2017–18 Exeter City F.C. season
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The 2017–18 season was Exeter City's 116th year in existence and their sixth consecutive season in
League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
, where they finished in fourth place. The Grecians progressed to and lost their second consecutive promotion play-off final City progressed to the third round of the FA Cup after beating 8th-tier
Heybridge Swifts Heybridge Swifts Football Club is a football club based in Heybridge, near Maldon, Essex, England. They are currently members of the and play at Scraley Road. History The club was established in 1880 as Heybridge Football Club. After joining t ...
in the first round, and fellow League Two side Forest Green Rovers in a second round replay. Exeter were knocked out in the third round by Premier League side West Bromwich Albion. The Grecians were knocked out of the
EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...
in the first round, losing at home to Charlton Athletic, and were also eliminated in the regionalised first round (group stage) of the
EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...
, finishing bottom of Southern Group D. The season covers the period from 1 July 2017 to 30 June 2018.


Transfers


Transfers in


Transfers out


Loans in


Loans out

''Note: this section may be inaccurate, due to incomplete information released by the club about loans out.''


Pre-season

Exeter City played five pre-season fixtures in July 2017, all away from home at teams based in Somerset and Dorset. The club's pre-season schedule began with a trip to
Twerton Park Twerton Park is a football stadium in the Twerton suburb of Bath, England. The stadium is named after the surrounding area, Twerton. The stadium has a physical capacity of 8,884, 1,066 of which are seats. It has been the home of Bath City F.C ...
, where they faced off against Bath City for the Brian Lomax SD Cup – an annual fixture held between two supporter-owned clubs. There were no pre-season friendlies at St James Park due to redevelopment work taking place over the summer.


Brian Lomax SD Cup


Friendlies


Competitions


League Two


League table


Matches

The fixtures for the 2017–18 season were announced on 21 June 2017.


August


September


October


November


December


January


February


March


April


=May

=


League Two play-offs


FA Cup

On 16 October 2017, the Grecians were drawn at home to
Heybridge Swifts Heybridge Swifts Football Club is a football club based in Heybridge, near Maldon, Essex, England. They are currently members of the and play at Scraley Road. History The club was established in 1880 as Heybridge Football Club. After joining t ...
in the first round of the FA Cup. City eventually overcame the Swifts 3–1 with all the goals being scored in the final 45 minutes after an uneventful first half. Jayden Stockley scored a quick brace before Heybridges' Sam Bantick scored a consolation. Liam McAlinden then sealed the win for Exeter in the 86th minute. The following day, the Grecians were drawn away to Forest Green Rovers for the second round. Prolific goalscorer
Christian Doidge Christian Rhys Doidge (born 25 August 1992) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays for club Hibernian as a striker. Doidge played in the youth systems of Southampton and Bristol Rovers, but temporarily gave up football and played baske ...
netted for Rovers after 26 minutes, the only goal in the first half. Grecians skipper Jordan Moore-Taylor equalised in the 58th minute and Jayden Stockley scored not long after to give City a 2–1 lead. However, Forest Green equalised through
Scott Laird Scott Benjamin Laird (born 15 May 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays as a left back and midfielder for Southern League Premier Division South club Weston-super-Mare. He is also the club's assistant manager. Laird began his ...
in the 88th minute and Doidge scored again in the 92nd to turn the game on its head. To make the game's conclusion even more dramatic, Stockley scored his second goal in the 94th minute as the match finished 3–3. The Grecians achieved an incredible comeback from a goal and a man down to triumph 2–1 in the replay to set a Third Round tie against Premier League side West Bromwich Albion. Forest Green had opened the scoring with a 30th-minute penalty scored by Christian Doidge. City were down to ten men after 63 minutes due to Jordan Tillson's second yellow card. However, Rovers conceded a penalty only ten minutes later and Pierce Sweeney converted. The score was 1–1 at the end of 90 minutes, and the next significant event was a second sending off, this time the culprit being Rovers defender
Manny Monthé Emmanuel Gaëtan Nguemkam Monthé (born 26 January 1995) is a Cameroonian footballer who plays as a defender for club Northampton Town Career Monthé was a youth player at Queens Park Rangers before signing a professional contract for the 20 ...
, leaving both teams with ten men. Jayden Stockley scored the winner in the 115th minute, netting his 11th goal of the season. City's third round tie against West Bromwich Albion started very poorly, conceding after only 75 seconds after Christy Pym failed to keep
Salomón Rondón José Salomón Rondón Giménez (; born 16 September 1989) is a Venezuelan professional footballer who plays as a striker for the Venezuela national team, and is currently a free agent. After starting out at Aragua, he went on to spend most o ...
's long-distance shot out. The Baggies scored again in the 25th minute through
Jay Rodriguez Jay Enrique Rodriguez (born 29 July 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Burnley. Rodriguez began his career with his hometown club Burnley, for whom he scored 41 goals in 128 appearances across all com ...
. The BBC match report attributed both goals to mistakes by Danny Seaborne.


EFL Cup

On 16 June 2017, Exeter City were drawn at home to Charlton Athletic in the first round of the EFL Cup. Lee Holmes opened the scoring for the Grecians after 54 minutes by netting a free kick. However, goals by Billy Clarke and
Regan Charles-Cook Regan Evans Charles-Cook (born 14 February 1997) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for Belgian First Division A club Eupen. Born in England, he plays for the Grenada national team. Club career Charlton Athletic Following a m ...
saw the Reds eliminated in the first round for the first time since 2014.


EFL Trophy

City were placed in the Southern Group D, alongside the other two southwesternmost EFL League One and Two teams Plymouth Argyle and Yeovil Town. The
Chelsea F.C. Academy Chelsea F.C. Development Squad are the development team of Chelsea Football Club. They play in the Premier League 2, which is the top level of reserve football in England. They were the champions in the 2013–14 and 2019–20 seasons. The tea ...
was announced to be the other side in the group. On 13 July 2017, it was revealed that the Grecians would play Chelsea and Yeovil Town at home and Plymouth Argyle away. City began with a 3–1 loss at home to Yeovil Town, when City failed to repeat the heroics of the previous season against the same opposition by coming back from 3–0 down, with just the consolation goal from Jack Sparkes, his first in professional football. The Grecians' second match of the group stage took place at Plymouth's Home Park, where they lost 5–3 on penalties to the Pilgrims after a 2–2 draw. City's elimination was confirmed after a 3–1 loss at home to Chelsea under-21s.


Table


Results


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2017-18 Exeter City F.C. season Exeter City Exeter City F.C. seasons