Manchester City will not offer Exeter extra money from Saturday’s third-round FA Cup tie. The financially troubled League One club revealed this week they had asked the Premier League club for a greater proportion of the gate receipts as a “statement of solidarity”.
Exeter, whose supporters’ trust is the club’s majority shareholder, will take 8,000 fans to a sold-out Etihad Stadium to face the seven-time FA Cup winners. Each club gets 45% of gate receipts, with the other 10% taken by the Football Association, in line with competition rules. It is estimated ticket sales will generate between £250,000 and £400,000 for Exeter.
On Wednesday Exeter’s supporters’ trust published a statement, reposted on the club’s X account, which said: “In recognition of Exeter City’s supporter-ownership model and the financial realities faced by fan-owned clubs, the club have written to Manchester City to ask whether they would consider voluntarily transferring a portion of their share of the matchday gate receipts to Exeter City … It would have a tangible impact on their finances and would stand as a strong statement of solidarity with sustainable, fan-owned football.”
Manchester City have seen the request but will not be changing the standard policy for Exeter, who have been owned by the fans since 2003. This season Exeter have made two rounds of redundancies and required £600,000 in loans from the supporters’ trust to help stabilise finances. Exeter’s home ground, St James Park, sustained about £100,000 of fire damage in November.
The game has not been selected for TV coverage, meaning Exeter will miss out on a potential windfall, and replays are not part of the competition from the first round proper, cutting off another potential avenue for additional income.
