Former Exeter and Swansea defender recalls the relegation season
In an exclusive interview with matchday programme The Grecian, former City skipper Chris Todd discusses the relegation season of 2002/03 which went down to the wire on the final day.
Swansea City, Todd’s hometown club, were the ones alongside Exeter that were vying to retain Football League status on the last day of the season. Despite winning the final three games of the season, it wasn’t enough for the Grecians to avoid making the plunge into the Conference.
Todd revealed that despite having been weaned into footballer as a young lad on the terraces at Vetch Field, where he also began his playing career, he was as committed as the rest of the squad in trying to keep Exeter afloat at the expense of the Swans.
He did, however, concede that the blow was slightly tempered on a personal level that it was Swansea, rather than any old club, that had kept their position in Division Three.
“Swansea are my team, but at the time I was playing for Exeter and so I wanted Exeter to stay up and Swansea to go down,” Todd told The Grecian. “That’s just the way of life, where you have to look after yourself.
“We did everything we could to get Swansea relegated. But eventually they stayed up, but maybe it made it a little easier because they were my home team.”
Toddy’s full interview is featured in Sunday’s edition of The Grecian, where he talks about his move away from his boyhood club and moving to Devon, the final weeks of the 2002/03 season – and he gives his verdict on the Swansea City side of today.
Also in The Grecian is match action from last time out at home against QPR, news from the Supporters’ Trust, Red Army and Football in the Community, a look back to this summer’s Feniton tournament, a classic match between the Grecians and the Swans as reported by the Express & Echo, and your chance to get a digital teamsheet of the starting XIs through the QR code on the rear of the programme.
The Grecian will be on sale around the ground for just £1.50.