‘We’re quite an oddity’: Exeter City celebrate 20 years of fan ownership
As their chair states, “I’m sad at how other clubs judge success,” the League One team will visit Luton in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday.
It’s hard to think of too many other teams where the manager may just stroll home from games, no matter what
happens, or has received a custom oak coffee table from a supporter. Even better, a carpenter supporter gave Gary
Caldwell a table in his office at Exeter’s renovated Cliff Hill training complex, which has an integrated tactics board
and pitch proportions that match the size of the surface at their St James Park home. According to Caldwell, “the
supporters go above and beyond in terms of what they give to this club.”
However, Exeter is rather special because they are a fan-owned club, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this
month. This move has made opponents and the government take notice of them and praise their approach.
Approximately 3,600 people are members of the Exeter City Supporters’ Trust, and each one contributes at least £24
annually. Julian Tagg, the club president and a lifelong supporter who was a ball boy, coach of Exeter’s Under-11
team, and player-manager in the reserves, says, “You always hear players at clubs say: ‘It’s a family club,’ but we’re
owned by the family.”“It takes us a long time to do anything, an inordinate amount of time, but when we do it, we do
it right.”
In addition to being a charming story, it is an amazing one about hard labour, community, and steel. The
long-time club secretary, Andy Gillard, was one of the hordes of volunteers who helped pull Exeter out of
the abyss after they were demoted from the Football League in 2003. He claims that it was a hand-to-
mouth situation in which you had to divide up the jobs and plunge your hand down the drain if necessary.
“Back then, it was a huge accomplishment to make it to the first game of the season after surviving for a
day, a week, a month, or two.”
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