Every football team has a nickname, with some rather peculiar ones around.

Exeter City have a unique name – The Grecians, but why?

Many think that it is to do with the city’s Roman history, but there are several theories as to where the Grecians came from.

To this day many are unsure where the nickname came from, but according to Exeter Past, a book by Hazel Harvey, it comes from a fair in the Southernhay area of the city in 1726.

St James Park, home of Exeter City FC

For some obscure reason, the siege of Troy was re-enacted at the fair, which led to the idea that those who live within the inner part of the city should play the Trojans, and those outside should play the Greeks.

So those who lived in the St Sidwell’s area of Exeter identified themselves with Greeks, or Grecians because they live outside of the old walls of the city.

Then, a few years later, football matches between St Sidwell’s and the city dwellers (the Blues), began.

Decades after, most residents of St Sidwell’s identified themselves as a ‘Grecian’ instead of a ‘Greek’.

A re-enactment of the siege of Troy was responsible for the nickname Grecians

And from there a ‘Grecian Gate’ was built at the football ground, and when the team formally known as St Sidwell’s Old Boys changed their name to Exeter City, the nickname ‘Grecians’ was adopted.

So there we have it, Exeter's long Roman history played an important role in the football club adopting the nickname Grecians, although it was down to a bizarre re-enactment of the famous Troy siege where history would be made.