TT PREVIEW

Steve Harris – @steveharris84

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MATCH DETAILS

Match details: Torquay United vs Exeter City

Competition: Pre-Season Friendly

Venue: Plainmoor, Torquay

Date: Friday 25th July 2025

Kick-off: 7.30pm

EXETER CITY FACT FILE

Year founded: 1901
Nickname: The Grecians
Last season’s league finish: 16th in League One
Notable honours:        
Division Four/Division Three/League Two champions: 1989-90

MANAGER – GARY CALDWELL

Former Scotland international Gary Caldwell was appointed as Exeter City manager in October 2023, following Matt Taylor’s departure to Rotherham United.

Caldwell started his playing with Newcastle United, but after failing to break into the Magpies’ first team he joined Hibernian in 2004. His form for Hibs earned him a move to Celtic in 2006 and he won all three domestic trophies (the SPL, the Scottish Cup and the Scottish League Cup) before moving to the Premier League to sign for Wigan Athletic in 2010. He was part of the Latics’ squad that shocked Manchester City to win the FA Cup in 2013; he was an unused sub, but he lifted the trophy together with playing captain Emmerson Boyce.

In addition to this, Caldwell was also capped 55 times by Scotland and scored twice – including the winning goal in the Scots’ 1-0 win at Hampden Park against France during their qualifying campaign for Euro 2008.

As a manager, Caldwell was appointed as Wigan manager in April 2015 and was unable to stop the Latics from being relegated to the Championship at the end of the 2014-15 campaign. However, under his guidance, Wigan bounced back to win the League One title in the 2015-16 season.

After a poor start to the 2016-17 campaign, Caldwell was dismissed by the Latics before he was appointed as Chesterfield manager in 2017, but was unable to prevent the Spireites being relegated from League One at the end of the 2016-17 season. Nevertheless, after a poor start to the 2017-18 campaign he was dismissed by Chesterfield.

A spell in charge of Partick Thistle followed before Caldwell had a brief stint as Under-23’s manager at Newcastle United. He then returned to Hibs as assistant manager under his former Celtic and Wigan teammate Shaun Maloney, a post which he held until Maloney was sacked in April 2022 following a Scottish Cup game semi-final defeat to city neighbours Hearts.

Since he was appointed as manager of the Grecians in 2022, he has led the club to successive mid-table finishes, 14th in 2022-23 and 13th in 2023-24.

PLAYER PROFILE – JOSH MAGENNIS

After starting his career as goalkeeper, Northern Irishman Josh Magennis switched to playing up front and went on enjoy a successful career with Cardiff City, Aberdeen, Kilmarnock, Charlton Athletic, Bolton Wanderers, Hull City and Wigan Athletic.

Internationally, Magennis has represented Northern Ireland at Under-17, Under-19 and Under-21 level before progressing to the senior squad, who represented in Euro 2016. He was also on target in Northern Ireland’s 3-1 win over Greece, which ensured their qualification for the tournament.

PLAYER STATS – Position: Striker, DOB: 15/08/90, Height: 1.88m, Previous Club: Wigan Athletic

League 1 Stats 24/25: Appearances: 40, Goals 6, Assists 2, Yellow/Red Cards 3/0

OLD BOYS

Torquay: James Hamon, Jordan Dyer, Dan Hayfield, Matt Jay

Exeter: None

LAST MEETING

Tuesday 30th July 2024 – Torquay United 2 Exeter City 2

A rousing second-half performance earned Torquay United a credible 2-2 draw against Exeter City at Plainmoor. On the hottest day of 2024, United were caught cold inside two minutes, when Josh Magennis rattled home the loose ball after a low cross had caused mayhem in the United box.

The Grecians were rewarded with a second goal five minutes before half-time, Jack Fitzwater heading home from a corner. Austen Booth cleared off the line to complete a difficult first period but the Gulls were vastly improved after the break. Reward arrived on 82 minutes, when a delicious free-kick from Omar Mussa was headed into the net by Jordan Dyer.

United then delivered a late leveller, as Fitzwater failed to deal with a Brad Ash cross, heading past his own goalkeeper for a 2-2 draw.

TUFC SUMMER TRANSFER BUSINESS

In: Monashe Sundire (Tamworth), Louis Dennis (Bromley), Callum Dolan (Fleetwood Town), Sonny Fish (Crawley Town), Jordan Thomas and Sonny Blu Lo-Everton (Yeovil Town), Matt Worthington (Oldham Athletic)

Out: Dean Moxey (Tiverton Town), Offrande Zanzala (Chester FC), Lirak Hasani (Truro City), Brad Ash (Bath City), Ben Seymour (Taunton Town season-long loan), Omar Mussa, Oscar Threlkeld, Finley Craske

COYY – STEVE

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