Stanley’s second away trip this week sees the Reds make the long journey to Exeter City.
As kick off approaches, the official website takes a look at all the things you need to know.
History
Exeter City were formed in 1904 following the merger of Exeter United and St Sidwell’s United and entered in to the East Devon League. The Grecians quickly moved in to the Plymouth and District League, before joining the Southern League in 1908.
The club then became a founder member of the Third Division in 1920 and then found themselves in the newly formed Fourth Division in 1958. The club then gained promotion from the Fourth Division in the 1963/64 season, however the club was relegated after only two seasons.
They then gained promotion back to the Third Division in the 1976/77 season and stayed there for seven years, before relegation back to the basement division in 1984.
The club again gained promotion to the Third Division in 1990, before being relegated four years later. The club were then relegated to the Conference in the 2002/03 season.
The Grecians then gained promotion back to the Football League via the play offs in the 2007/08 season, when they beat Cambridge United 1-0 at Wembley. The following season the club made it back to back promotions by winning automatic promotion to League One.
The club were then relegated back to League Two at the end of the 2011/12 season and finished last season in 10th place in the League Two table.
By Chris Forsyth
Paul Tisdale
41 year old Tisdale is currently in his second managerial role, having taken over as Exeter manager in 2006, having left his previous role as Team Bath manager to join the club.
Prior to being a manager Tisdale had an injury interrupted career as a player, eventually retiring at the age of 27. He appeared for clubs including Southampton, Yeovil Town and Bristol City. Tisdale also moved abroad in his career, appearing for Finnish side FinnPa and Greek side Panionios.
Matt Oakley
Veteran midfielder Oakley will be key for the Grecians if they are to move away from the relegation zone this season. The 36 year old has so far made 18 appearances for the club this season.
Oakley started his career at Southampton, where he made 262 appearances and scored 14 goals before moving to Derby County, where he made 56 appearances and scored nine goals. He then signed for Leicester City, where he made 137 appearances and scored 10 goals, before moving on loan to the Grecians, before signing a permanent deal at the club. He has so far made 61 appearances during his time at Exeter City.
Stanley and Exeter have met on 14 previous occasions, with the Grecians holding the upper hand with eight wins to five for the Reds.
City have won the last three meetings between the sides, including a 3-2 win at the Store First Stadium in December.
Stanley’s last win at St. James Park came in the Conference winning campaign of 05/06 when two goals from Gary Roberts and one from Rommy Boco gave them a 3-1 victory.
The Grecians have had a disappointing season so far, currently sitting in 16th place in the League Two table. They have so far won five, drawn five and lost nine of their 19 home league matches so far this season.
They’re unbeaten in their last three and have beaten Fleetwood and Plymouth on their last two outings.
Stanley re unbeaten in their last three games after beating Morecambe and drawing with both Plymouth and Dagenham & Redbridge.
James Beattie’s men are 18th in the League Two table, three points from the top half and six from the relegation places.
Beattie has the same squad to choose from as for the game at Dagenham in midweek, with Laurence Wilson likely to be out for another of couple of weeks with a groin problem.
Young striker Marcus Carver has suffered medial ligament damage in his knee and is likely to remain sidelined for the foreseeable future.
Exeter Top Scorers
Tom Nichols 6
Scott Bennett 5
Elliot Richards 5
Liam Sercombe 5
John O’Flynn 4
Stanley Top Scorers
Peter Murphy 9
Kal Naismith 9
Lee Molyneux 6
Kayode Odejayi 5
James Gray 4
Danny Webber 3
George Bowerman 3
The Man in the Middle
Oliver Langford (West Midlands)
This Season: 30 games 65 yellow cards 4 reds
Last ASFC Game: 26/11/13: ASFC 2 Fleetwood 0
The Ground
The club have played at St James Park since forming in 1904. The current capacity of the ground is 8541, and the clubs record attendance is 20,984 which was set in the FA Cup against Sunderland in 1931.
Website
Admission Prices
Ticket info can be found by clicking the link – MORE INFO
