Exeter City goalkeeper Vil Sinisalo has said his time on loan with the Grecians has been the best of his footballing career. The Aston Villa man played 50 times for City this season, with fans falling in love with the Finn, who swept the board to win six awards at Exeter City's annual awards evening.

Then aged 21, Vil joined City in July 2023, cancelling his holiday to come down after international duty. He turned up at 6am on his first day full of energy and excitement, and immediately fell in love with his new club.

After a loan spell with Burton Albion the previous season was cut short after just four disappointing appearances, Sinisalo was expecting to have to perhaps drop down to League Two to get game time this season. Instead, he made the move to Devon, and has been one of the best goalkeepers in League One.

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His spell ended in a 2-1 defeat to Oxford United on the final day of the season, which saw the Yellows reach the play-offs. The defeat, a first in ten, saw City end the campaign in 13 ^th place.

“I am kind of speechless at the moment, this has been the best year of my life, best footballing experience of my life, and I am trying to keep it together,” Sinisalo said at full-time on Saturday. “It has been brilliant. I owe so much to the football club, I love this football club, and hopefully one day, don’t know when, I can return, you never know what happens

“I had a tough year last year at Burton and only played four games and so was expecting to go down a level and prove myself in League Two but when Exeter came calling, then had a real belief in me. The gaffer gave me the platform to come and develop, and I spoke to Ollie Watkins and he had nothing but good things to say about the club, Ben Chrisene as well, and this place will always stay in my heart and nothing but good memories.

“I am 22 and want to kick on now and have a successful year next year as well. I have loved it, want to kick on, have a better year next year wherever that is, I will cross that bridge when I come to it. All I can say is thank you.

“When I first walked in the building I instantly felt the love. This season has gone even better than expected, but everything around, the fans, I have never experienced anything like it. It has been brilliant and I am very thankful for everything I have managed to experience.

“I can’t promise to be back. I want to play in the Premier League and whatever way gets me there. If it’s Championship, League One, abroad, I don’t know, and if the roads lead here then it will be amazing.”

"I think it's brilliant that a loan player can come and connect with the club like he has," manager Gary Caldwell said. "I think it shows the power of this football club, the power of their supporters - normally loan players come and they get what they need out of the loan and they go.

"I think this club is so much more than that, so I think we're a brilliant club for loan players, but the way he's bought into everything and connected with the supporters, with teammates.

"He turned up at half five at a gym at Newton Abbot and he was the first one there, after cancelling his holiday. I think that tells you everything you need to know about Vil, and I'm sure he'll go on to have an incredible career."

“Gary is a quality manager, he will look after this football club,” Sinisalo said of the Scot. “He is the best manager I have worked with football wise, and I promise you, he will take this club forward. There are not many better tactical managers about, so I want to say a massive thank you to him, he has been a pleasure to work with.”

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'We would have been in a very different place today had it not been for that game,' reflects Exeter City Supporters' Trust chairman Nick Hawker.

Twenty-one years ago, fans took over the then non-league club which had debts of close to £5m, with its future in real peril.

But less than two years later along came the FA Cup, and a run to the third round for the Devon side with an away tie at holders Manchester United.

The Red Devils played a weakened team against their non-league opponents and drew 0-0.

It ensured a televised replay with Sir Alex Ferguson recalling the likes of Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo to the starting line-up as the Premier League side went on to win 2-0 in Devon.

But the ticket money generated from the two matches, as well as television fees and associated income, wiped out what was left of the club's debts - a hefty six-figure amount even after a 10p-in-the-pound creditors' voluntary agreement.

The stroke of luck in drawing United - and then drawing with them - allowed Exeter to build the foundations for what is now a sustainable League One side.

However, the decision of the Football Association and Premier League to abolish replays means clubs like Exeter will no longer have the same chance to get a windfall against the ever-richer teams at the top of the football pyramid.

"Those FA Cup replays can generate huge amounts of money for clubs that are really struggling, and there's never been a time when clubs haven't been struggling more than they are today," Hawker tells BBC Sport on the morning after the FA's announcement.

"We know from ourselves a game against Manchester United almost certainly saved the club."

Exeter have gone on to produce players such as England star Ollie Watkins and Wales' Ethan Ampadu from an academy that is the pride of the fan-owned outfit.

They also took Liverpool to a third-round replay in 2016, benefiting from a money-spinning tie at Anfield after a 2-2 draw at St James Park, where Lee Holmes scored directly from a corner kick and Jurgen Klopp famously did a pre-game interview next to the tea ladies in a cramped kitchen that had been hurriedly turned into a media room - the very essence of what is 'the magic of the FA Cup'.

But it was the United replay in 2005 that was key.

"That was the start of it. That was the moment when you can start to believe that you can recover and you can start to plan and have aspirations," Hawker says.

"Before that, it was just real worry about whether we would survive at all.

"That Manchester United game gave us the impetus to say, 'OK, we can do this now because we don't have that [situation with] the creditors.'

"Where we are today, it's a direct outcome of that game."

The decision to abolish replays has drawn widespread criticism from sides outside the top flight with claims that the rich will get richer, while those lower down will struggle as a result.

The FA claims it will help football at all levels, with the Premier League increasing its funding to grassroots football by an additional £33m as part of the agreement.

"The FA Cup is our biggest asset," said FA chief executive Mark Bullingham.

"This new agreement between the FA and the Premier League strengthens the FA Cup and gives this very special tournament exclusive weekends in an increasingly busy calendar."

It is unclear how, or if, clubs can do anything to stop the changes, which form part of a six-year agreement between the top flight and the FA, and come in after Uefa expanded the group stages of its European tournaments.

Hawker feels plans to bring in an independent regulator for football, which are currently going through Parliament, may be the best way.

"I think if ever you needed a reason for having one this is probably it. This stretches beyond finances, this talks to our heritage as well," he says.

"I would urge all clubs and all MPs across the country to get on the FA's back a little bit and say, 'Come on, this isn't on, you can't unilaterally do this.'

"It's damaging our heritage, it's damaging the way I think that people will perceive the FA Cup, and goodness knows it's kind of dropped in value over the years anyway because of the top teams bringing their reserves down.

"Every football supporter should be writing to their MP, and every MP should be turning up at the independent regulator bill and saying clearly this needs to be fixed."

Exeter City loanee Dion Rankine has said that he has loved every minute of his time with the Grecians as his spell at the club has come to an end. The Chelsea youngster made 36 appearances for City, scoring one goal, in what was his first season playing in the Football League.

The 21-year-old has impressed in a wing-back role and made an impact on Saturday when he came on at half-time in what ultimately was a losing effort at home to Oxford United. The Grecians had fallen 2-0 down in the first half, and while Millenic Alli pulled one back, City couldn’t get an equaliser.

Oxford’s win booked their play-off spot, while City’s loss meant the nine match unbeaten run came to an end. Gary Caldwell’s men finish the season in 13 ^th place, and Rankine said that he has loved his time in Devon, and that he is unsure yet what the plan for next season for his career will be.

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“If you'd asked me, back in August, what my experience was going to be like here... I'd never have been able to say that I was going to love it as much as I have done,” he said. “I loved every minute of it really, I've got friendships that will last a lifetime.

“It's been everything I could have wanted, I've played so much football, learned so much - it's been brilliant, I've loved it... I couldn't tell you how many times I've been to the beach!"

On the game, he added: “Gary told me to just come on, try and make the biggest impact I can, get running in behind, cause problems, get 1v1 - what I'm best at really. We felt the comeback was on, had the Big Bank behind us, but it is what it is and we go again. We wanted to end on a high, we had our own motivations for today, but it didn’t go as we wanted.”

Rankine’s contribution off the bench was praised by Caldwell, who said that the team needed to recognize more that the loanee was the man who was making the difference. The manager said: “Dion was excellent and didn’t get the ball to Dion enough. It is something we can improve on, our understanding as to who will win the game. Dion was on fire.”

Mark Harris had put Oxford ahead with just 12 minutes on the clock. Cameron Brannagan doubled the lead from the penalty spot just before half-time after Will Aimson had brought down Josh Murphy.

Alli halved the deficit early in the second half when he nodded home from a corner. City dominated the second half, but couldn’t find the equalizer, as they slipped to a first loss since March 2.

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Exeter City will be looking to finish their second season back in League One on a high knowing that final day victory will ensure a top half finish. The Grecians are unbeaten in nine as the season draws to a close – with play-off chasing Oxford United, who probably need a win themselves to make the end of season shoot-out – the visitors to St James Park.

It has been a season of ups and downs for Gary Caldwell’s men. From being top of the table in the early stages, then going 13 games without a win and suffering a worst defeat in 65 years, to then picking up form in 2024 with City’s calendar year points total placing them fifth.

Not since December 1932-January 1933 have Exeter gone ten games unbeaten in the third tier of English football. But avoid defeat at St James Park on Saturday and that run will be equaled. Victory could see the Grecians finish as high as tenth, but if they claim three points, a top half finish will be secured for only the fourth time in their history since the third tier was nationalized.

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“We have hit a really good patch of form and everyone is positive,” Caldwell said. “The club is in a good place, players are in a good place, but we have to perform in the last game and finish with a win, and then we can analyse the season as a whole and see what we can do next season

“It has been a season of highs and lows. We had an amazing start with a new team, then hit some difficult moments and injuries started coming, confidence was affected, and the bad run we went on was too long, but since Boxing Day, it has been a fantastic turnaround.

“We have a group of players who have come together over time, it has been a brilliant run of performances and results, a cohesive team, great spirit and togetherness, and we have to do it again next season We will finish higher than last season, and that shows progress from last season. Then we will look to build on that. We want to finish with a win and then we go again next season.”

Asked to pick out some highlights from the campaign, two moments came to Caldwell’s mind. One, perhaps obviously, was Vil Sinisalo’s 94 ^th minute penalty save at Boxing Day in the 1-0 win over Wycombe Wanderers to end the long run without a win. The second though came in a shower at half-time at Stevenage just before Christmas when City came from a goal and a man down to grab a vital point, with half-time sub Yanic Wildschut getting the equalizer.

“There was a moment with the staff in a shower at Stevenage where we were 1-0 down, ten men, staring down the barrel,” he said. “We had to find solutions, find belief, and we all came together to make the right decision to get Yanic on the pitch, made us hard to beat, but also a threat on the counter.

“And then the save from Vil from a penalty which was never a penalty. It felt like here we go ahead, and he comes up with a huge moment in a full stadium, and the positivity felt it had shifted.”

Saturday’s game will probably be the last in the red and white for Vil Sinisalo as the Aston Villa goalkeeper’s loan comes to an end. Alex Hartridge and Harry Kite have already announced they are leaving the club, while it could be a farewell for several other loanees or players who have yet to sign new deals.

Ryan Woods will miss out as he serves the first of a four game suspension after his red card at Northampton Town, but both Wildschut and Jack Aitchison returned to training on Thursday after injuries, so might be fit enough to feature, with Pierce Sweeney should be back in contention. Not that they are likely to be anywhere near fit enough either, but long-term absentees Demetri Mitchell and Admiral Muskwe were also due to be on the grass on Thursday for some part of training.

The U’s will come to Devon with their play-off hopes still alive. They sit seventh, level on points with sixth placed Lincoln City, but with a worse goal difference. They are a point behind fifth placed Barnsley, with a better goal difference, while Blackpool a point behind them come overhaul them as well. Eyes in the visitor camp will be elsewhere as they need results to go their way if they want to make the play-offs.

“It is a big game, a full house, and while they have a lot to play for, we do as well to achieve potentially tenth, but definitely a top half finish if we win, so there is a lot riding on it for us,” Caldwell said. “They are a good team, they have been up there all season, and know how difficult it will be, but we have to make sure motivation is high, our commitment there, and we will have to play well to win. I hope it is loud and we put on a show in front of the supporters who have been there in the good and bad moments.”

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