Exeter City Football Club (nicknamed ‘The Grecians’) are an English football club, based in the historic city of Exeter in Devon, who were members of the Football League from 1920 to 2003, and again from 2008 when they rejoined after five seasons in the Conference National. Exeter City FC was formed in 1904 from two predecessor clubs: - Exeter United F.C. and St Sidwell's United. The new team took the name Exeter City and continued to play at Exeter United's ground, St James Park, where Exeter City still play today. City made an historic tour of South America in 1914, during which time it played 8 matches against teams from Argentina and Brazil. The Brazil national football team is believed to have played its first ever game against City on 21 July, at the Laranjeiras stadium, Rio de Janeiro, home of Fluminense Football Club. 'Your players are clever in dribbling and fast', the Exeter trainer said at the post-match banquet, 'but their weak point is that they are individuals and each try to shine above their fellows. They will never achieve real success until they recognise that it takes 11 men to score a goal'. Exeter City was invited by the Football League to become founder members of the Third Division in 1920. City's only major trophy was the Fourth Division Championship which they won in 1990. In 2003, City finished 23rd in Division Three and were relegated to the Nationwide Conference as a result - the first club to suffer automatic relegation without finishing bottom of the league. The Supporters' Trust took over the management of the club, succeeded in stabilising City's finances and consolidating their position in the National Conference. In May 2008 Exeter reached the play-off final where they beat fellow former-League members Cambridge United, to regain their Football League status after an absence of five years. On a dramatic final day in May 2009, City clinched promotion to the next level, League One. They were relegated from Divison One at the end of the 2011-12 season and, having lost play-off finals in 2017, 2018 and 2020, they gained automatic promotion to League One in 2022.