Exeter City usually only play pre-season games in the south west and, as per usual, this year sees them in such exotic places as Dorchester, Clevedon, Mangotsfield United (only one Man. Utd, hey?). But in a break with tradition this year they also played three games abroad, touring Norway. There is - honestly - a branch of Norwegian Grecians who make regular trips to Exeter to watch their team. Damned glory hunters!
Pre-season are never terribly serious games, more about getting back to match fitness and fitting in new players. This year the third game of the tour took "relaxed" to new levels!
With the score at 1-1 after 70 minutes, both Exeter City and Follese made 11 substitutions each. Exeter included manager Paul Tisdale and coach Rob Edwards in their new line up. Follese, in a tremendous gesture between the two clubs, withdrew their footballers in order to play the last twenty minutes with a combination of Norwegian supporters of Exeter City and some of the fans that had travelled from England to follow their team on the tour.
At Exeter the fans are proud to chant "We own our football club." The bond between club and fans could hardly be better illustrated. I suspect that no other club would do this. Only at Exeter City...
Thanks to Mike Blackstone for bringing this to my attention through his blog.
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