'Legend' Sweeney enters decade of service at Exeter
Sweeney is a man who never takes life too seriously off the field - always ready with a smile and a joke.But on the pitch there is a steel and determination to his game that has made him one of the most consistent defenders in League One. He has played under three managers at Exeter - a rare feat for a club that does not change head coach that often. His current boss Gary Caldwell has no doubt how important he is to the team - and the club. "For all we take the micky out of him, myself, the staff, he is a brilliant character. He has been a brilliant servant for this football club," Caldwell says."He is one of the few players I think you can call a legend at the football club for what he's done and the journey, that not just the club, but he has been on since he's been here."So to be able to celebrate that I think is really important."
'We've come on leaps and bounds'
That celebration has been going throughout the summer and culminates on Saturday when Sweeney has his testimonial match against Swansea City at St James Park in Exeter's final pre-season game. Sweeney has played alongside the likes of Ollie Watkins, Jay Stansfield and Ethan Ampadu - whose big transfer fees have gone a long way to turning fan-owned Exeter into a financially sustainable club in League One. "The football club's done really well with picking and choosing when they spend money on the facilities," Sweeney - who briefly left Exeter in June 2021 to join a financially troubled Swindon Town before returning less than a month later - tells BBC Radio Devon."I've spoken to a good few players who have come here from different football clubs and even they say the facilities are top for League One level and some in the Championship aren't as good as what we have here."We've come on leaps and bounds, but I think the facilities aside, I think the way the football club is run now is a million miles away from where we used to be, and I think that's spearheaded from the manager."The manager probably gives the board headaches of what he wants every year or every month, but that's only for the benefit of the club."He's an ambitious man and he can see where the football club can get to."There's still more room for improvement. We can always improve and I think it's important that we don't stop."
Sweeney's career at Exeter has had its fair share of ups and downs. He has lost three League Two play-off finals at Wembley - defeat by Blackpool in his debut season in 2017, Coventry City a year later, and then Northampton Town in an empty national stadium in 2020 at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.But there have also been highs as well - not least winning automatic promotion in 2022 as well as some memorable runs in both the FA and EFL Cups."It was probably a blessing in disguise that we probably didn't win them," Sweeney says as he looks back on the Wembley defeats. "I think where we were when we got automatic promotion, I think the club was in a far better position than we were for the play-off games."My personal opinion is that we probably wouldn't be coming into our fourth season back then in League One."He adds: "Wembley's an unbelievable place when you win. It's the worst place in the world when you lose. I've been unfortunate to experience that three times now."It wasn't a nice feeling, but I've definitely taken that on board with me ever since and kind of used it as fuel, and hopefully the next time we go to Wembley we can finish the job."
Sweeney's toughest personal battle came last season when he missed the second half of the campaign after picking up a calf injury in December and then having surgery to fix a long-standing hip problem.And even though he is celebrating his testimonial this season - and has no intention of leaving the club - he appreciates how hard the world of football is."I've been out for the longest period of my career and it's been it's been a tough offseason. I've been on my own doing rehab and tough times mentally, " he says."I want to play as many games as I can and try and earn myself a new contract at the end of the next season."I'm 31 in September, so I'm no spring chicken. I need to get back fully fit and get back into the team, and hopefully earn myself a new contract and go from there."
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Raymond James French, rugby league player, journalist and sports commentator, born 23 December 1939, died 26 July 2025
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