Well, we all survived the inaugural International Matt Taylor day on Saturday, when Matt Taylor’s Exeter City met with the other Matt Taylor’s Walsall at St James Park.
It was even recognised by BBC Breakfast, whose weatherman happens to be called, yes, you guessed it, Matt Taylor! Despite going ahead twice, the game ended in a 2-2 draw, bringing our unbeaten run to nine.
As we know, it’s early days, and league positions don’t mean a huge amount at this stage of the season, but it’s great to see us sitting at sixth in the table - what’s even better is seeing the fans getting behind the team. We had a challenging start, what with injuries and covid, but I’m excited to see what this team can do as the season progresses.
Congratulations to our under 23s coach, Dan Green who has just completed a phenomenal challenge of 10 Olympic triathlons in 10 weeks to raise money for Prostate Cancer Care UK. Dan took on the challenge in memory of his father, who I am sure would have been extremely proud.
Each triathlon consisted of a 1500m swim, followed by 40km bike, finished with 10km run, on the last 10 Sundays. He’s already raised more than £7,800 - what an accomplishment!
Over at the Academy, there’s the pitter patter of tiny feet. No, it’s not the new under eights signing…it’s our Academy manager Arran and his wife Liv, who have recently had a baby. Congrats to the whole family, Arran was an exceptional player, coach and is now an exceptional head of our Academy and I am sure will be a brilliant Dad.
Arran’s mum was integral in the early days of fundraising in the Academy, they are a stellar family, who have long been involved with the club, and hopefully will be, for many years to come.
While I’m on the Academy, you may have seen that Ben Seymour and Jordan Dyer have both gone on loan to Yeovil for a period. Both are talented players, and this will give them the opportunity to play a really good standard of football and enable them to compete for a place in the first team. Hopefully they will benefit hugely from this, and I’m looking forward to watching a couple of Yeovil games to monitor their progress.
The women’s team will be in action at St James Park against Plymouth Argyle in the first round of the Devon County Cup at 2pm on Sunday October 17. It will be the first time the women’s side has played at the park since February 2019, so it should be a good one!
They’ve had a cracking start to the season, with 25 league goals already and are currently second in their league. Adult tickets for the game are just £5, or why not treat yourself to some hospitality, with an incredible value two course meal, plus all the hospitality and seats in the IP Office stand at just £25.
Our partner charity Exeter City Community Trust will be playing their part in the organisation of the game, including ensuring that local teams, both boys and girls, get an opportunity to attend and we’re looking forward to seeing a good crowd!
The work the charity does in the community is so vast, from running events, to holiday clubs and support for homeless people, and pretty much everything in between!
This month they’ve launched Fit Grecians, a 12-week programme based at designed to help overweight men aged between 35-65 get fitter and lead more active lives. It takes place at St James Park every Wednesday, just visit the club website www.exetercityfc.co.uk to find out more.
I know I’ve said it before, but it has been brilliant to have the fans back at matches. So, whether it’s the men’s team or the women’s, make sure you get yourselves along to St James Park – remember, the future’s bright, the future’s red and white!
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