Grecians emerging from a crazy Christmas

Happy new year to you all! It’s been a busy time at St James Park over the festive period with a truly mixed bag of results, some great wins, some close calls and some crazy stuff, and if you were there for the Crawley game, then you’ll know exactly what I mean about crazy!

What a match we had to beat Oxford United 3-1 in the FA Cup. Two brilliant goals from birthday boy Demi Mitchell and a third from Vinny Harper sealed the result for us against the Championship side.

It was four goals in the last four matches for Demi, which is truly deserved after being out of the game for a year following his injury last season. We always knew what a great player he was and the way he has trained to get back to fitness makes these goals all the sweeter.

The spectacular win means that, for the first time in 44 years, we have made it to the fourth round of the FA Cup, when we’ll be entertaining Premier League team Nottingham Forest at SJP.

What an achievement for Gary and the lads, and just as importantly the whole club; the staff who work so hard to stage matches week in and week out, the volunteers who give up their time, and of course, you, our supporters!

You’ve got to dig back into the memory banks to remember to the last time we reached the fourth round – back in 1981 – back to the days of shoulder pads and acid wash jeans (I wore it well you know…) when we beat Leicester City, eventually going on to be knocked out 2-0 by the eventual winners, Tottenham, in the quarter finals.

It’s also an opportunity to show it is possible to do things differently when it comes to our unique ownership model. There’s no doubt about it, we are original.

The only club totally run by its supporters and again we are finding a way through the difficult world of football, still managing to progress. The game against Forest is a match to look forward to, and to hear the Big Bank in full cry will be amazing – just wait to see them ‘lift off’!

And of course, the financial benefit will be huge for any club, but for us these kinds of rewards are our lifeblood, and you can be sure any financial rewards will be invested in opportunities both on and off the pitch to help ensure continue that progression in all aspects, from the Academy to the community and the club as a whole.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be for the Exeter City Women who lost to higher league Sunderland in their FA Cup game, but it was a valiant effort against a very good Sunderland side. Next up in the league for them is the match against Billericay Town on February 2.

Back to the men’s team and the league, which is where Gary and the squad are focused. We currently sit at 16th with some more big games on the horizon, including the long trip to Peterborough on Tuesday, January 21 and then back to SJP for the matches against Blackpool on the 25th and Leyton Orient on the 28th.

Look forward to seeing you there – Up the City!