The next 12 months could be pivotal for Gillingham Football Club as they look to build on the successes of recent seasons under Steve Evans.

A global pandemic has proved to be a real thorn in the side of all Football League sides with The Gills feeling hit harder than many others due to fans not having been able to attend Priestfield.

Evans however guided the side to 10th place in League One for the past two campaigns, narrowly missing out on a play-off spot despite a decent end to the 2020/21 season.

With fans unable to watch the new generation of Gillingham stars at Priestfield, the return to being in attendance come August now seems certain despite the rising case numbers across the country.

Fans coming back through the turnstiles will undoubtedly boost the coffers at the club and a rumoured £150,000 windfall for the transfer of Brandon Hanlan to Bristol Rovers last summer will go a long way to helping balance the books.

This figure is believed to have been agreed by a Football League tribunal in recent days, although The Gills were hoping for more for the talented 24 year old.

However, spending that cash could prove to be a bit of a problem for Evans and Gillingham.

The club are believed to be currently working under a transfer embargo set by the Football League along with a number of clubs including Hull City and Fleetwood Town.

Unable to spend money on players probably in reality isn’t an issue for The Gills as they seemed unlikely to pay any transfer fees for players this summer as Evans builds his squad for the upcoming campaign.

The final pieces of the Gillingham jigsaw are starting to be brought together by Evans with a second goalkeeper and a striker high on his wish list.

The loan market is set to be a busy one yet again and Evans seems likely to bring in his full quota of five loans from Premier League and Championship sides in the coming weeks.

With League One looking more competitive than ever, the likes of Charlton Athletic, Ipswich Town, Portsmouth, Sheffield Wednesday, Sunderland and Wigan Athletic will undoubtedly go into the new season as favourites to go up, but Gillingham will be happy to start the campaign as underdogs.

Evans has shown in his time at Priestfield that he is more than capable of assembling a competitive squad that can live with the big boys and despite having one of the smallest budgets in the league, gain points that sees Gillingham edge ever closer to the Championship.

So what will success be for Gillingham over these next 12 months?

A play-off place is almost a must for many Gillingham fans who want to see progress under Evans, but that gets harder by the year.

Guaranteeing another season in League One is the minimum, but fans have bigger ambitions than that.

For those that saw the side facing the likes of Leeds United and Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Championship at the start of the millenium, Gillingham have the potential to get back into football’s second tier, but will it ever happen under this regime?

Only time will tell where the club ends up, but with fans back and euphoria of the Euro 2020 competition bringing more people connected to the game than ever, now is the time for Gillingham to capitalise on that and bring the next generation of Gills fans into Priestfield.