With the new SKYBet League Two season beginning this weekend, KSN has been talking to Gillingham’s Player of the Year from last season, keeper Glenn Morris, about the campaign ahead… 

Morris beginning his twenty-third season as a professional and with five hundred and seventy three games to his credit, the keeper told us, “Seems like a very long time ago that I re-signed for the Club at the start of last season.”

“A lot changed – that’s the way it goes in football, and you have to adapt and move on, but we’re all very much looking forward to Saturday and the new season.” 

“It’s a completely different Club now what with the Takeover and everything else that’s gone on with it – there really is a completely different feel to the Club.”

“We’ve all just been lifted throughout what with the new players coming in, the investment that’s come in from the owners which is something we all want to be part of.” 

“January was a strong transfer window for us and results showed from that, and the manager’s said that we’ve needed to add a few more to it, and who knows if there’s one or two more to come in before the end of August… I don’t know, but we’re looking good as it is!” 

“There isn’t a lot of coincidence that we got a lot of clean sheets after Conor (Masterson) came in – it gave us the solid base which is what we worked from last season and to get him permanently is great.”

“The base we generated helped us move away from the danger zone – any team needs that really and we had that at the end last year and that’s something that we’ll look to repeat this year.” 

When the fixtures are first announced, there’s always a fans buzz on who and when your team is playing at certain times – we wondered what it was like in the Priestfield dressing room?

Morris told us, “I’d be lying if I said that I hadn’t looked out to when the Crawley games were as it was the Club, I was last with, but any footballer will look at the Christmas period really to see where you are!”

“Everyone will pick out a couple of clubs that you’ve played for and for me it was Crawley – you look at the first game, you look at Christmas and then a little look at different teams.” 

“That said, we probably couldn’t have been given a tougher opening day, but we have to test ourselves and you’re going to play them (Stockport County) at some point and to play them first game – why not?”

“It’s a game that we’ll look forward to, it’s a big game and I’m sure that we’ll put in a performance.” 

“I’m sure that there will be expectations from the crowd this year. There’s a lot of season tickets been bought and there will be a lot of people expecting us to be further up the table than last year.”

“So, there will be expectation, but as players we have to handle that, you’ve got to deal with it, and it is a good thing to have.”

“You’d rather have that than just be expecting to get by – a lot of the players will thrive on it I’m sure… it’s part and parcel of football, you’ve got to win games!” 

“When Priestfield was buzzing at the back end of last season, we saw that when we were playing well, the fans were on board, and it was a Fortress to come to and we’ve got to re-create that again this season, working together with the fans it really does help us.”

“I think a lot of teams feared coming here in the end, and it was a very strong place for us… long may it continue!” 

Picture supplied by Gillingham Football Club.