The 2017/18 season will go down as one of many highs and lows for Gillingham Football Club.
As the 2016/17 EFL season came to an end, there was a sense of optimism surrounding the club.
Fans were eager to see the retained list be released and who will be leading the team into the forthcoming season.
However, it was a summer of mixed emotions for Gills fans, with Chairman Paul Scally deciding to stick with Ady Pennock despite the calamities of the back end of last season.
And yet again with a lack of investment, experienced League 1 players wouldn’t be coming through the doors at the Priestfield Stadium, which also meant a lack of league 1 quality players which ultimately lead to a poor start to the season…
SUMMER SIGNINGS:
Alex Lacey – Yeovil – Free
Tom Eaves – Yeovil – Free
Billy Bingham – Crewe – Free
Gabriel Zakuani – Northampton – Free
Steve Arnold – Dover – Free
Connor Ogilvie – Tottenham – Loan
Conor Wilkinson – Bolton – Free
Sean Clare – Sheffield Wednesday – Loan
Ben Nugent – Crewe – Loan
Liam Nash – Maldon and Tiptree – Free
Luke O’Neill – Southend – Free
SUMMER OUTGOINGS:
Bradley Dack – Blackburn – £765,000
Chris Herd – Released – Western Sydney Wanderers
Emmanuel Osadebe – Released – Cambridge
Zesh Rehman – Released – Southern (Hong Kong)
Cody McDonald – Released – AFC Wimbledon
Rory Donnelly – Released – Cliftonville
Oliver Muldoon – Released – Maidstone
Billy Knott – Lincoln City – Free
Ryan Jackson – Released – Colchester
JULY
Pre season was deemed a success with an unbeaten summer which included a win over Championship side Ipswich Town, a 4-1 victory over Belgian side Patro Eisden and a 12-0 thrashing over Chatham Town on the night they opened new floodlights. The final games of pre season were two games in Essex at League 2 Colchester and Bostik League Division One North Canvey Island.
AUGUST
The new season started with an away trip to Doncaster and 500 odd fans made the trip up to see a number of new faces including defenders Gabriel Zakuani and Alex Lacey. The game finished 0-0 but a strong defensive performance was a welcome change.
An away trip to Reading followed for a Carabao Cup 1st Round tie where a resistant Gills performance eventually succumbed to a 2-0 defeat at the Madjeski Stadium with two excellent goals beating Tomas Holy.
The first home game of the new season approached as Bradford visited Priestfield and deservedly left with all 3 points. A poor defensive performance allowed Dominic Poleon to score and then later on in the first half miss an open goal after miscommunication between Max Ehmer and Tomas Holy. Later on in the game, Conor Wilkinson was sent off for a wild two footed lunge on Timothee Dieng.
The following week was a trip north to Stadium mk for a clash with MK Dons which ended in a 1-0 defeat after Osman Sow put the Dons ahead. Both sides missed the chance to grab a late goal after Josh Wright and Kieran Agard both missed penalties. The wait for the Gills’ first goal went on.
After a poor opening start to the season in terms of attacking, fans were calling for summer signing Liam Nash to start – and they got their wish. He was in Gillingham’s starting XI for the first time ahead of the visit of cross river rivals, Southend United. After a poor attacking throughout the first half – step up Tom Eaves! He heroically gave Gillingham their first goals of the season with a hat trick in front of The Rainham End.
The first game of Gillingham’s EFL Trophy campaign with Southend visiting once again with a different outcome – Gillingham’s first competitive win since mid- April! Goals from Josh Parker and Anton Ferdinand turning Darren Oldaker’s free kick into his own net.
The 29th of the month saw Josh Wright leave the club, terminating his contract after a couple of seasons back at the club after an earlier successful loan spell.
Deadline Day gave next to no news except from Gillingham’s tie against Portsmouth in October being televised. It was only during the late evening that news broke of Gillingham signing a promising young attacking midfielder from Sheffield Wednesday in the name of Sean Clare.
SEPTEMBER
By the time September rolled around, Gills were still looking for their first league win of the season. However, they would have to wait as they couldn’t beat early pacesetters Shrewsbury Town despite substitute Josh Parker giving them a glimmer of hope.
A trip to the Kassam Stadium followed as Gills provided a second half collapse to the travelling faithful. Despite a well defended first half display, they fell victim to three very quick second half goals from the home side. The final whistle was met by angry boos and calls for Ady Pennock to go by the Gills fans.
Just three days later, the Gills were on the road again to face South West London side AFC Wimbledon. After being under pressure from the home side they finally went behind to a goal from former fan favourite Andy Barcham. The Gills response didn’t help as captain Lee Martin got sent off for lashing out at Lyle Taylor. However, they responded well to the red card as Sean Clare scored his first goal for the club.
A local derby followed with Charlton visiting Priestfield and fell to a 1-0 defeat in Gillingham’s first league win of the season after Tom Eaves scored after 57 minutes. A brilliant goalkeeping performance from Tomas Holy proved enough for Gills to claim a first league win since April 14 when they played Bristol Rovers.
A trip to fellow strugglers Rochdale, in what was Ady Pennock’s last game in charge, followed and it was an awful performance. The Gills lost 3-0 and had Tom Eaves sent off. It was too much to handle for Paul Scally, and just a few days later Pennock and his assistant Jamie Day left the club by mutual consent. Peter Taylor was then placed in temporary charge for the immediate future.
Scunthorpe then visited Priestfield and it ended in a 0-0 bore draw.
Scally then said that he wouldn’t rush into appointing a new boss permanently.
Blackburn away then followed as the Gills lost yet another game 1-0 thanks to former loanee Dominic Samuel scoring.
OCTOBER
A tie away to Colchester in the EFL Trophy followed with Gills bagging all 3 points as Max Ehmer scored a brilliant free kick in injury time.
A televised fixture at home to newly promoted Portsmouth then came around where a lacklustre and uninterested performance meant Gillingham fell to a 1-0 thanks to a goal from Matty Kennedy immediately after half time resigned to yet another defeat live on Sky Sports.
This game proved the end of a short caretaker spell for Peter Taylor.
Just two days before their trip to Peterborough, Scally appointed Steve Lovell as the club’s third manager this season in just 4 months.
However, with just two days of managing the players, Lovell got the players playing and got a deserved 1-0 win at London Road with Lee Martin scoring a brilliant goal before the break. It had finally given the fans something to cheer about after 4 months of depressing results.
Wigan then visited Priestfield and were outplayed during the second half as Tom Eaves put the Gills ahead and despite only getting a point after dominating for periods of the game, the fans were still proud of a brilliant performance.
Northampton then were the visitors to Priestfield the following Saturday as Gills fell to a 2-1 defeat after a brilliant Matt Grimes free kick.
A trip to Rotherham then followed with the Gills winning 3-1 thanks to a Josh Parker double and Tom Eaves. It must’ve proved enough that Steve Lovell deserved the job full time, however with the ongoing court case with Centerplate it would’ve had to wait.
NOVEMBER
An FA Cup first round tie at home to Non – League team Leyton Orient ended in a comfortable 2-1 win for the home side with Tom Eaves and Josh Parker scoring for the second game running. Another home tie against League Two Carlisle would follow in the second round.
Immediately after this was an EFL Trophy game against the Reading U21 team where 12 goals went in! Gills won 7-5 in a thriller that gained national headlines for the goals and goalkeeping.
A week later, on remembrance weekend, Bury then were the visitors to Priestfield, then bottom of the league, they came away with a point after a late equaliser from Gills’ Josh Parker.
In the week that lead up to the away trip to Walsall, it was announced that Steve Lovell would be given the manager’s job until the end of the season. It was a gamble, but did it pay off?
In Lovell’s first game in permanent charge, the Gills faced Walsall and came away with all three points after Conor Wilkinson scored his first goal for the club after Eaves had caused a defensive mistake in Walsall’s back line.
In Gillingham’s last game of November, they faced relegation candidates Oldham Athletic at Priestfield. The game ended in a 0-0 stalemate with Luke O’Neil having a 90th minute free kick saved by away goalkeeper Johnny Placide.
DECEMBER
In the first game of December, Carlisle visited Priestfield in the 2nd round of the FA Cup. Luke O’Neill put the Gills ahead from a brilliant free kick before Carlisle scored a penalty after a questionable decision gave the Cumbria side a penalty. The game ended in a 1-1 draw which meant a long Tuesday night trip up to the North West for a replay.
This was followed by the visit of Oxford United in the EFL Trophy first knockout round where Gills lost 2-1 after Alex Mowatt and Jack Payne cancelled out Mark Byrne’s early penalty. The game was noted for its controversy after Josh Parker’s effort was chalked off despite the replays showing it was over the line.
An away trip to the south coast to play Plymouth followed where the Gills fell to a 2-1 defeat at Home Park despite Tom Eaves’ outrageous effort from 25+ yards.
After Plymouth, Gills were due to make the long trip up to Carlisle in their replay however this fell victim to a frozen pitch due to freezing conditions in the North West. It was now a week later just three days before a Friday night trip to face Fleetwood.
Bristol Rovers were then visitors to Priestfield as they lost 4-1 after a Mark Byrne double and goals from Alex Lacey and Josh Parker.
The replay at Carlisle ended the Gills’ hopeful cup run two weeks after they fell at the hands of Oxford. Chris Hope had put Carlisle 2 goals up before half time and Scott Wagstaff had immediately, after the break, given the Gills hope of a third round tie at home to Sheffield Wednesday.
This was followed by another long trip up north as the Gills faced Fleetwood and came away with three massive points, to climb up the table, after two brilliant goals from Parker and O’Neill. This was Gillingham’s final game before Christmas.
Steve Lovell then made the bold decision to allow the players to have Christmas Day off, despite the visit of Oxford the day after.
Oxford then visited on Boxing Day where the Gills started slowly and fell behind to Ricardinho opener after the break. In the 88th minute Conor Wilkinson equalising in front of the Rainham End.
The final game of 2017 also saw Sean Clare’s final Priestfield appearance in a Gills shirt for the forthcoming future. There was a chance we could’ve still seen him in a Gills shirt at Priestfield. He got an assist and forced an own goal as Gills drew 2-2 against AFC Wimbledon with the game marking the return of the likes of Barry Fuller, Cody McDonald and Andy Barcham.
2018
JANUARY SIGNINGS
Callum Reilly – Bury – Loan
Navid Nasseri – Free Agent
Franck Moussa – Free Agent
Rhys Murphy – Forest Green Rovers – Free
JANUARY
January started with a local game against Charlton. It would prove to be a historic day for the Gills as they won at the Valley for the first ever time – a 2-1 victory with goals from Tom Eaves and Josh Parker and a brilliant performance in goal from Tomas Holy.
A free week followed as original opponents Shrewsbury were involved in The FA Cup 3rd round.
Gills were back in action at Priestfield as they hosted Rochdale and despite falling behind early, they clawed it back to win 2-1 and grab all three points.
Gills then made the trip up to Scunthorpe with new loan signing Callum Reilly in their squad, and he helped Gills to a 3-1 win after causing a mistake in defence to allow Parker to slip in Martin to open the scoring. Josh Parker and Tom Eaves then finished the game off in the second half.
In between the Scunthorpe and Fleetwood games was a much anticipated Kent Derby against Maidstone United in the Kent Reliance Senior Cup – A renewing of the old days when both clubs played in the EFL. The Gills used this game as an opportunity to use fringe players and trialists but lost 2-1 – leading to unneeded criticism from some of the 600 Gills fans.
Fleetwood then travelled to Priestfield and went ahead and it looked like an unbeaten month was off the cards, however, Eaves scored a double including an injury time penalty to finish January unbeaten and to top it off Steve Lovell was nominated for ‘Manager of the Month’.
FEBRUARY
February started with a trip to league leaders Wigan Athletic and the Gills sprung no shocks as the Latics won 2-0 with Will Grigg and Nick Powell on target. It still didn’t matter as Steve Lovell, at the end of the week, won January’s manager of the month.
After this was Lovell’s first game at Priestfield since winning manager of the month – a home game against play off chasing Peterborough, and despite going behind early on in the second half, a brilliant turnaround saw Max Ehmer score a brilliant volley and send the Rainham End mental!
Northampton then hosted the Gills and immediately were dominated by them. Josh Parker and Tom Eaves continued their devastating partnership to quickly put the Gills 2-0 up. Northampton did pull a goal back, but Gills held on.
The final home league for over a month followed as Gills drew 0-0 with relegation threatened Walsall in a game of many chances for the Gills.
Gills then travelled to bottom club Bury, and shockingly lost 2-1 despite Connor Ogilvie netting his first goal of his loan spell.
MARCH
March was to be the shortest month of the season for Gills with just 2 of the 4 games taking place.
It was due to start with a game against promotion chasing Rotherham but that game got chalked off by the persistent snow.
So, the first game of March would be an away game against Portsmouth where 1,551 Gills fans went down to the south coast to see history made yet again with Gills winning 3-1 to secure a win at Fratton Park for the first ever time. Conor Wilkinson and a Lee Martin double (I’ll let Conor and Lee debate over Gills’ second – still) cancelled out Jamal Lowe’s opener in front of a sold out Fratton Park.
A week later, Bradley Dack was due to return to Priestfield but once again that game got postponed for the snow, but, not on the pitch – the away end was iced over so it was unsafe for the 1,200 Blackburn fans.
Instead the first home game in over a month saw January signing, Navid Nasseri make his debut – and scored in a 2-1 defeat to MK Dons.
APRIL
April started with a 4-0 humiliation away at Southend United with all 4 goals in the first half, this was the worst performance to date from Steve Lovell’s reign.
The Gills then returned to Priestfield as they drew 0-0 to Doncaster in a boring game with barely any chances.
League leaders Blackburn then visited as Gills managed to hold them to a 0-0 draw keeping the likes of Dack, Graham, Samuel quiet. It was a brilliant defensive performance!
Gills then returned to action away at Oldham with Tom Eaves salvaging a point to all but secure safety.
Rotherham then visited Priestfield and came away with a win after a lacklustre Gills performance. A point at home to Blackpool would all but confirm safety.
Blackpool came around and Tom Hadler made his EFL debut in place of Tomas Holy, he shined in a 3-0 defeat. The final whistle was met with boos from the Rainham End, most of whom walked out after the third goal went in.
The final away game was at Bristol Rovers. Gills needed a point to confirm safety and avoid a nervy final day for the second year running. They done just that as Elliot List scored his first ever Gills and confirmed safety with just a minute to go.
MAY
There is just one game left at home to Plymouth who still are chasing the playoffs. A party atmosphere will hopefully be there as Gills won’t have any nerves this time around. This game takes place at 5:30pm on Saturday (May 5)
POSITIVES
No final day drama (thankfully)
Huge improvements in defence
Huge upturn in form
A strong mid season run
NEGATIVES
Poor attacking record
Awful start to the season
Lack of money given to the manager
Lack of League 1 players.
THOUGHTS
After a poor start to the season, I feared for my club. We may have kept Ady Pennock and the season may not have changed. However we didn’t and made the change as soon as we could, but many fans (including myself) weren’t optimistic about Lovell, however he proved the doubters wrong and helped us to League 1 safety. We go again next season as we celebrate 125 years of New Brompton (the original name) being founded in 1893. Hopefully, like the 100 years of being known as GFC, we can find success in a celebratory season.