Exeter City vs Wolves 1978: KKK Cup Controversy

In this article we go way back to Exeter City vs Wolves 1978 and an event still talked about today, by the unsuspecting folk who were in attendance. What happened that day made National headlines in all of the newspapers and even got on the 10 o’clock news report on BBC. Let’s get straight on with the stories.

The Wolves Invasion Begins

First we have Exeter Old boy Tim, who told us…”For Exeter City supporters, FA Cup third-round day against Wolverhampton Wanderers promised one of the biggest occasions the club had seen in years. Molineux’s First Division side were making the long journey to Devon, and excitement had been building throughout the city for weeks. But alongside that excitement came concern. Stories about Wolves’ South Bank firm had travelled around the country long before they reached St James Park. Their reputation for travelling in huge numbers and looking for confrontation was well known, yet few in Exeter imagined quite how many would descend on their city. By mid-morning the roads were filled with coaches, trains continued to arrive packed with visiting supporters, and local pubs quickly became overwhelmed. The atmosphere changed from festive anticipation to nervous uncertainty as more and more Wolves fans poured into the streets. Several Exeter supporters later recalled standing outside pubs counting the endless stream of coaches arriving. Some estimated thirty or more before giving up. The sight alone was enough to make many locals tuck away their club scarves and avoid drawing attention to themselves before the match. Reinforcements from neighbouring police forces were reportedly drafted in as officers realised the scale of the travelling support. Even before kick-off there were isolated confrontations near the ground, with officers struggling to hold back groups trying to force their way towards rival supporters.”

“Inside St James Park, tension continued to build. Before a ball had even been kicked, Wolves supporters were already spilling onto the pitch. One of the most memorable moments came when a brass band performing before kick-off continued playing as dozens of Wolves fans ran straight through them on their way towards the home end. To Exeter fans watching from the terraces, it felt as though normal football rules no longer applied. Elderly supporters shook their heads in disbelief while younger fans prepared themselves for what seemed inevitable. Once the match began, events quickly spiralled. Every goal, every decision and every flashpoint threatened to ignite another confrontation. When Exeter found the net, celebrations among the home crowd were drowned out by chaos elsewhere inside the stadium. Sections of fencing were pulled apart as groups attempted to reach one another. Police struggled to plug the gaps as missiles began to fly across the terraces. Supporters who had simply come to enjoy a famous FA Cup tie suddenly found themselves watching disturbances instead of football.”

“Among the strangest sights that afternoon were several Wolves supporters wearing white pillowcases with eye holes cut into them. To Exeter fans, many seeing such a thing for the first time, the resemblance to Ku Klux Klan robes was immediate and shocking. Rumours spread around the ground within minutes that the KKK had somehow appeared in Devon. Few understood why the masks were being worn, and from the opposite end of the stadium they looked sinister rather than humorous. Combined with the pitch invasions and fighting, the image would soon become one of the defining memories of the day. One incident particularly stood out to home supporters. As another surge developed towards the Cowshed End, many believed the Wolves fans were about to climb fully into the Exeter section. Home fans prepared themselves to resist if necessary. Standing directly in front of them was Police Constable Jackie Jackson, who reportedly refused to move despite facing a large crowd advancing towards her. Several Exeter supporters later credited her courage with preventing a far more serious confrontation from developing. While tempers continued to flare elsewhere, her actions became one of the few positive memories taken from an otherwise frightening afternoon.”

After The Match

“Many Exeter supporters chose to leave before the final whistle, convinced trouble would erupt outside the stadium. Their fears proved well founded. The police escort was quickly overwhelmed by the sheer number of Wolves supporters making their way back through residential streets towards parked coaches. Windows in nearby houses were smashed, bricks were thrown, and frightened residents emerged to witness scenes unlike anything the city had experienced at a football match. For many locals, it resembled an invasion rather than supporters simply returning home after a cup tie. Although Exeter had hosted supporters from clubs with fearsome reputations before, including Cardiff City, Millwall and Swansea City, many who attended that afternoon insisted nothing compared with what they witnessed against Wolves. The football itself ended in a dramatic 2-2 draw, yet few remembered the goals. Instead, memories centred on the disorder, the repeated pitch invasions and those mysterious white masks that would soon dominate newspaper headlines across Britain. For Exeter supporters, it remains one of the most chaotic afternoons in the club’s history and a match that demonstrated just how volatile football culture had become during the late 1970s.”

Wolves Story

Wolves Ex-Southbanker Mike, told us….”Among Wolverhampton Wanderers supporters, Exeter away in January 1978 occupies a unique place in football folklore. While there had been bigger fights and more notorious away trips, this FA Cup tie became remembered for one reason above all others: the bizarre Ku Klux Klan controversy that followed. For many members of the South Bank, the headlines that appeared afterwards bore little resemblance to what they believed had actually happened. The trip itself came during what many Wolves supporters regarded as one of the South Bank’s strongest periods. Throughout the 1976–77 and 1977–78 seasons, large travelling numbers had become the norm and the reputation of the Wolves support had spread across the country. Just weeks before travelling to Exeter, we were involved in the now infamous Boxing Day clash against Leeds United was one of the biggest terrace battles they had ever experienced, with police struggling to intervene as the two mobs confronted each other directly, with Leeds eventually retreating after prolonged fighting. So after giving such a beating to a top firm, confidence among Wolves followers was extremely high heading into the FA Cup.”

“Thousands made the journey south to Devon. Estimates vary, but many Wolves supporters believed around 5,000 travelled. Coaches seemed endless, football specials arrived packed, and St James Park suddenly found itself hosting one of the largest away invasions in its history. Initially, relations between supporters remained relatively calm, although the atmosphere was charged with anticipation. Once inside the stadium, however, events escalated quickly. Repeated pitch invasions took place, fencing was damaged, advertising boards were ripped away and used as makeshift weapons, while groups surged repeatedly towards sections occupied by Exeter supporters. One detail many Wolves supporters remember vividly was the appearance of police video cameras. During the late 1970s, filming football crowds was still relatively uncommon. Many believed they were being individually targeted, prompting supporters to cover their faces with scarves, coats and anything else available. According to several Wolves fans who later recounted the day, a handful of supporters had brought old white pillowcases with eye holes cut into them. Whether they had planned to wear them beforehand or improvised remains unclear, but among those wearing them it was reportedly treated as a joke aimed at frustrating police identification rather than making any political statement.”

“From inside the Wolves support, the masks attracted laughter rather than admiration. I remember supporters pointing and joking as the pillowcase wearers wandered through the crowd looking ridiculous. Nobody imagined the photographs being taken that afternoon would later appear in newspapers across Britain, creating one of football’s strangest controversies. At the time, most were far more interested in reaching rival supporters than worrying about how they appeared on camera.
The football itself became almost secondary. Every significant moment seemed to trigger fresh disorder. Wolves fans repeatedly invaded the pitch, home supporters responded from other areas, and police found themselves hopelessly outnumbered. The final whistle merely signalled the beginning of another confrontation outside the stadium. Escorts struggled to keep thousands of travelling supporters together as they returned towards parked coaches, and numerous incidents of damage were reported through nearby streets.”

The Ku Klux Klan Visit Wolverhampton

“What followed in the days afterwards surprised many Wolverhampton supporters far more than anything that had happened during the match itself. National newspapers published photographs of the hooded supporters alongside dramatic headlines suggesting Wolverhampton had become linked with the Ku Klux Klan. Images of pillowcases with eye holes proved irresistible to editors, and before long the city found itself associated with one of America’s most notorious racist organisations. For many Wolves supporters, this interpretation completely overshadowed everything that had actually happened on the terraces. The controversy grew even further when genuine representatives connected with the Ku Klux Klan reportedly travelled to Wolverhampton after reading the publicity. According to supporters from the time, they believed the city might provide fertile ground for establishing a British presence because of the newspaper coverage surrounding the Exeter match. Meetings were apparently held, but those involved soon concluded there was insufficient local support to justify any lasting organisation. In the eyes of many Wolves supporters, the entire episode demonstrated how dramatically the original photographs had been misunderstood.”

“Several supporters who were present have consistently argued that the pillowcases had nothing to do with white supremacist ideology. Instead, they insist they were simply a crude attempt to avoid being recognised by newly introduced police cameras. Whether everyone interpreted the masks in the same way is impossible to know decades later, but those accounts remain an important part of how many Wolves fans remember the day. What had begun as a terrace prank suddenly became front-page news and attached a stigma to the club that lingered for years. That said, many Wolves supporters also acknowledge that football culture during the era contained racist chanting that would be completely unacceptable today. Thousands of fans singing “pull that trigger and shoot that”, is not something to be attached to. Black Wolves supporters often endured abuse not only from opposing fans but sometimes from their own terraces as well. Some who attended regularly have said they never believed Wolverhampton was uniquely racist compared with other clubs, pointing out that similar behaviour existed across much of English football during the period. Nonetheless, they recognise that the atmosphere of the late 1970s often made life extremely difficult for black supporters following any club.”

The Aftermath

“Looking back today, Exeter away is remembered less for the thrilling 2-2 draw or even the widespread disorder than for the extraordinary chain of events created by a handful of pillowcases. The violence, pitch invasions and damage were sadly not unusual for football during that era, but the KKK headlines transformed an already infamous away trip into football folklore. Whether viewed as a misunderstanding, an unfortunate joke that spiralled out of control, or a reflection of the times, Exeter 1978 remains one of the most talked-about away days in Wolverhampton Wanderers’ history.”

We thank Tim and Mike for their recollections. It’s clear that Wolves had a massive following that day, and they seemed to have taken Exeter’s police by surprise. Not sure why as I think it was all ticket, so they knew how many to expect. Perhaps they didn’t expect the ferocity of the marauding Wolves fans. I note that Wolves took another mass following to Arsenal in the next round the same season, but had a very different outcome. You can find that video on our channel.

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