
Republic of Ireland Liam McAlinden 0 2
=5th England Luke Croll 1 1 0
England Jordan Moore-Taylor 1 0
England Robbie Simpson 1 0
Wales Jake Taylor 1 0
England Ollie Watkins 1 0
England David Wheeler 1 0
England Craig Woodman 1 0
England Matt Jay 0 1
Republic of Ireland Pierce Sweeney 0 1
England Jordan Tillson 0 1

References

  1. ↑ "History". Statto.
  2. ↑ "Exeter City 0-2 Notts County". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  3. ↑ Marshall, Sam (27 June 2016). "Archibald-Henville completes City return". Exeter City FC. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
  4. 1 2 "Simpson And James Join The Grecians". Exeter City Official Site. 25 May 2016.
  5. ↑ Roderick, Oliver (31 May 2016). "Grecians Complete Third Signing Of The Summer". Exeter City FC. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  6. ↑ "Pierce Sweeney joins Exeter City on permanent deal". Exeter City Official Site. 28 July 2016. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  7. ↑ Larkins, Simon. "Exeter City sign Reuben Reid". Exeter City FC. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
  8. 1 2 3 "Retained List 2016". Exeter City Official Site. 13 May 2016. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  9. ↑ "Morrison signs for non-league Redditch". BBC. 1 June 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  10. ↑ "Barnet sign Nicholls and Watson". BBC. 1 July 2016. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  11. ↑ "Midfielder Oyeleke to leave Exeter City". BBC. 13 May 2016. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  12. ↑ "More signings today". Weston-s-Mare AFC. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  13. ↑ "Exeter defender Ribeiro joins Oxford". BBC. 28 June 2016. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
  14. ↑ "Deal done for Davies". Accrington Stanley Official Site. 1 August 2016. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  15. ↑ "Saints sign David Noble". St Albans City FC. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  16. ↑ Larkins, Simon. "Exeter City sign Reading midfielder Jack Stacey on loan". Exeter City FC. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  17. ↑ Larkins, Simon. "Exeter City sign Crystal Palace's Luke Croll on loan until mid-January". Exeter City FC. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  18. ↑ Pilnick, Brent. "Jamie Robba: Torquay United sign Gibraltar goalkeeper and loan Exeter's Jamie Reid". BBC Sport. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
  19. ↑ Tinkler, Patrick. "Reid stay extended". Torquay United. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  20. ↑ Roderick, Oliver (19 May 2016). "Cardiff City XI To Visit SJP In Pre-Season". Exeter City FC. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  21. ↑ "League Two fixtures 2016-17: Blackpool host Exeter City on opening day". BBC Sport. 22 June 2016. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
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