Gillingham F.C.

Gillingham Football Club is a football team based in the town of Gillingham, Kent. They are currently in the Football League One. They play home games at Priestfield Stadium.

Related Topics:
Football - Gillingham - Football League One

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Established in 1893 as New Brompton FC, they changed names to Gillingham in 1913. They gained election to the Football League Division 3 in 1920, but were relegated back to the Southern League in 1938. In 1950 they won re-election to the Football League. Over the next 50 years, the club played entirely in the lowest two divisions of the Football League, winning promotion in 1964 and 1974 but being relegated again in 1968 and 1989. During the managership of Gerry Summers and Keith Peacock in the 1980s the Gills several times came close to promotion to the old Division Two and birthed the careers of players like Micky Adams, Steve Bruce and Tony Cascarino, who was famously bought from a local non-league team for a set of tracksuits and some corrugated iron.

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In 1995, second from bottom in the Football League and on the verge of bankruptcy, a former office supplies salesman, Paul Scally, bought the club for £1.00. He brought in Tony Pulis as manager, who signed a dozen new players and led Gillingham to promotion in his first season, finishing second in the old Division Three, now Football League Two. In 1999 they lost an infamous Football League Second Division play-off final against Manchester City. Following goals by the prolific partnership of Bob Taylor and Carl Asaba, 'The Gills' were 2-0 up with less than two minutes left only to see Manchester City score twice, the equaliser in a hotly disputed six minutes of injury time, and after that win a penalty shoot-out 4-2.

Related Topics:
Paul Scally - Football League Two - Football League Second Division - Manchester City

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Following this Tony Pulis was sacked for gross misconduct and Peter Taylor became manager. In this season Gillingham went on a club record breaking FA Cup run beating then Premiership teams Bradford City and Sheffield Wednesday before reaching the quarter final against Chelsea where they lost 5-0. They also finished in third place in the league, missing out on automatic promotion by losing on the last day to Wrexham A.F.C., and qualified for the play-offs again. They beat Stoke City over two legs of the semi-final and faced Wigan Athletic at Wembley Stadium. The game finished 1-1 after 90 minutes with Iffy Onoura scoring for the Gills. During the first period of extra time the Gills went 2-1 behind. However thanks to goals in the second period from Steve Butler and Andy Thomson the club was promoted for the first time to the Football League Championship (then League Division 1).

Related Topics:
Tony Pulis - Peter Taylor - FA Cup - Premiership - Bradford City - Sheffield Wednesday - Chelsea - Wrexham A.F.C. - Stoke City - Wigan Athletic - Wembley Stadium - Football League Championship

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As Peter Taylor had only signed a 1 year deal, Leicester City, then in the Premiership poached him to be their new manager. Former team captain Andy Hessenthaler was then appointed player-manager of the side, having previously served as player-coach. He led the club to league finishes of 13th, 12th and 11th in his first 3 seasons in charge, however the 2003-04 season saw the club escape relegation by a whisker, with a last day goalless draw at Stoke City keeping them above Walsall F.C. by a single goal. John Gorman, who was Glenn Hoddle's assistant as England manager, was appointed to help Andy Hessenthaler as the side started the 2004/2005 season poorly, but as they continued to struggle at the wrong end of the table Hessenthaler resigned as manager in late November. Somewhat uniquely he continued to be employed as a player. Gorman succeeded Hessenthaler in a caretaker capacity before leaving the club to take the manager's job at Wycombe Wanderers. Gillingham then appointed former Burnley boss Stan Ternent as manager, but despite a late run of positive results, he couldn't prevent the Gills' relegation to League One on the last day of the season. In a cruel reversal of the previous season's fortunes, Cardiff City, the team above them, survived by just one goal.

Related Topics:
Peter Taylor - Leicester City - Premiership - Andy Hessenthaler - Stoke City - Walsall F.C. - John Gorman - Glenn Hoddle - England - Wycombe Wanderers - Burnley - Stan Ternent - League One - Cardiff City

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The team play in blue and white at home and yellow away, and are currently sponsored by Medway Housing Society. Previous kit sponsors include ferry company SeaFrance, the Medway News newspaper, radio station Invicta FM, and Kool, a yoghurt manufacturer.

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