Exeter is the County town of Devon, as it has a Cathedral, although Plymouth has a far richer past.
I believe the rivalry stems from their envy of our heritage, our port, our city and of our club. However they do have the advantage of the motorway, of their airport and of the Exeter Chiefs.
I have an Exeter supporter as a mate, who always puts Argyle down when he can. I let it go over my head. Argyle were always a bigger and better club than City. We were always bottom of the second/top of the third and they were predominantly in the fourth, and there were many times when we didn't meet but had a division dividing us, but recently they appear to have cemented their place in the third division.
They have never been in the second division. They have standing (not the safe standing version), which immediately puts them in a lower league to begin with. Their capacity is minimal. They are a tinpot Club, pretending to be something they are not.
As we slowly went downhill in the years after Holloway, we found ourselves in the third and fourth divisions, we played them a lot of times, and I think this is where the true rivalry came into its own. There were times when City were the better team (not the better club) and they were then able to say they were the best in the West, and they were quite right, they were.
They had their bad times too. In the 1990's they had rogues in charge of their club that syphoned off money, got found out and went to jail. The club got into great financial difficulty but the supporters were able to buy the club, put it into a Supporters Trust and they still do own it. However, they do not own their own ground and they cannot borrow, but they put their profits towards improving their Academy.
It has been their saviour, apart from the FA Cup games against Manchester United, which wiped out their debts big time. Their Academy has been very successful, partly due to the malaise of our club in those dark days when we had to sell all our best players to survive.
However, that is all in the past, and our future now seems assured with the arrival of Simon and Jane Hallett pumping money into our club. Owners that City have vowed never to have again, but to remain as a supporter owned club, which is why they will never be able to follow us up the table. They will never have the money to do so.
I believe that there were times when rivalry flared up, but only when we were both in the same division. Both clubs have been on the brink of extinction, and have braved the rise from the ashes, but Argyle will always be the bigger and better club, regardless of where City are, and Devon will always be green.
