Exeter announce their retained list following play-off final defeat

Grecians offload nine players after Wembley heartbreak
Dean Moxey is comforted by Charlie Goode after his red card at Wembley.Dean Moxey is comforted by Charlie Goode after his red card at Wembley.
Dean Moxey is comforted by Charlie Goode after his red card at Wembley.

Experienced defender Aaron Martin is among nine players to have been released by Exeter City following their play-off final defeat to the Cobblers.

Dean Moxey, who was sent off for a bad challenge on Ryan Watson at Wembley, and former Town forward Lee Martin have also departed the club.

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The full list of players to leave St James Park is: Craig Woodman, Lee Martin, Lee Holmes, Dean Moxey, Gary Warren, Brennan Dickenson, Aaron Martin and Jared Thompson.

Jayden Richardson, who was on loan at the club, has returned to his parent club Nottingham Forest.

Matt Taylor spoke about each player individually and thanked them for their efforts during their time at St James Park and wished them all well for the future. All of the other first team players were in contract and have been retained as such.

Taylor said: "It has to go on record how appreciative I am of what these players have put themselves through, especially those ones who knew they were not going to get a contract.

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“There is a still a bit of uncertainty, I think it is fair to say, simply because we don’t know when the fans are coming back through the turnstiles and then the cashflow of the club is obviously affected by that.

“This is a moment where young players are going to have to step in. We have spoke a lot about our current group of under-23s. They are an exciting group.

"They are not ready by any means in terms of being able to throw them all in at once but they will certainly get a bigger opportunity than they have done this season and hopefully they will grow into that responsibility.”