Football Season Review

It was déjà vu for Exeter City as they suffered the heartbreak of defeat in the play-off final at Wembley for the second season in succession. Manager Paul Tisdale led his side to Wembley in May 2017 but were beaten 2-1 by Blackpool to miss out on promotion to League One. A repeat certainly looked unlikely having lost the influential attacking trio of David Wheeler, Joel Grant and Ollie Watkins by the end of August. 17-year-old defender Ethan Ampadu also left to sign for reigning Premier League Champions Chelsea. Tisdale made some crucial additions on the last day of the transfer window; most notably striker Jayden Stockley and he made an immediate impact with the side spending five weeks at the top of the table having won seven of their opening league matches. They were unable to maintain that form however and won just three of their next eleven games. Consistent performances in the second half of the campaign saw them challenge for automatic promotion but defeat at Stevenage on the penultimate weekend of the season meant they had to settle for a place in the play-offs. The Grecians claimed a deserved 3-1 aggregate win over Lincoln City in the semi-finals but proved to be no match for Coventry City as they were beaten 3-1 in the final at Wembley. It will be a painful defeat and is likely to herald the end of an era with Tisdale set to leave the club after 12 years in charge. He has been working out a two-year notice period since November 2016 and despite having since been offered a new contract is expected to end his reign at St James Park. His legacy is likely to continue with the emergence of yet another impressive young talent in centre-back Jordan Storey whilst goalkeeper Christy Pym was ever-present between the sticks. Jayden Stockley was their outstanding performance; finishing as leading goalscorer with 25 goals and was voted player of the season.

Player of the Season: Jayden Stockley