Exeter City issue statement and Matt Taylor speaks after club's relegation to League Two

Exeter City issue a statement and interim manager Matt Taylor speaks after the club’s relegation to League Two at the weekend.

Saturday saw the Grecians the fourth and final team to be relegated, their four season stay in League One coming to an end, following a 2-1 defeat against Bradford City.

It’s been a season of struggle, and now the financially troubled fan-owned are set for ‘drastic’ squad cuts, Taylor, who has won just one of his 13 games in interim charge, the club also with just one win in their final 20 games, seeing Exeter go from 10th place in January to the relegation zone in May.

“I think it’s the most simple retained list because we can’t afford to offer the contracts needed to get these players to commit to Exeter City,” Taylor told BBC Radio Devon.

“That’s no reflection on anyone else, especially not the players – that needs to be said and needs to be put on record.

“It will look quite drastic in terms of the numbers who are leaving us, but that is just circumstance and that is where we are right now in terms of committed costs.

“The six loans go back naturally, and we wish them all the best and thank them for their service, but there are players who will unfortunately leave us who, in a different moment in time, we would have liked to keep.

“I’m devastated. It’s gutting, every emotion you expect. That’s what comes with relegation and the run of form we’ve been on for too long a period of time.

“We were short today against a very well-drilled, very strong, experienced opposition and it felt like we were chasing that from the first 10 minutes of the game,” he added.

“The whole week and the whole prep has been about a certain type of feeling, a certain type of start to the game – we never once got them on the back foot.

“It was ourselves on the back foot and maybe that played a part in our use of the ball which was as worse as it’s been.

“Pressure does things to you as a player, as a human being and I think we certainly felt that.”

More from him further down in the article…

Exeter City said in a statement, per the club website: We are disappointed that Exeter City Football Club has been relegated to League Two.

Thank you to our supporters for your unwavering loyalty, patience and understanding during a challenging period for the Club. Your backing has truly made the difference to the team this season.

Despite a spirited fight to the end, a difficult run over the last couple of months ultimately proved costly. Injuries to players and the disruption following the departure of Gary Caldwell and a number of key backroom staff have contributed to a 21st-place finish, just inside the relegation zone and a couple of points short of safety.

We know this is not where we want to be. We accept this falls short of many supporters’ expectations and we feel as disappointed as you.

Going forward we continue to improve the governance of the Club, with both boards of the Supporters’ Trust and Club working closely together to ensure long term stability in an increasingly challenging football environment. We continue to explore all of the options available to us to increase our playing budget for the coming season.

We are progressing the appointment of a permanent first team manager and once negotiations are complete, we will announce this in the coming weeks.

Thank you to Matt Taylor, Dan Green and Kevin Nicholson for their commitment to the Club. We are grateful to them and to every player who has pulled on a City shirt this season. We look forward to seeing those who are staying with us next season and wish the best of luck to those who are departing the Club.

Our focus is now an immediate reset. Working together we will learn from this season. As a Club we continue to be committed to our vital Academy, and it has been fantastic to see our younger players signing new or extending contracts in recent weeks. This summer will be a time of rebuilding as we strengthen the squad for the future.

There are also positives to recognise across the Club. Exeter City Women have had an excellent second season in the FA National Women’s League Southern Premier Division, finishing seventh following their victory in the game against Gwalia at SJP last Sunday. Congratulations to Abbie, the squad and the staff and volunteers who support this team. We are very grateful to them for their commitment.

In addition, we are grateful to the incredible work carried out across the county by our partner charity, Exeter City Community Trust, who are delivering vital health, wellbeing and education activities every single day.

Thank you to all of our committed staff across St James Park and the Cliff Hill Training Ground, all of our wonderful volunteers and our generous sponsors.

Finally. To our fans. As a supporter-owned club, we recognise the responsibility we hold to you. You are everything to this Club – thank you. We now reset and move forward together.

Exeter City interim Manager Matt Taylor’s said, as per the club website:

Interim manager Matt Taylor said, as per Devon Live: “We don’t want it to be spoken about as a season of struggle, but it’s not a promotion winning squad in League Two with where it will be at the back end of this week,” Taylor said when asked if next season would be a season of struggle.

“It isn’t. And to be honest, we probably expect to have offers or movement in the market for some of our players who have done well this season. We’ve got to make sure, and everyone involved, we’ve got to make sure the club can survive first and foremost, and that’s not just on this moment of relegation.

“That’s on the back of what’s been fed out for the last 12 months, because I think there’s been a little bit of an understanding that there’s been no knowledge of how long we can last in this capacity. So we’d have to find a way of being, you know, survive, being sustainable, and then off the back of that, then growing again.”

On Jayden Wareham and his future at Exeter after already being linked to leaving this summer: “The club won’t just be able to say that goes straight into the playing budget because the money is running out and there’s no one else to come.

“We’ve had such a good flow of money for such a long period, not just in terms of on the pitch in front of us, but in terms of ones elsewhere, like (Matt) Grimes and (Ollie) Watkins, and (Jay) Stansfield, there’s been money, money, money coming in for such a long period of time. But there’s no more for that.

“And even on the pitch, as much as we’ve like Ed James, and Chaz (Charlie Cummins) I know, to a certain extent, they’re not sellable players right now. I don’t think they are and that’s no disrespect to them.

“They could be in the future, but right now, probably post Jayden Wareham, where are the next assets coming from? They’ve got to come from within and they’re going to take time to build.”

On if 2026/27 could be similar to that during COVID with a squad with youngsters being thrown in earlier than planned: “Absolutely that. It’s not easy to do, and we were strong enough to be competitive in the league in that season towards the right end of the table.

“I’m comfortable with it, because I’ve seen it work before, and this probably is better equipped than any other club to be able to do it, but it’s gonna be difficult. Partly because I think the current young group are a little bit behind where they or it should be or have been previously. That strength from below has been so strong in terms of numbers and output. Right now it just needs a little bit of a booster.

“But within that there’s I think a simplicity. Because we can’t go out and sign X, Y, Z players, we can’t get the loans we directly want, so it’s gonna be needs must, and when it’s as simple as. COVID was painful for us, but we came out of it stronger.”

Here’s how fans reacted as Exeter City issue a statement and Matt Taylor speaks after the club’s relegation to League Two…

@tomjcmorris: I hate all of these players. Two wins in nineteen would have been enough but they couldn’t manage it. Fuck off all of you #ecfc

@_JoshDenham: Who’d have thought that being shagged for 10 by Man City on those idiots big day out at the Etihad would have lead to 1 win in the final 20 league games and not giving an ounce of a fuck from January until the end of the season? Spineless, pathetic bastards. #ECFC

@aviewfromthbank: Very poor display considering the circumstances. The first half in particular very poor. Brierley omitted again, the one player who can get on the ball and dictate the game. Oakes exposed at right back, just not big or strong enough to deal with the Bradford threat. #ECFC

@proudbutnot: Absolute bollocks of a statement. So many things wrong here. Last year we trusted in change for the trust board yet from outside looking in NOTHING is or has changed

@Lee_Rob19: That reset should include getting rid of the trust board! Idiots!!

@UKREST0RATI0N: Your immediate focus should be sacking the board and a finding a buyer for the club. Frankly you’re all a disgrace. If you spent as much time focusing on the team than all your poxy social media posts we’d be in a much better position than we are now. #1winsincejan #sacktheboard