Richard Logan spent five years at St James Park having joined from Weymouth in 2007.
He went on to score 48 goals for the club as he turned himself into a fans favourite at City in a career which began with Ipswich Town. Following his departure from Ipswich he went on to represent the likes of Boston United, Peterborough United, Shrewsbury Town and Lincoln City before he was signed by Paul Tisdale when the Grecians were playing Conference football. Logan went on to help the club to back-to-back promotions before he departed in 2012 for Wycombe Wanderers.
SIMON LARKINS caught up with the former Grecian to discuss some of his Exeter City first, best and worst moments…
First...
...senior appearance
My first senior appearance was against Wolverhampton Wanderers. That was when I was at Ipswich Town when I was 16. George Burley was the manager and I remember getting called into the squad. When I got told I was on the bench I was obviously very happy, but also a bit scared and nervous. I only came on for the last five minutes of the match but it was a game that was on Sky Sports and I had a couple of touches that weren’t too bad, but to make your debut at that age it was a special moment. It was a great atmosphere at Wolves away. They had a big crowd there and it was an amazing feeling.
…days at City
I joined Exeter City from Weymouth but I can’t remember my first appearance (a 1-0 win over Woking) for the club because I was there so long. There was myself, Steve Tully and Lee Elam who all moved across from Weymouth. Steve and Lee went over first from Weymouth and I said to them ‘any chance of getting me over there?’ and they said ‘yes, come over for a week’s training’ and then a signed until the end of the season. So, I have to thank Tully and Lee because they are the ones who got me over there and Paul (Tisdale) gave me a chance. It was good to have the familiar faces in the dressing room that I recognised and in the second half of the season we did really well. Obviously, we lost in the play-off final to Morecambe that season. That was a bit gutting, but after we lost that final Paul called me the next day and told me they weren’t going to keep me. I tried to beg and plead. I said I didn’t care about the wages and in the end he came up with something and I stayed. That was good that I did and I got that opportunity because we did very well over the next couple of seasons. We got promotion back to back, which was great.
…goal for City
I don’t really remember many of my goals for Exeter. I do remember one I got against Morecambe in the first few weeks I was there, though, as it was a screamer. I remember going to celebrate with Jamie Mackie because I felt he should have been in the team and when I scored I ran over to him.
Best...
…goal for City
The goal against Morecambe was probably the best technically, but the one that meant the most to me was the header against Torquay United in the play-off semi-final at Plainmoor. The scores had been levelled up until then, and Wayno (Wayne Carlisle) cut back onto his left foot and delivered a great cross and I did what I normally do and got my head on it and it was great with all the fans there. You know playing with Wayne what he is going to do. He used to take one touch and then just whip it in, so you have got to be in there. It was good for me because I was good at heading so I knew what was coming. I knew what he was going to do because we were on the same wavelength. In that match, we had to be strong mentally, after going behind. I think they (Torquay) thought they had won the tie when they scored the first goal, so to get that goal and to get to Wembley was the best goal for me. It is the one I enjoyed the most. We had a lot of good players in that team with the likes of Ryan Harley and Rob Edwards. That run Rob did for our first goal – Ryan’s goal – he ran through about four players. When we scored that goal I think we had the belief that we could just keep going. They looked like they were tiring and we just kept playing, kept passing the ball and we got our rewards from it.
…player you played with
When I was younger, I didn’t play a lot of games with him, but it would have been Kieron Dyer. Later on in my career, though, it would be Stanno (Adam Stansfield). His work ethic was brilliant. He used to give everything. At Exeter, I learnt that you have got to work hard and Stanno was where I got that from. He was one of those players who would always give 110 per cent. He would go above and beyond. He’d be doing some of my running for me. I always look at someone like Stanno when I think of the good players I played with. He was a good friend of mine and I really looked up to him. If it wasn’t for him, I probably wouldn’t have had the years that I did at Exeter. He prolonged me staying there as well. The Exeter City fans really appreciated him for that work ethic as well. He was one of those players that didn’t care about the wages he got. If you only paid him £1, he would do the same thing. He would just run, and run and give everything. They will never forget him for that and neither will I.
…piece of advice you've been given
When I was at Exeter, I wasn’t lazy but I wasn’t working hard enough. I was just going through the motions. Paul (Tisdale) got hold of me and said, always keep on the move. I realised that I had to keep on the move even if it doesn’t happen just don’t stop. I think Paul is probably one of the best coaches I worked under. I worked under George Burley and Joe Royle at Ipswich but I think Paul should manage at a higher level as the years go on because the detail he puts into the sessions on the other teams was brilliant. He would know everything about the opposition and we would always have a game plan. His training was immense as well, with keep ball sessions and two vs twos. All the possession stuff he used to do. He is the real deal. I think if he wants to move, he could definitely manage at a higher level. He is, without doubt, one of the best managers I have worked with.
Worst...
…decision given against you
I got a booking at Wycombe thanks to Cheggars (Exeter City photographer, Keith Stone). Cheggars told me to come over to him if I scored, but when I went over to him he pulled me into the crowd and I got a yellow card for it. He owes me a few beers for that as well because the fine came out of my wages, I didn’t have much left that month. In fairness, he did apologise and offer to pay my fine but I said don’t worry about it. We still stay in contact and have a little bit of banter about it. Other than that, I can’t remember too many decisions. I was a bit of a hustle and bustle player. You just get on with it as a big centre forward, you realise you are going to get knocks. You just got to get on with it.
…defeat
I would say the Morecambe game when we lost in the play-off final at Wembley. I really thought we were going to go up that season and all my family were there. They all think you are going to win as well and all your best mates have come to watch. So to lose that, it hurt a little bit. We were all gutted as a team after that and to get back on the coach on the way back you know the season is done and you haven’t made it and you have got to go again next season. That was a tough loss for us. However, we had to pick ourselves up and I think it fired us up for the following season when of course we did go up.
…half-time rollicking
That was against Curzon Ashton in the FA Cup. I struggled in that game against their left back. He just bullied me and I couldn’t get past him. I think going into the match I thought it was going to be an easy game and at half-time we were 3-0 down. Paul (Tisdale) gave me absolute pelters and I got subbed at half-time. That was probably the worst I have ever had from Paul at half-time. I was never that lazy again, thinking that it was going to be going away to Curzon Ashton on a cold Saturday afternoon. Paul is not known for his half-time rollickings. He is usually quite calm. He usually just talks and pulls you to one side and tells you what you can do better. So that was the first time I have really seen him go crazy at me. I wasn’t used to that so I knew I must have been having a shocker. It maybe happened a few more times but that is the one I remember the most. I still talk to the lads about it now, Curzon Ashton away.