Exeter City F.C.

Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. Founded on May 1, 1901, the club has played its home matches at St James Park throughout its entire history. Exeter City currently competes in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, having gained promotion from EFL League Two at the end of the 2023–24 season. The club is owned and operated by its supporters through the Exeter City Supporters' Trust, a community-ownership model widely praised for its sustainability and deep roots in local civic life.

Exeter City holds a distinctive place in football lore for an early overseas tour in 1914, when it became the first club to play against the Brazilian national team in Rio de Janeiro. That fixture forged an enduring connection with Brazilian football and a lasting partnership with Fluminense FC, with whom the club exchanges youth players and coaching staff. For most of its existence the club has competed in the lower tiers of the English game, experiencing the ups and downs of promotions, relegations, and the financial challenges common to smaller clubs. Its fan-owned structure has helped the club weather difficult periods and maintain a strong bond with its local community, making it a proud, well-supported club with a rich heritage and distinctive identity.[edit]

Exeter City was formed in 1901 following the merger of two local sides, Exeter United and St Sidwell's United. The club turned professional in 1908 and was elected to the Football League in 1920 as a founding member of the Third Division. Its most famous early achievement came in 1914, when Exeter City undertook a tour of South America and, on July 21, played the Brazilian national team in Rio de Janeiro – the first match in the history of the Brazil national side. The game ended 2–0 to Brazil, but the fixture forged a lasting bond between the two clubs; in 2014, Exeter City returned to Brazil for a centenary friendly against Fluminense, and the club maintains a formal partnership with that Brazilian side.

The club has spent the vast majority of its existence in the lower divisions of English football. It was a founding member of the Third Division in 1920 and remained in the third tier until 1958, when it dropped into the Fourth Division. The club yo-yoed between the fourth and third tiers for decades, with occasional flirtations with the second tier. It reached the third tier again in 2009 under Paul Tisdale, spending three seasons in League One before being relegated in 2012. After a period in League Two, the club won promotion back to League One in 2022 and again in 2024, and currently plays in the 2024–25 EFL League One season.

Exeter City's trophy cabinet is modest but includes several notable honours: Football League Fourth Division champions in 1989–90, EFL League Two play-off winners in 2017, and automatic promotion from League Two in 2021–22 and 2023–24. The club's highest ever league finish was 8th in the old Third Division in 1950–51. Its best FA Cup run came in 1931, reaching the quarter-finals, and it has twice reached the EFL Trophy final (2000 and 2011), losing both.[edit]