Exeter City’s pre-season friendly schedule taking shape

Exeter City have announced a series of pre-season friendlies ahead of their second season back in League One. The Grecians will be travelling around the South West as part of their preparations before they can look forward to a rare home game at St James Park as part of those preparations.

It has been some time since the Grecians have played host to a team prior to the season commencing – one that fans can watch, at least – but the plans are to host a team at the Park on the last weekend of July, with the 2023/24 season starting the weekend after.

Before then though, City will take on Tiverton Town, Mousehole, Bath City, Taunton Town, Torquay United, Bristol City, and Weston-super-Mare. Further fixtures for Gary Caldwell’s men are also set to be announced.

City will open the pre-season schedule with our annual trip to Tiverton Town on Friday, July 7. The match, which kicks off at 7pm, will take place at the Ian Moorcroft Stadium/

Tivvy finished 12th in the Southern League last season, with a squad that featured several Grecians loanees including Ed James. Last season, City named three separate XIs over the 90 minutes and were beaten 2-1, in a match that was delayed due to issues on the M5.

Then City will head to west Cornwall for their second pre-season fixture of the summer, facing Mousehole. The match will take place on Tuesday, July 11 at 7pm at Trungle Parc, Mousehole and will be part of a two day training camp for the Grecians in Cornwall.

Mousehole won the Western League last season to become only the second Cornish side to reach the Southern League. City have links with Mousehole with assistant manager Kevin Nicholson, a former manager of the side in 2018-19, helping to arrange this match.

Next is a trip to Bath City on Saturday, July 15, with a kick off at 3pm at Twerton Park. Bath City finished 11th in the National League South last season and provided a stepping stone for Sonny Cox’s break into the City first team, with the young striker scoring five times in 19 matches for the Romans during a loan spell.

City last faced Bath in summer 2021, when the Grecians ran out 4-3 winners on a scorching evening at Twerton Park and Sam Nombe (2), Matt Jay, and James Dodd found the back of the net.

Then City will face Taunton Town in a pre-season fixture on Tuesday, July 18, with a 7.45pm kick off. Taunton Town finished 22/23 strongly in their debut National League South season, securing a fantastic 14th place finish with six wins from their final ten matches.

In last summer’s friendly, City ran out 2-1 winners in a game that burst into life in the final 15 minutes. Tim Dieng’s free-kick opened the scoring, before he won the game late on following a Taunton leveller.

For the second year in a row, Exeter City will then head to Plainmoor to take on Torquay United in a pre-season friendly on Saturday, July 22, 3pm.

The Gulls had a difficult 2022/23 National League campaign, suffering relegation to the South after a final day defeat to Wrexham, and will be looking to rebuild in the sixth tier next season.

Last summer, the home side won 1-0 in City’s final friendly before the start of the League One season thanks to Brett McGavin’s strike, in a match where United keeper Mark Halstead won plaudits for several unbelievable saves.

This is then followed by a double-header on Tuesday, July 25. To start with, the Grecians will take on Bristol City at 1pm at their Robins High Performance Centre before playing a second pre-season match on Tuesday evening at Weston-super-Mare.

The clash against the Robins will be played behind closed doors, as was the one last summer, when City drew 2-2 at the same venue with goals from Alex Hartridge and Josh Coley.

The Grecians will then travel to the Optima Stadium to face Weston-super-Mare in a 7:30pm kick-off. Last season, City won 5-0 at Weston thanks to four goals from Sam Nombe and another from Alfie Pond. Several former Grecians currently ply their trade with the Seagulls, including James Dodd and Reuben Reid.

Confirmed pre-season schedule:

• Tiverton Town – A – Fri 7 July, 7pm
• Mousehole – A – Tues 11 July – 7pm
• Bath City – A Sat 15 July – 3pm
• Taunton Town – A – Tues 18 July, 7:45pm
• Torquay United – A – Sat 22 July, 3pm
• Bristol City – A (Behind Closed Doors) – Tues 25 July, 1pm
• Weston-super-Mare – A – Tues 25 July, 7.30pm

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