Gillingham Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Gillingham, Kent, playing in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system, as of the 2024–25 season. The club was formed in 1893 as New Brompton F.C., [1] a name which was retained until 1912, and has played home matches at Priestfield Stadium throughout its history. [2] The club joined The Football League (now called the English Football League) in 1920, was voted out of the league in favour of Ipswich Town at the end of the 1937–38 season, [3] but returned to the league 12 years later after it was expanded from 88 to 92 clubs. [4] Between 2000 and 2005, Gillingham played in the second tier of the English football league system for the only time in the club's history, achieving a highest league finish of eleventh place in 2002–03. [4] The club's first team have competed in numerous nationally and regionally organised competitions, and all players who have played 50 or more such matches, either as a member of the starting eleven or as a substitute, are listed below.
Jock Robertson, the team's captain when Gillingham first entered the League in 1920, made a total of 388 appearances, a club record which stood for over ten years until overtaken by Charlie Marks, although Marks' total of 434 appearances includes those made while the club played outside the Football League. Goalkeeper John Simpson was the first Gillingham player to make over 600 appearances. Another goalkeeper, Ron Hillyard, set a new record of 655 appearances in the early 1990s, although Simpson still holds the record for appearances solely in the Football League. The club's all-time top goalscorer, with 149 career goals, is Brian Yeo, who also shares the record for the most League goals scored in a season with Ernie Morgan.
Pre-1960s | 1960s– | ||
---|---|---|---|
GK | Goalkeeper | ||
FB | Full back | DF | Defender |
HB | Half back | MF | Midfielder |
FW | Forward | ||
Gillingham Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Gillingham, Kent, England that plays home matches at Priestfield Stadium. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system, in the 2024–25 season.
Barry Marc Fuller is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for Dorking Wanderers. He previously played for Stevenage Borough, forming part of the squad that won the 2006–07 FA Trophy in the first competitive final at the new Wembley Stadium after they beat Kidderminster Harriers 2–1 on 12 May 2007 in front of a record FA Trophy crowd of 53,262. Fuller has also made over 200 appearances for Gillingham and was captain of the squad that beat Shrewsbury Town 1–0 in the League Two play-off final at Wembley Stadium on 23 May 2009 to win promotion to League One.
Andrew Hessenthaler is an English football manager and former player who is head of recruitment at EFL League Two club Gillingham. He began his career in non-league football and did not turn professional until he joined Watford at the age of 26. In 1996, Hessenthaler joined Gillingham and spent the next ten years at the club as player and later player-manager, managing the club to its highest ever finish in the English football league system and becoming regarded as a legend of the Kent club. After leaving Gillingham, he had a short spell at Barnet, before joining Dover Athletic in 2007. In his two seasons in charge he led the club to successive championships, of Isthmian League Division One South and the Isthmian League Premier Division. After three years at Dover, he became manager at Gillingham for the second time, but his contract was terminated at the end of the 2011–12 season. He returned to the club as assistant manager in 2014, before taking on a similar role at Leyton Orient the following year. In 2016, he was appointed manager of the club, but was sacked later the same year. In November he was appointed manager of Eastleigh, but the following year left to return to Dover, where he stayed until January 2023.
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Gillingham Football Club is an English football club based in Gillingham, Kent. The club was formed in 1893, and played in the Southern League until 1920, when that league's top division was absorbed into the Football League as its new Division Three. The club was voted out of the league in favour of Ipswich Town at the end of the 1937–38 season, but returned 12 years later, when that league was expanded from 88 to 92 clubs. Twice in the late 1980s Gillingham came close to winning promotion to the second tier of English football, but a decline then set in and in 1993 the club narrowly avoided relegation to the Football Conference. In 2000, the "Gills" reached the second tier of the English league for the first time in the club's history and went on to spend five seasons at this level, achieving a club record highest league finish of eleventh place in 2002–03. The club has twice won the division comprising the fourth level of English football: the Football League Fourth Division championship in 1963–64 and the Football League Two championship in 2012–13.
Glenn James Morris is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for EFL League Two club Gillingham.
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