Early Exeter

PLYMOUTH Argyle’s 2013-14 clash with Exeter City on August 16 is not the first time the sides have met this early in the season...

...and the Pilgrims do not have the greatest record when playing our rivals in late summer.

The game will be Argyle’s first home game of the season and will be the 99th competitive meeting between the two Devon sides.

Back in the late 1960s and early 1970s the sides played each other eight times in the League Cup, with the first occurring on August 13, 1977, where a 2-2 draw at St James’ Park resulted in a replay.

Obviously, games were not settled by penalties during this time and the large amount of games were a result of replays.

Of the eight games played in this period between the Pilgrims and the Grecians, four were drawn and the other four were won by Exeter.

In fact, the only win Argyle have had over Exeter in August was in 1985, when the Greens won 3-1 in a Milk Cup tie.

The most recent match played in August was in 2011, when the Grecians claimed a home win over the Pilgrims in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy, winning 3-1 after a penalty shoot-out.