The Exeter Chiefs – An Introduction

By IanB
July 28 2010

The 2011 season will see some new blood introduced to the Guinness Premiership. After beating Bristol in both legs of the Championship Play-off, Exeter Chiefs have earned the right to compete in England’s top flight, and to play in Europe for the first time in their history. But just who are The Exeter Chiefs?

The Exeter Rugby Club was founded as far back as 1871, some nine years before the Tigers, and the first recorded Exeter match goes back to October 1873.

Originally playing in a white strip with a black bar across the chest, Exeter changed their colours to all black following a huge loss to the New Zealand All Blacks in 1905. This fixture was played against a Devon side at Exeter’s County Ground, attracting a crowd of 6,000.

Over the years, Exeter has provided international players to England, not least a lock named Thomas Kelly who captained England to a 19-0 victory over France in Paris 1908.

When rugby turned professional in 1998, the home strip was changed to Cambridge Blue as Exeter was rebranded as The Chiefs. Their away strip is predominantly white.

Since then, The Chiefs have continued to build year on year, reaching the finals of the Powergen Shield / EDF Energy Trophy on four of the seven seasons between 2002 and 2008.

Powergen Shield:

2002 - Losing finalists to Rotherham by 35 points to 26.

2003 – Losing finalists to Orrell by 26 points to 20.

EDF Energy Trophy:

2007 – Losing finalists to the Cornish Pirates by 19 points to 16.

2008 - Losing finalists to Northampton by 24 points to 13.

In summer of 2006, the club moved to its current home, Sandy Park and after significant investment the capacity of this ground now stands at 10,094.

Getting to Sandy Park looks fairly straight forward as there are good bus and rail links, and to encourage supporters to get to the ground early and to stay on after the game the club provides pre and post match entertainment to spread the load of traffic on local roads. Beer prices are also reduced between noon and 1:30 on match day, and also after the match to 6:00! Let’s hope that they carry plenty of stock on match days next season!!

By car, the venue is located adjacent to junction 30 off the M5, but with no on-site parking, drivers are directed to two local park&ride car-parks, just a short walk over the A379. There is limited disabled parking at the ground, but contact about booking a space the club before committing.

Finally, congratulation to the Exeter Chiefs on their promotion to the premiership, and I would like to send a very warm welcome to the team and supporters. I am sure that we are all looking forward to visiting Sandy Park and sampling some West Country hospitality, and I hope that you enjoy your trips to the premiership grounds across England and throughout Europe in the coming seasons.

The Exeter Chiefs – An Introduction

Posted by: TheLeicesterTigers.co.uk (IP Logged)

Date: 28/07/2010 11:02

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