Manchester City 10-1 Exeter City, Saturday 10th January 2026

Manchester City 10-1 Exeter City, FA Cup 3rd Round, Etihad Stadium, att. 50,705

It's the FA Cup and Exeter are drawn at Man City. Surely Mr Badman, an old Grecian mate from London now living in Swansea, is up for it? And, incredibly, it’s a 3pm Saturday kick-off (handy, since I know my own team won’t be playing till Sunday or Monday). Yes he is. But he misses out on the away end. How do Exeter sell out 7,800 in no time? No worries, I’ll sort tickets for the home end. City keep pestering my partner (who’s on their mailing list) to buy tickets for a Premiership game v Brighton, but Exeter tickets never make general sale. I guess this is due to the Grecians’ ability to sell out, while Brighton, midweek, can’t.

So, it befalls on Chris to go on the secondary ticketing market, not a market I’m familiar with. And some bloke with 4 season tickets isn’t interested in seeing his team score double figures, and tickets are procured for the pair of us plus Chris’s son and his mate...a Man City fan from Swansea who’s never been to a Man City game. There’s the problem with modern football right there.

Wisely, Chris parks in Stockport and gets a train into Piccadilly and we meet in the Piccadilly Tap. While we chinwag, the kids (who’re old enough to drive) go and discover Manchester. Hopefully they can return with some spice and a story to tell. (They don’t, but they enjoyed the wander. I wish I’d told them to visit Afflecks Palace. Next time.) Then we set off for the Etihad, via the canal. And we have to get there early, cos Kai wants a look around the (enormous) club shop. Obligatory scarf bought (off a market stall outside...the club shop was too expensive), we head inside.

Despite (for Man City) the unappealing nature of the game...home to 3rd tier opposition…there’s still a massive crowd at the ‘Emptihad’. Presumably loads of folk like us, away fans or tourists infiltrating the home ends. There’s not many spaces and the official crowd is over 50,000. They’re in for a treat.

Our seats are on the front row, by the corner flag, opposite end to the away fans. And when Exeter do score, we do indeed stand up, cheer and applaud wildly. But then again, it IS the goal of the game, a 20 yard screamer into the top corner. It’s just a pity the home side are already 9 (nine) goals up.

It is BRUTAL. With an xG (expected goals) of 2.24, and only ten shots on target, the Sky Blues hit double figures and I couldn’t blame the Exeter keeper for any of them. Mind, it doesn’t help that two are own goals. The Premiership side’s finishing is simply out of this world. Debutant Semenyo (signed midweek for £65m...Exeter obviously had them worried) scores one, creates havoc and wins MOTM. There are 10 different scorers, as yet more brilliant players come off the bench. Just as I expected the goals to dry up as the subs came on, it got worse for Exeter. Yet the one player they prevented from scoring was...Erling Haaland! So that’s one victory.

The atmosphere was expected. A few chants from Exeter (‘Is this a library?’) tailing away as the scoring increased, while I only heard a City chant at nine-nil. Was it the promise of double figures got them going? (It got me going; I’ve never seen double figures, though I have played in some!) It was best summed up by a child in the bogs at full-time telling me ‘we haven’t scored this many since we beat Salford 8-0 last season’. What will this kid’s life be like when Man City start failing?

It’s not been a great day for The Badman, but I’ve enjoyed myself, that’s what matters most. (Sorry Chris). And the kids enjoyed themselves. How many people can say they’ve seen their team win 10-1 every time they’ve seen them? It is Exeter City’s biggest ever defeat and we were there.

The Damage
£30 ent
£14.40 train
= £44.40