Exeter City Prepare for League Two Return Amid Financial Reset

Exeter City Prepare for League Two Return Amid Financial Reset

By Football Desk | May 24, 2026

Exeter City are gearing up for life back in League Two after their relegation from League One was confirmed earlier this month. The fan-owned club, which spent four seasons in the third tier, will now focus on rebuilding under interim manager Matt Taylor.

The Grecians' fate was sealed on May 2 with a 2-1 home defeat to Bradford City at St James Park. Despite a competitive performance in front of their loyal supporters, the result confirmed their drop to the fourth tier for the first time since 2022. Taylor, who returned to the club in March following Gary Caldwell's departure to Wigan Athletic, has been tasked with leading the squad through the transition.

Speaking after the final match of the season, Taylor acknowledged the challenges ahead. "It's been a difficult campaign, but we have a strong foundation here at Exeter," he said. "The Supporters' Trust has shown incredible commitment, and we're determined to bounce back stronger."

Financial pressures have dominated discussions at the club. Following relegation, Exeter face "drastic" squad cuts to ensure sustainability. The Exeter City Supporters' Trust recently announced it will more than double its funding contribution to £240,000 for the 2026-27 season, providing vital support as the club aims to start the new campaign solvent.

Chairman Laurence Overend has emphasised prudent management. "We will start next season solvent with a reduced playing budget," he stated. "This will require difficult decisions regarding the squad, but our priority remains long-term stability."

The club has already begun pre-season preparations. Exeter have confirmed a friendly against local rivals Torquay United as part of their summer schedule. Additionally, plans for an Academy Tournament in June are underway, highlighting the continued focus on youth development as a key part of the club's strategy.

On the pitch, the 2025-26 season saw moments of promise mixed with inconsistency. Jayden Wareham finished as the club's top league goalscorer with nine goals. Several players impressed during a challenging year marked by a lengthy winless run, but ultimately the side finished 21st in League One.

With the transfer window approaching, Exeter are expected to be active in the loan market and free agent signings to refresh the squad. A number of senior players are likely to depart as the club trims its wage bill. Taylor has indicated a desire to "go back to our roots" and build a competitive, hardworking team capable of challenging for promotion.

Off the field, the Supporters' Trust continues to play a central role in governance and funding. Recent fans' forums have discussed strategies for the coming season, with emphasis on community engagement and sustainable growth.

Exeter City Women have also concluded their season, with the club expressing pride in the continued development of the women's setup. Several academy graduates are expected to feature more prominently in the first team next season as part of cost-effective squad building.

As the dust settles on a turbulent campaign, Exeter supporters remain optimistic. The club's unique model of fan ownership has helped navigate previous setbacks, and many believe the same spirit will drive a successful return to League One in the near future.

With pre-season friendlies on the horizon and planning for League Two well underway, all eyes at St James Park are now firmly fixed on a positive 2026-27 campaign.

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Home of Exeter City FC

Opened 1904

Capacity 8,696

History (from Wikipedia)

In 1654 the land was owned by Lady Anne Clifford who rented it out for fattening pigs. The proceeds went to a charity set up to pay for the apprenticeship of a poor child from the parish of St Stephen, an arrangement that was supposed to be renewed "yearly to the world's end." Pigs were resident for nearly 250 years and in later times, were joined by other tenants of low repute. Prior to 1904, Exeter United FC played its games here and after merging with St. Sidwell's United, the ground was leased to the newly formed Exeter City FC with the new contract stipulating that "no menageries, shows, circuses or steam roundabouts" were to be allowed on the premises.

In the ground's early days, some visiting clubs complained about the ground claiming it wasn't regulation length, and both Stoke (in 1909) and Reading (1910) refused to play FA Cup games at the ground, although the matter was resolved in 1920 when the club purchased the land east of the ground and were able to extend the pitch and construct the Big Bank stand.

In 1921 the club was able to buy the site, thanks to money raised through the record breaking sale of Dick Pym to Bolton, and proceeded to develop the ground, adding a roof to the Cowshed stand and in 1926 rebuilding the Grandstand destroyed by fire the previous year.

Modern development[edit]

In 1994 the club encountered financial difficulties and the ground was sold to Beazer Homes, and was later purchased by Exeter City Council who leased it back to the club. Finances had improved by 1996 and the club began to redevelop St James Park, rebuilding the Big Bank stand (2000) and replacing the Cowshed terrace with an all-seater stand (2001). The neighbouring former St. James' School building was refurbished into new offices, a social club and corporate hospitality /conference and banqueting facilities.

Financial difficulties, including debt to stadium redevelopers Mowlem, caused the redevelopment plans to be put on hold but matters continued to decline, culminating in the club's most traumatic episode at the end of the 2002/03 season, when police raided the club and removed the recently instated chairman, his wife and the vice-chairman for questioning. Later that year the Supporters Trust took over day-to-day running of the club, and to overcome the financial problems entered into a CVA.

In 2005, thanks largely to the money generated from the FA Cup third round match at Old Trafford the previous year, the club came out of administration and the Supporters Trust began again to look at the redevelopment of the ground. In the meantime, much of the small scale maintenance and repair work has been undertaken by a volunteer workforce of fans organised by the Trust, using resources donated by local businesses.

In 2004, talks were held with the Exeter Chiefs rugby club, who were in with a good chance of obtaining promotion to the Zurich Premiership that season. Because the Chiefs 100-year-old County Ground didn't meet Premiership requirements and their new Sandy Park Stadium was not due to open for another season, the clubs were looking at a possible one year groundshare at St James Park. There were also talks of a future groundshare at the Sandy Park stadium should Exeter City decide to leave St James Park. In the end, the Chiefs missed promotion by 4 points to Bristol and were able to stay at the County Ground for the next season. Contractual restrictions on the use of Sandy Park halted talk of a future groundshare there too.

In May 2016, permission was granted for a redevelopment of the Old Grandstand (then known as the Stagecoach Family Stand), that would see the 90-year old stand be demolished and replaced with a new 1,600 seat stand, which would be financed by the building of new student accommodation behind the Big Bank.[2] The option for a new, covered standing away terrace was also included and approved under planning permission. As part of the redevelopment, the club announced in October 2018 that the Old Grandstand's replacement would be named 'The Stagecoach Adam Stansfield Stand', in honour of the striker who died from cancer in 2010, at the age of 31.[3]

Things to do in Exeter.