Exeter’s request for the Premier League club’s share of the money contravened the competition’s rule 233,
Stuart James Print Sports Editor
08:37, 29 Jan 2026
Ed Turns of Exeter City, Jake Doyle-Hayes of Exeter City and Luca Woodhouse of Exeter City applauds fans following defeat in the Emirates FA Cup Round 3 match between Manchester City and Exeter City at The Etihad Stadium on 10 January 2026 in Manchester, England (Photo by Steve Taylor/PPAUK)
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Ed Turns of Exeter City, Jake Doyle-Hayes of Exeter City and Luca Woodhouse of Exeter City applauds fans following defeat in the Emirates FA Cup Round 3 match between Manchester City and Exeter City at The Etihad Stadium on 10 January 2026 in Manchester, England (Photo by Steve Taylor/PPAUK)(Image: Steve Taylor/PPAUK)
Exeter City have been rapped across the knuckles by the Football Association for the letter that was sent to Manchester City requesting their share of the gate receipts, or a portion of it, from the recent FA Cup clash between the two clubs
In the build-up to the game, the Supporters Trust issued a statement in which they said: “In recognition of Exeter City’s supporter-owned 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.”
A crowd of 50,705 – just under 5,000 short of capacity – witnessed the Citizens winning the tie 10-1, a new record defeat for the Grecians, but the low pricing of tickets for the game - £15 for adults and £10 for concessions – meant Exeter’s hopes of a welcome significant boost to their finances didn’t materialise. However, they still pocketed £180,000 from the tie, but that unbudgeted income was consider-ably less than the £400,000 they hoped for, or the £1 million generated from games against Manchester United back in January 2005.
Exeter’s request for the Premier League club’s share of the money contravened the competition’s rule 233, which states: “A club must not enter, or attempt to enter, into any agreement with another club under which their obligations under these competition rules regarding the sharing of net gate receipts may be varied or amended.”
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Chairman Richard Pym told a recent Fans Forum that the average price of a ticket for the game was £12.50, but added that the suggestion the club had written to the Citizens was “fiction.” The Supporters Trust have since removed the statement from their website, but it seems the FA are aware of correspondence from the Grecians and have acted accordingly.
An FA Cup official said: “The FA Cup is unique in that net gate receipts are shared by the competing clubs. Sharing gate receipts equally maintains the integrity of the competition, and we contacted Exeter City to remind them about our rules.”
Exeter City were asked for a response by WMN Sport on Tuesday morning but as of Thursday morning had not provided a response.