Exmouth Town

Exmouth Town FC is a non-league football club based in the pretty port and seaside resort of the same name at the mouth of the river Exe. 'The Town' were formed in 1933, playing in the Devon and Exeter League for much of the first forty years of their existence.

The club moved into the King George V Ground in 1964 after previously playing at Maer Cricket Field and Raleigh Park. In 1973 Exmouth progressed to the Western League and winning the league title in the 1983-84 season.

In the following campaign they reached the semifinal of the FA Vase where they lost out on a day at Wembley after an aggregate defeat to Fleetwood Town. However, Exmouth bounced back the next season by regaining the Western League title.

They were relegated to the second tier in 1993-94 but bounced back nine years later at the end of the 2002-03 season. In January 2006, Town resigned their Western League place, with the reserve side in the Devon & Exeter League becoming their first team after the club was reformed.

In 2006-07 the club won promotion to the South West Peninsula League and then won a further promotion in 2012-13 from their position in Division One East. The side ended at Premier Division runners-up in 2012-13.

A league fifth place finish and run to the last sixteen of the FA Vase followed in 2016-17 under manager Andy Rawlings. He took on the job of Director of Football in June 2018 as Kevin Hill took over as team manager after the ambitious new chairman Stuart Shaw was appointed.

A league runners-up place in 2018-19 led to promotion to the Premier Division of the Western League. Yet another second-place finish, this time in 2021-22 led to promotion to Division One South of the Southern League, the highest level that the club had played at.

The team consolidated prior to a close shave with relegation in 2023-24.

Exmouth Town FC will play in the Southern League Division One South in the 2024-25 season.

My visit

Tuesday 14th August 2012

I had finished my spell of night shifts and had headed south west for an evenings stay to take in the Exeter City v Crystal Palace game in the Capital League Cup that evening. 

After checking into the Great Western Hotel by Exeter St Davids station, I caught a train for the very pleasant ride down to the coast along the side of Topsham Bay and past Exeter Chief's Sandy Lane rugby home.

After leaving the station I took the short walk along Marine Way alongside the railway line and then into Southern Road to the grounds entrance. The King George V Ground was neatly set out with a mixture of flat open grass and hard standing all the way around the pitch. 

On the far Railway Side there was a small cover on the half way line for standing spectators. The Southern Road Side had the clubhouse, changing rooms and a low seated stand in front along with several out buildings which were used by different groups.

I had a walk around and attracted the interest of the donkeys in the field behind the Town End goal. I also noticed a couple of big dogs near the stand after noticing signs for a dog school. I trod with care!

Originally I intended to head straight back to Exeter for a siesta before going to the match, but I really liked what I saw so I went for a walk through the town and down to the sea front, harbour and marina. 

It really was a pretty town and there looked to be many tempting pubs. I later spoke to a visiting Palace fan who'd spent an hour or two having drinks in Exmouth before catching a direct train to St James Park for the match.

I headed back to the station to catch a busy train back with plenty of families who'd been to the seaside before having a rest. I really liked Exmouth and I wouldn't complain about getting to a game at The Town if I was in the area again.