INSIDE THE BOARD
Paul Farley is one of the directors at Exeter and has been ever since the Trust took over. There are currently 8 directors at the club, half of which are trustees as well.
"I joined in 2003 when the club went bust. It's quite often the case with supporter owned clubs; they arise in controversial circumstances. We bought the majority shares from the previous owner".
Since Exeter were relegated, they remained in the Conference for 5 years before being promoted back to League 2 and immediately gained another promotion to League 1. In the meantime, the club had bought itself back onto its feet thanks to the work of the Supporters Trust and Farley is under no doubt that the takeover by the Trust is why Exeter exist as they do today.
"We are a thriving business now. There is a view in football that you need to have a rich owner, like in the Premier League. For us there was no model because we're older than all the others".
He i fully aware though that football is a results game, and that will affect how the fans feel towards the board or the club in general.
"Some are happy, some aren't happy. Football is all about results, its a strange
game. if we lose games people care, I care!"
Exeter City don't have a chairman but a man called Julian Tagg is currently acting within the role. Tagg is another Exeter figure who was instrumental in the takeover of the Club by the Supporters Trust.
"There is no one in charge, the fans own it on a daily basis. Click on the video to the left where Tagg talks about the Club's ambition and role of the fans.
Exeter cannot go above their limits; it just cannot happen being trust owned. But that cannot stop them from being ambitious.
"We want to play in a higher league, I want to be in the bloody Champiionship", exclaims Farley.
"Since I've been here, we've been to Wembley twice. We were playing Bournemouth and Swansea only a few years ago. We've never been above the third tier of English football. It would be great if this club was in the league above and the league above that, but it's not a god given right that we should be there."
Tagg echoes Farley's thoughts.
"The aim is the Championship but its is going to take longer. We have to be patient, we can't throw money at it and take chances like the others do. If it goes wrong there's nobody backing it up so we can't be frivilous with the money so we have to be patient. Yes we are forced to sell on good players to generate a lot of our income, but so do other clubs", he emphasises.
Listen to the audio clip above where I ask director Paul Farley about how the Trust has changed the club but also how he feels the club are recognised