Two padlocks dangle from the handle of the door to Exeter City’s sanctuary.
They sit innocuously amid corridors plastered with vintage photographs and the charming museum packed with all kinds of memorabilia, from a golden boot won by club legend Tony Kellow to the pink boots worn by England international Ollie Watkins, but they are heavy with meaning.
They were the locks fans used to keep rogue owners John Russell and Mike Lewis out of St James Park. They represent an uprising, enduring symbols of the storming of the palace and everything that has happened since.
Julian Tagg gives them a loving rattle and remembers the day he locked the doors and retreated to Russell’s office and Lewis, who had racked up debts of £4.8 million and left Exeter in an existential crisis, sat down and wondered, ‘What now? do we do that?’
What they did do was take ownership of the club after it had gone through the administrative process and set about writing one of the greatest football success stories of the 21st century.
Exeter City were on the brink of bankruptcy twenty years ago, but are now in League One
This weekend marked the home team’s celebration of 20 years of Trust ownership
They faced Leyton Orient, third in League One after a 2-1 defeat at the weekend
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It includes five Wembley outings, three promotions and an FA Cup tie with Manchester United, a fantastic little stadium with the largest free-standing terrace in the country, a swanky new £3 million training ground and a thriving academy, and an invaluable link with their community.
Twenty years on from the day they took over, Tagg is president of the club and on Saturday, for the visit of Leyton Orient, a dozen of the original Supporters’ Trust directors were back in that same office, now a matchday lounge. as guests on the occasion of the anniversary.
Exeter started the day at the top of League One, higher than they had been in their 122 years of existence, but they don’t like to call it a miracle because it was achieved with nothing but hard work and dedication from people who loved their club.
“We were a joke,” admits Elaine Davis. ‘Michael Jackson walked across the field with an umbrella. Also Uri Geller, it was embarrassing. We were relegated from the Football League, but that was almost secondary.’
Julian Tagg is the club chairman and director of football and external affairs at Exeter City
Elaine Davis, volunteer and former director of Exeter City was in attendance against Leyton Orient
Di Lee cleaned the training pitch, washed the equipment and made soup for players and staff
Davis is a former college librarian turned fundraiser for the club. It started when she joined an army of volunteers who spent the summer cleaning and renovating the land, fueled by pies donated by a local bakery. “We were sitting in the stands with our pies and there was a frisson,” Davis says. “This was our club and a few weeks earlier we didn’t think it would be here.”
Her latest success was raising £63,000 to equip the new training center with fitness equipment, kitchen equipment and analysis screens. “I use that road a lot, and when I see the building it makes me happy,” she says.
There are many like her. Di Lee cleaned the training pitch, washed the equipment and made soup for players and staff. Her late husband John, a builder, did odd jobs around the stadium.
This volunteer army is still the foundation of the club. Chairman Nick Hawker estimates it is worth a quarter of a million a year. “I asked someone from another club how many volunteers they were using and he looked at me like I was crazy,” says Hawker. “He said, ‘We don’t have any volunteers,’ but what they give you is humiliating.
The club wanted to raise £100,000 in one week to save their club 20 years ago
Leyton Orient are back and are in the early stages of fighting for promotion in League One
Members of the Original Trust Board come together to celebrate 20 years of Trust Ownership
“You create emotional bonds, pride that goes beyond how you feel on Saturday at 5 p.m. What matters is how you feel on a Saturday morning at 11am because you give up your day to show off our club. That ethos is what I am most proud of.”
A £1 million windfall from a repeat FA Cup tie against Manchester United in 2005 was crucial, and Exeter was rewarded for a decision to keep the academy open when it was about to make early cost cuts. “It would have taken two minutes to close and 10 years to rebuild,” said Tagg, a lecturer in PE and sports psychology.
Money from the sale of Matt Grimes to Swansea for £1.75 million in 2015 helped install a 3G pitch at the training ground. Ethan Ampadu joined Chelsea in a deal worth £2.5 million and Watkins joined Brentford for £1.8 million. The sell-on fee when Watkins moved to Aston Villa for £28m essentially built Exeter’s new training centre.
Bigger clubs have started looking for their students, but Exeter continues to bring a steady stream of graduates into the first team. Sixteen-year-old Jake Richards made his League One debut on Saturday and 18-year-old Sonny Cox started up front.
“We develop people,” says Hawker. ‘We have to be patient with the managers because they will lose games if they bring players through.’
Exeter have come to appreciate the value of slow and steady growth and have learned to absorb disappointment, which came in handy when Ruel Sotiriou won the match for Orient in stoppage time to knock the home side off the top.
They want success on the field, but know from bitter experience that there is more to it. They have the padlocks to prove it.