Caldwell ‘upbeat’ ahead of new league campaign

THE wait is over. Exeter City kickoff their 2025/26 League One campaign this afternoon with a testing trip to newly-promoted Doncaster Rovers (KO 3pm), and manager Gary Caldwell says his side are fully prepared for the challenge that lies ahead.

- DANIEL CLARK

After a positive preseason, including an eye-catching win over Championship side Swansea City, the Grecians boss says the mood in the camp is upbeat, but admits the real tests begin now.

If you pay attention to anything that the pundits have to say, then it could be a season of struggle for the Grecians. Gabriel Sutton has City getting relegated, the NotTheTop20 Podcast has Exeter finishing rock bottom. And pretty much everyone else has City in the lower reaches if not the relegation zone itself.

Caldwell, though, is paying no attention to what the so-called experts may think. City have finished mid-table three years in a row, and if they survive a fourth successive season in League One, it will be the longest spell at this level since the seven seasons between 1977-1984.

“At the start of a new season there's that hope and expectation of what could happen,” Caldwell said. “But as we know, League One is a long, tough season. There will be highs and lows and we have to be ready for all of it — and it all starts on Saturday with a really difficult away game at Doncaster.”

Having won promotion as League Two champions, Rovers come into the campaign with momentum, belief, and a partisan home crowd behind them, a combination Caldwell knows will make for a challenging opener.