Exeter City are one of the most successful fan owned clubs in English football. Supporters were forced to take over when the club slipped into the National Conference with debts approaching £5million.
Chairman John Russell and vice chairman Mike Lewis were later jailed for fraud.
On the latest episode of the ‘Where’s The Money Gone?’ podcast, supporter Julian Tagg - now club president - tells me and co-host Charlie Methven “there was no ‘white knight’” coming to save the club.
He admits that after taking over, “I'm sat in the office and I'm looking around thinking, ‘I have no clue what to do here.’
“You know, we've never run a football club. The learning curve is massively steep.”
But learn they did. After rising two divisions, Exeter are now consolidating their place in League One, and enjoying their best attendances for 60 years.
You can listen and subscribe to every episode of the ‘Where’s The Money Gone’ podcast here.
Adrian Goldberg is writing ‘Where’s The Money Gone?' - A Football Finance Odyssey’.