While not outwardly appearing to be a beacon of hospitality, the Exeter City F.C. steward seen above is, to me, all that’s right with the English footballing fan experience. And I have the (WebMD) water bottle to prove it.
I showed up at Exeter City for their local derby with Plymouth Argyle about 75 minutes prior to a noon kickoff. Not late, but also not particularly early. The grounds were already buzzing with activity, as it’d been 10 years since the two Devon clubs last met (and it might be another 10 until they do again, given that Exeter nearly finished top of League One, while financially-strapped Plymouth is on its way down to League Two). My ticket was not available at the ticket window, so I had to go in to reception to fetch it. This meant I had to go through security, which was being handled by the gentleman above. He searched my bags as I was traveling with all of my luggage, and flagged my metal water bottle. “Can’t take this through, sorry,” he said. I had no problem with that and offered to throw it away in the nearest garbage bin. “No worries, I’ll take care of it,” he said. So off I went to fetch my ticket and watch the match.
Some three hours later, well after the match had ended (I stuck around inside to watch some end-of-season tributes the club held, as well as comb through the club shop), I fetched my luggage and made my way back out of the grounds. As I was leaving, the security guard pulled me aside and gave me back my metal water bottle. Not a huge deal, but certainly something that wasn’t required of him; and on the home side’s biggest match of the season. I thanked him profusely and, obviously, snapped the photo you see above. So while he might be wearing the serious visage of a steward hard at work, know that he just very well may be the gentlemanly embodiment of English footballing hospitality.
******
The steward’s friendly demeanor was only the tip of the orange practice cone when it comes to what went right with my day spent at St. James’ Park in Exeter. Where to begin? Well, the atmosphere itself was exactly what I’d hoped a local derby would feel like. The grounds were almost completely full (I might have counted about 15 empty seats in all of the sections surrounding me), with about 1,600 away fans and 6,400 home fans. Songs were being tossed back and forth across the pitch, and the mood was a spicy mix of celebration and aggression.
There was a very tense moment within the first few minutes of the match, as a few Plymouth fans had somehow managed to procure tickets within the home stand. They were found out when seen cheering for the road side, and immediately all of the fans around them became livid and flagged down security. The stewards came rushing over, the fans started going ballistic at them, and the Argyle supporters, who bore a great resemblance to the Gallagher brothers of Oasis fame, were whisked away aggressively. Yes, they take the home and away seating rules very, very seriously at these matches.
The play in the match itself was sublime. Plymouth gave a very strong effort, and it could be argued that they probably deserved a draw for their efforts (amazing that this almost feels like a side note, but Exeter won the match, 1-0). Exeter City, however, is a gem of a lower-league club when it comes to playing style. Exeter’s stylish scarf-and-beret-doffing young manager, Paul Tisdale, is apparently firm in his belief that in order for his team to succeed, they need to play skilled, attacking football, not a direct, booming style that seems to be the approach favored by so many lower-league sides. One of the club’s administrators that I spoke with even compared him to Arsene Wenger, in that shares the same devotion to beautiful football.
Tisdale’s squad reflected this belief. He’s got skilled, speedy players all throughout the lineup, and watching his team play quick, darting football is a sheer joy to behold. While I left Friday night’s Torquay-Chesterfield match absolutely certain that any MLS squad would have no problem dispatching with either of the League Two sides, I’m similarly as comfortable saying that the Grecians (Exeter’s nickname) would likely challenge for an MLS title were they thrust into the league and forced to spend a season mixing it up stateside. I don’t see many of our own teams being able to contain the skills possessed by Tisdale’s side.
One player in particular who stood out was attacking midfielder Ryan Harley (above). The redheaded No. 7 was positively captivating with his skill on the ball and his vision in attack. The 26-year-old Harley is on loan from Swansea — only after spending four years with Exeter; he was allowed to return for this season as he wasn’t playing a prominent role with the Welsh club — and should Swansea manage to get promoted to the Premiership, I wouldn’t be surprised if he earned some minutes in England’s top flight next season.
But as you can probably tell, I could go on about the match for another 1,500 words. So here are a few more scattered thoughts from a wonderful day spent in the South of England.
– The home fans showed a tremendous sense of humor on the day (a trend I’m noticing here in the jolly, old). After one Plymouth cross went well wide and over the goal line, an Exeter fan who had just come back from the concession stand ran at the lofted ball as if to head it aggressively back onto the pitch. He purposely came up well short of the ball, letting it fly over his head, and then walked back to his seat laughing and waving, much to the delight of the crowd.
– Other than Harley, Plymouth’s Yannick Bolasie reallly stood out for the visitors. The 21-year-old Congolese winger was quite a handful for the home side the entire match, and really seems poised to make some noise at Europe’s highest levels. Watch out for this kid. Amazing pace and moves when on the attack.
– As a horrible hack of a defender in college, I love watching skilled back-line players closely while watching top-tier football. Saturday’s match didn’t disappoint, as Exeter’s Troy Archibald-Henville showed great skill and composure for the home side, while Plymouth’s Karl Duguid had arguably the move of the day (for me, at least). With a ball bouncing erratically in his team’s penalty box, Duguid just gave it a quick backheel clip over his shoulder and out of danger. It was easy to miss and I’m probably not doing the move justice with my description, but the grace and ease with which he made the move left me speechless.
– The entire home stand behind the goal is a non-seater affair. Just felt like pointing this out; the stand was packed, it seemed safe, and it really added to the atmosphere. I loved it.
– After Exeter sticksman Artur Krysiak made a boneheaded move on picking up a ball after chesting an intentional backpass from one of his own players, he later apologized to the home stand after Plymouth’s free kick was doused. Gotta love those crazy Polish goalkeepers.
– All plastic bottle caps are removed from sodas at concessions in England (or at least at the matches I’ve attended). I’m not sure if they do this in the states as well, but I’m guessing it’s done to prevent people winging them on the pitch in anger.
– My favorite shared chant (“shared” meaning you hear it at multiple grounds and doesn’t belong to just one club) is the “Let’s go f**king mental!” chant. Really gets a rise out of me. I want to start bouncing and swinging my arms with the young lads. Some day.
– Exeter named a Dutch fan as the team’s fan of year. The guy evidently flies over for 12-15 matches a year, and has been doing this for the last decade or so. After attending today’s match, I can relate. I would love nothing more than to hit another match at St. James’ Park.
