Exeter City can retain pride despite irritating academy record loss: View | OneFootball

Exeter's run of having an academy player in the starting XI has ended, but there's still plenty of reasons to be optimistic about City's kids.

Highlights

So, in the end, it was 479 and out for Exeter City’s amazing run of consecutive matches with at least one home-grown player in the starting XI.

It was one of those things that was just expected, we didn’t really even notice it until it was in jeopardy.

No one can tell you when the 100th, 200th or 400th game was. We took it for granted, but what an achievement it was.

All good things must come to an end and City fans can’t say they weren’t warned, with boss Gary Caldwell hinting last season that the streak was likely to be over soon enough.

It started way back in January 2016, and we saw at least one City academy graduate in the club’s starting XI for almost 500 consecutive games until last Saturday’s excellent 2024/25 season-opening 1-0 win over the well-fancied Rotherham.

While every City fan loved the record, the fact that we could win against one of the better sides in the league without any home-grown kids was reassuring and is, perhaps, a sign of the progress the club is making.

And, let’s be honest, there were times last season where it felt like Caldwell was shoehorning players into the starting XI just to keep the run going.

Caldwell conscious of Exeter's academy record

He’s admitted it was playing on his mind, and maybe he’s decided to rip the plaster off early doors so he can focus on getting the Grecians a top-half finish and maybe even more this season.

“It is a thing I was really worried about for a long time and there were occasions when we were on the brink, and this weekend we find two players injured,” he admitted, via Devon Live.

“The dilemma for me was do, I put one in to keep the run going or pick what we think is the best team for the game?

“Our academy players have to earn the right to play and that is getting harder and harder as the club is progressing.

“We have to develop players and get into the team as soon as possible, that is something I am big on, and we have seen in pre-season a little glimpse of the next generation who aren’t ready now but in 18 months might be.”

Injuries and departures contributed to record ending

Injuries to the current crop and several top talents leaving St James Park over the last 12 months or so hasn’t helped the streak’s long-term prospects and, in the end, meant the run was doomed.

“We had two on the bench and one came on the pitch but we are in a difficult moment as with Sonny Cox injured, Jake Richards injured, we only had Pedro [Borges] and Cheick [Diabate] to pick from,” Caldwell continued.

“It is a blow for me that the run comes to an end but all good things must come to an end at some point and now it is about the next run.

“We have academy players in the squad, and we hope the next generation get there quickly as we have sold and lost a lot of academy players which have been no fault of mine or the football club as we did everything to keep them.

“It is important the next batch work hard, we have got Dan Green back to try and influence that and their learning, and we will still continue to get as many in the team.

“It has to be winning first. We can’t just do it as something we do, they have to earn the right to be in the team.”

Exeter City still have lots of good young players

Of course, some fans are angry and disappointed that the run has come to an end but Caldwell is 100% right in his assessment there.

Would you really rather see Cheick start but City to lose? Of course not. As much as City fans loved the record, it’s one that has to be earned and not just handed out.

With City moving on up in the footballing world season by season, it’s naturally harder to bring your young players through, but the future is still bright.

Borges looked great in a roaming No.10 role during Tuesday's poor exit in the Carabao Cup at Walsall on penalties and, hopefully, Sonny Cox and Jake Richards can join him in carrying the torch for years to come.

There’s also the likes of keeper Harry Lee in the pipeline, while 17-year-old midfielder Liam Oakes made his full debut in defeat during the week.

Irish midfielder Charlie Cummins was on the bench, as was academy graduate Ed James, though neither got on as Exeter lost control of the game.

The Grecians are slightly in transition at the moment with so many new faces in the squad and the better young players like Archie Collins and Josh Key having left last summer and Alex Hardridge and Harry Kite heading for pastures new at the end of the 2023/24 campaign.

While it might take a while for one of the kids to establish themselves in the new-look starting XI, the fact we can just easily reel off five who might be the next is reassuring and means the next triple-digit streak could be on the horizon. Just don’t expect it to start this season.