Football Season Guide

The Grecians head into another season looking to go head-to-head with several of the big clubs in League One. Gary Caldwell has spent the last two seasons building the club in his image. He inherited a newly-promoted side from predecessor Matt Taylor and improved on a solid 14th place finish in 2022/23 by climbing one spot in 2023/24. The last campaign wasn’t without its trials and tribulations but they came through it and can now build for another challenging campaign. They are one of the few sides who remain under Trust ownership, and it has provided the foundations to get this far. It does mean however that Caldwell must work with meagre resources compared their divisional rivals. There have been three notable departures, one of which was expected. Midfielder Luke Harris returned to parent club Fulham after impressing whilst on loan. The loss of both versatile defender Zak Jules and midfielder Tom Carroll will perhaps be more keenly felt. Caldwell has seemingly moved away from blooding as many youngsters from their successful academy, albeit midfielder Jake Richards could be the exception to that rule and will be hoping this is his breakthrough season. Goals are likely to be a problem for City, with striker Millenic Alli linked with a move away despite having yet to show his credentials in front of goal. The next step ought to be a top-half finish but taking the strength of the division into account; this will be extremely challenging and ensuring they’re playing League One football again has to be their primary objective.