It’s a month into the job for our new manager Gary Caldwell and he’s certainly embraced the challenges head on. One of the first things he had to do was head down the road for the Devon derby, and then prep for games against probably the six biggest teams in the league. 

We held Morecambe to a one-all draw on Friday evening; based on our performance in the second half we should definitely have won that game, we just couldn’t get in the back of the net and it wasn’t for the want of trying! But we’ll take a point on the road. And massive kudos to the 255 fans who made the chilly 574-mile round trip up north. They’re a loyal bunch, you know! 

We had a football/rugby crossover at the Ipswich match when our guests were John Lockyer, past player and Chiefs summariser for BBC Radio Devon, alongside former team-mate and Chiefs’ director Bob Staddon. Incredibly the last time we played a league game against Ipswich at SJP, back in 1957, Bob was in the crowd with his father! 

We’re almost there with the tough run of games, just the mere small fact of Sheffield Wednesday and Portsmouth at home…I’ll see you on the other side! 

In fact, tickets are selling very fast for Saturday’s match against Wednesday with all seats sold out and a couple of hundred remaining on Big Bank, so it looks like it will be another sell-out crowd and with the Big Bank packed out and in fine voice - the Park will be banging. 

Straight after the match, we’ll be showing the England game against France in the Centre Spot - you can book tickets to make sure you secure your place, as I think it’s going to be a busy one! I asked Gary what his thoughts were on the World Cup. Apparently, he doesn’t know anything about it…something to do with his homeland not quite making it, apparently?! 

The new £3million development at the Cliff Hill Training Ground is just amazing and will provide much needed high-quality facilities for our team. To see a modular building take shape is really quite something, from groundworks to a full building in just a matter of days.  

The Supporters’ Trust’s Kit out the Cliff campaign, which has been led so brilliantly by Elaine Davis has now raised more than £55,000. We’ve tried to keep the disruption to the players to a minimum during this period. We’re lucky to have a lot of supportive business partners at Exeter City, who step up when you need them – in this case it was Greendale - who have been providing food for the players, and very nice it was too! 

Did you get along to Exeter High Street this weekend for the Santa Run? This amazing event is organised by the club’s partner charity, Exeter City Community Trust every year and seeing Santas of all shapes and sizes belting down the High Street is something to behold!  

Not only is it a great event, but it also supports lots of different charities and causes and it was good to see so many Santas out and about in town after the event – every coffee shop seemed to be full of families in Santa suits. It’s so important to support our local businesses and if the Santa Run can help support them as well as raising funds – well, that’s a win in my book. 

It’s customary to have a review in my last column of the year and suffice to say that it’s been a year of ups and downs and highs and lows – the proverbial Exeter City rollercoaster - with getting promoted the glorious icing on the (Christmas) cake. Now let’s see what the rest of the season brings, one thing I know for sure is that our fans will back us all the way. 

So, Merry Christmas and a happy new year to you all and don’t forget – and we know Santa agrees - the future’s bright, the future’s red and white!