April 28, 1990, remains one of the finest days in Exeter City's history as, on the back of an incredible home record, we secured our first title in our club's history. During this month we will be taking a look back - in alphabetical order - of the main players in that title winning side. This time we look at a reliable and versatile player who made 20 appearances during the title winning campaign.
KARL GODDARD
DEFENDER
89/90 LEAGUE APPEARANCES: ONE
Top marks to anyone who remembers Karl Goddard's contribution to the title winning campaign, as the young defender only appeared for the briefest of moments in a City shirt.
Born in Leeds, the Yorkshireman began his career as a youth player at Manchester United, just years before the class of 92 made that particular academy famous.
Despite featuring for the England Schoolboy’s, Karl did not make the grade at Old Trafford, and signed for Braford City in the summer of 1986, going on to feature in 73 league matches for the Bantams.
Joining a number of other loan signings, Karl teamed up with the City squad in December 1989, and made his one and only appearance against Torquay United at St James Park on New Year's day.
To be fair, it was a good game to have featured in, as St James Park saw its highest attendance for seven years when 8,154 spectators packed the stands to kick off the decade with a Devon derby match.
The headlines after the game simply read ‘City, You’re Brilliant’ as the Grecians cruised to a 3-0 victory thanks to goals from Jim McNichol, Darran Rowbotham, and Clive Whitehead.
Less was naturally said in the report about Goddard’s cameo. Coming on as a substitute in the 78th minute for Ian Benjamin, Karl made his brief contribution to the cause in a game that was described by the Express & Echo reporter, Trina Lake, as ‘men against boys’.
Soon after Karl moved on to Colchester United, where he featured in 16 league games, including the April meeting with City at Layer Road, which means that he joins Mark Cooper in the list of players who played both for, and against, our champions.
This article has been created using material from the Grecian Archive and ECFC Museum as part of the 'Celebrating our Heritage' programme, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and supported by the University of Exeter.