Today, the Club will be revealing the unique new third shirt at the final friendly game of pre-season against Coventry City.
For one season only, and to celebrate 20 years of supporter ownership, the Exeter City Supporters’ Trust will be the front-of-shirt sponsor for the third kit.
Nick Hawker, chair of the Supporters’ Trust, said: “When we were planning activities to celebrate this incredible anniversary of supporter ownership, last year we decided to do a range of things, all of them with our community – our supporters – at the heart of them. Front-of-shirt sponsorship was just one of the many activities which we agreed to undertake across a whole year of celebration.
“Through this sponsorship we want to demonstrate how a supporter-owned club can be sustainably and successfully run and we know people will wear them with great pride in their club.”
Nick added: “We randomly selected 20 Trust members who have been members since before the Trust purchased the Club to receive this year's third shirt to thank them for their long-standing membership and to celebrate the longevity of our fan ownership.”
Speaking to the Supporters’ Trust after receiving the new third shirt, John Middleton recalls the early days of the Trust: “I felt that if a few of us could give a little bit of money each week, it might help the club to survive. I think the rest is history and I’m proud to have been part of that for over 20 years now.
“Everybody pulling together has now helped to achieve where we are sitting today. I feel a part of the fabric of this place now.”
Another of our winners, Gordon Walker, said: “Being connected with City and with my son being part of the Red Army, I wanted to help preserve that for future generations. What it is today, it's very precious. You're proud as you're part of something big and [which] provides so much to the community and so much enjoyment to people.”
David Knowle, who has supported the Club since the 70s, said: “As time has gone on with the Trust we can see that the Club is much more stable. [Being Trust-owned] you feel more involved, proud of what it is.”
Adrian Shand recalled how close the Club came to disappearing prior to the Trust takeover: “The thing that lives with me so long is that twice I thought I'd seen Exeter City’s last ever football match. While we keep this model running, we know that we're always going to see another match and next season.
“[Being Trust-owned] means that I can take genuine pride. To be part of that family and [have] that feeling that, actually, what you contribute and what you do does make a difference.”
The third kit will feature red shorts and a black shirt featuring the Exeter City crest and the ‘The Trust – We Own Our Football Club’ emblazoned across the front.
To celebrate the shirt launch the Club are also staging a competition to win tickets to today’s Coventry game. There are 20 pairs of tickets to give away – all you have to do is head to John Lewis in Sidwell Street between 12pm-1pm today. Six members of Exeter City squads, Andrew Cutting and Stacey Davies from the Exeter City Para Sports team, Manfy Sharpe and Jess Sandland from Exeter City Women, and two players from the men's team will be wearing the new kit – snap a selfie and be in with the chance to win a pair of tickets. All of the competition details can be found here.