Eastleigh to face League One side in pre-season friendly

EASTLEIGH will face League One side Exeter City in August as they aim to gear up for a successful season.

The Spitfires are scheduled to play at St James’ Park on Saturday, August 3, with the match set to kick off at 3 pm. This game will pose a challenging test for Kelvin Davis’ team just before the start of the National League season a week later.

The match will hold special significance for Eastleigh’s Jake Taylor, who will be returning to face his former team, Exeter City. Taylor made a total of 293 appearances for Exeter across two stints. He initially joined the club on loan in the 2011-12 season before rejoining in 2016. During his time at Exeter, Taylor served as the team captain from 2018 to 2021.

Other former Eastleigh players, Nigel Atangana, Luke Croll, and Aaron Martin, who were released this summer, also had spells at the EFL club. Exeter’s left-back, Vincent Harper, previously played for Eastleigh for two seasons before transferring to Exeter in June 2023.

Eastleigh has additionally announced pre-season matches against Wimborne Town on Saturday, July 13, and Weymouth on Tuesday, July 23. They are also scheduled to face Chippenham Town on Tuesday, July 30, before playing against a Southampton under-21s team shortly after.

This upcoming pre-season will be Kelvin Davis’ first in charge, following the extension of his contract to remain as Eastleigh’s manager for three years after a successful interim period. Davis expressed his excitement about the project at Eastleigh FC and the potential for progress in the future during a statement after securing his new contract.

Despite this pre-season activity, the National League fixture list has not been published by the league as of yet.