MOMENT IN TIME: EXETER, NATIONAL LEAGUE 3 CHAMPIONS 1996-97
SPECIAL REPORT BY NEIL FISSLER
Exeter had just achieved one promotion from Courage League Division 4 and, as the game was going professional, they planned to win a second promotion within three years.
In June 1996, they launched themselves into the professional age offering £1,000-plus per man to their first team squad just to keep up with other clubs in the county who were paying players. Little did anybody know that within 11 months, they would be claiming a second successive title and celebrating promotion to the second tier – and it was a far cry from when Andy Green first joined.
Green was the leading scorer in the promotion success with 300 points and said that it was all thanks to the hard work of John Lockyer and Bob Staddon, who built the foundations for the club it has now become.
“They grabbed hold of the club when I first went there six or seven years before we were first promoted,” Green told The Rugby Paper. “They could see it really going downhill quickly, so they got in some local players – me, Andy Maunder and Richard Gibbins – and gradually built a nucleus around that. But it was a seven or eight-year project, it wasn’t just an overnight job. When I first went there, Exeter were losing to Okehampton and Torquay, and they hated us. Plymouth Albion were the top dogs, but we gradually turned the corner.”
Alongside a strong local base, Exeter could draw on another resource nearby – the armed forces. The Royal Marines had a camp at nearby Lympstone.
It meant a ready supply of players such as Bob Armstrong, a Colour Sergeant, a legendary figure in Royal Navy Rugby who for many years played the most inter-service matches – 31 from 1989 until 2004. Armstrong played for the Combined Services against the 1993 touring All Blacks while other Marines like Iain Dixon and Del Cross were also actively encouraged to play for the club.
“I left Bristol because I was based in Exmouth at the time, and it was one hell of a trek going up there four times a week, and I had four years of doing that,” said Armstrong. “I had England trials with the South West of England but didn’t quite make it, so I thought I would concentrate on my Royal Marines career. Then the game went professional.
“So, because of my age, I thought do I leave the Marines and try and go professional in rugby? I thought I’d stay in the Marines but I could have gone out on Saturday and broken my leg, and that would be the end of it. I stayed in the Marines, and I’d like to think that I made the right decision. Throughout the 90s, I played twice a week, on a Saturday for Bristol or Exeter. And then I’d play for the Navy or the Royal Marines on a Wednesday.
“You could pass on your experience to the not-so-good players who were playing for the Royal Marines or the Navy, and they would get better for the Inter-Services Championships,” he adds.
Exeter were ambitious and knew that promotion to the second tier would bring in more money and allow them to start attracting better players. But it wouldn’t be easy. Leeds were spending large amounts on players while Fylde, on the west coast of Lancashire, were also ambitious and ready to spend large amounts on wages.
The 1996-97 season started well for Exeter winning their first four games, but they lost 33-24 at Leeds, followed by reverses at Flyde 26-11 and Morley 19-9 to leave them fourth in the table.
They were impressive at home but things didn’t improve on the road losing 36-10 at Rosslyn Park and 15-12 at Harrogate – but all that was about to change. Green kicked a last-minute penalty to beat Leeds 26-25 which sparked an unbeaten 14-game run that would chip away at Leeds and Flyde and put Exeter in a strong position to challenge for the title.
“We got on a run and we were terrified of losing,” says Green. “I know what that sounds like because every team doesn’t want to lose but we just did not want to lose! And, collectively, we hung in there.
“It was after Christmas when we got on a roll. We won a few games, that we shouldn’t have won and that always makes a difference. We were in the bubble.”
“It was after Christmas when we got on a roll. We won a few games we shouldn’t have”
Armstrong adds: “We just crept up on everybody. They weren’t expecting us. We had aspirations to get promoted, and we thought if we could keep on going, we could get promoted.
“So, it was always in the back of our minds. We just kept going and believing in ourselves. We went to these games knowing we could win. We would get ourselves into the positions, Andy would get us the points and we won games. We just needed to win it.”
After winning 13 matches on the trot and with their rivals watching on having finished their season, it came down to the final game of the season at Reading.
Backed by 500-600 travelling fans, Exeter made their way up the M5 and M4 knowing a win would break northern hearts, but Reading didn’t read the script and took the lead before Exeter stormed back to win 13-3.
“When we went to Reading, we still had a lot to do. We knew what it meant. There weren’t many foregone conclusions in that league,” says Green. “Reading were always a tough old outfit, and we would never underestimate them. But we knew what we had to do and went out and did it.
“When we ran out on the pitch it was like a home game. The only difference was that the pitch wasn’t three inches deep in mud like the County Ground! It was a good dry day and Sean Doyle carved his way through and scored a try. I kicked a conversion from under the posts, and Jon Fabian kicked a couple of penalties.”
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
BACK ROW
Mark Woodman: Wing, who is a builder in Crediton.
Lee Thorpe: Fly-half, who is working for Howmet Aerospace in Exeter.
John Adams: Flanker, who is an optical sales agent in Crediton.
Nick Southern: Flanker, who is a Devon and Cornwall policeman.
Joff Rowe: No.8, another policeman in the Devon and Cornwall force.
Iain Dixon: Royal Marine back row runs an occupational consultancy service.
Leon Incledon: Prop, works at Pearce Construction in his native Barnstaple.
Keith Brooking: Prop, an engineer at SWComms and is now coaching at Exeter College.
John Colburn: Lock, who is living and working in Somerset.
THIRD ROW
Les Budd: A physio who served in the RAF.
Richard Hales: A physio who worked with the Royal Marines.
Polly Evenett: Is a physio near Exeter.
Phil Sluman: Prop, who is now a fibre planning manager for Wildanet.
Graeme May: Scrum-half, who is contract manager at MPK Steelwork & Cladding.
Wayne Reed: Prop, is a coach development officer for the Cornwall RFU.
Jamie Sussex: Prop, is a bricklayer in the Devon building trade.
Paul Nixon: Centre, is a builder in Crediton.
Mark Rose: Utility back, is executive principal at Dawlish Federation of Special Schools.
John Lockyer: Exeter committee man, worked as a training officer in Torquay.
Roy Henderson: Joint team manager was a painter and decorator.
Keith Hatter: A schoolmaster who retired to Torbay.
SECOND ROW
Bob Statton: A retired school teacher and Chiefs president.
Mike Dalton: Worked as the Chiefs’ commercial manager.
Sean Doyle: Full-back, is engineering director at SWComms.
Roger Hutchinson: Back row, works in behaviour management for the West Country schools trust.
Marcus Webb: Centre, has been a publican, restaurateur and property developer.
Jim Hudson: Lock, is a Barnstaple-based builder and property developer.
Bob Armstrong: Royal Marines No.8 now on the maintenance staff at Lympstone.
Mark Curry: Second row, is a Devon-based school teacher.
John Batchelor: Back row, is trust head of technologies at The Castle School.
Del Cross: Royal Marines lock, then became a fireman.
Jon Fabian: Full-back, is a tutor and rugby coach at Exeter College.
Lee Martin: Is now living and working in Dorset.
Paul Westgate: Coach, now the University of Nottingham coach.
John Williams: Worked as an accountant in Exeter.
FRONT ROW
Dr Bob Moody: Medical advisor was an Exeter GP.
Andy Turner: Centre, is the director of the ladies’ clothes shop.
Tug Wilson: A Royal Marine, coached Sidmouth until his death in February 2012.
Jason Thomas: Centre, is running a chain of restaurants.
John Baxter: Chairman, a farmer who is the father of Rob and Richard.
Rob Baxter (Below): Lock, a farmer and is now the Chiefs’ director of rugby.
John Roache: A Crediton farmer who served the Chiefs as president until he died in 2002.
Andy Green: Fly-half, is now running a lettings agency.
Steve Williams: The managing director of Exeter accounting firm Sheppard Rockey and Williams.
Richard Gibbins: Prop, a farmer, runs Granny Gibbins Eggs in Poltimore, Devon.
Tony Rowe: Is now Chiefs’ chief executive and chairman.
Adrian James: The statistician is living in Exeter.
INSERTS
Simon Dovell: Winger, a Combe Martin building surveyor.
Bobby Greenham: Joint manager was deputy head at Ladysmith School.
Andrew Maunder: Scrum-half, a butcher whose sons Jack and Sam played for the Chiefs.
