Gillingham (football club)

Early years

The success of the youth football team Chatham Excelsior FC at the local level prompted a group of businessmen to gather to create a football club that could participate in larger competitions. At this meeting, held on May 18, 1893, the New Brompton FC football club was formed ^[1] . Also, the founders of the club also acquired a piece of land, which later became Pristfield Stadium ^[2] . The new club played its first match on September 2, 1893, losing 1–5 to the reserve staff of the Woolwich Arsenal at the stadium, which gathered 2,000 spectators ^[3] . New Brompton was one of the founders of the Southern League at its creation in 1894 and was placed in its second division. The team won in their first season in and were about to defeat Swindon Town in a test match ( playoffs ) for upgrading ^[4] .

In subsequent seasons, the club fought in the first division, ending the season at the bottom of the standings ^[5] and avoiding demotion only thanks to the expansion of the league. Although the result of the club in the league was disappointing, the team was able to win the famous cup victory over the team of the first division of the Football League Sunderland and reduced the first match with Manchester City to a draw before losing in the replay ^[6] . In 1912, directors decided to change the name of the club to “Gillingham FC,” and the team played under that name during the season, although this change was not officially ratified by shareholders until next year ^[7] . The team ended the season at the bottom of the first division in the season, but for the third time escaped relegation due to the subsequent promotion of all clubs in the first division of the Southern League to form the new third division of the Football League ^[8] .

First Football League departure

In , the first season of the newly created third division of the Football League, Gillingham finished again at the bottom, and in subsequent years was no better at that, constantly finishing downstream of the lower division. In 1938, the team graduated from the bottom of the South Zone of the Third Division and was due to apply for for the fifth time since joining the League. This application for re-election failed, and Gillingham returned to the Southern League, and Ipswich Town was promoted to his place ^[9] . Gillingham quickly established himself as one of the strongest teams in the league, winningthe local double is the and the in the season ^[9] . In the season, the team won and the Southern League Championship, during which they set a club record for the best result of the match, defeating 12–1 in a game with Gloucester City ^[10] . Gills also won the league championship in the 1948–49 season ^[11] .

Return to the Football League

In 1950, plans were announced to expand the South Zone of the Third Division of the Football League from 22 to 24 teams, and given their local success in the interim, Gillingham was re-elected to the Football League by an overwhelming majority. ^[11] The team spent eight seasons in the third division (zone South) before restructuring the league system in the season, where they were stationed in the newly created fourth division . They remained in this division until 1964, when manager Freddie Cox led them to increase, winning the first championship in club history. The team finished the season season with 60 points with Carlisle United , but with a slightly better eng ( English goal average ; 1.967 versus 1.948), which was the most difficult finish in the history of the fight for the Football League area championship title ^[12] .

After relegating back to the Fourth Division in the season, Gills was soon re-promoted to the Third Division in the season ^[13] . After that, the club seemed to find its level in the third division, regularly setting itself the task of moving to the next division, which ultimately failed every time, having achieved the greatest success in the season, when they reached the final the first in which they lost to Swindon Town ^[14] . During this period, the club nurtured its future stars, Steve Bruce and Tony Cascarino , who were successfully purchased from Crokenhill Club, which was not part of the League, in exchange for a set of tracksuits, which later became a sensation ^[15] .

In 1987, the Jills hit the headlines when they won major victories two Saturdays in a row - Southend United (8-1) and Chesterfield (10-0) were defeated, the latest result being a record for the club in a Football League match. However, just a few months later, manager Kit Peacock was controversially fired ^[16] , and after 18 months the club fell into the fourth division ^[14] . Subsequent stays in the lower division brought little success, and in the season newly formed Third Division, Jills barely escaped a retirement to the Football Conference ^[14] .

Recent Ups and Downs

Due to financial problems, in January 1995 the club fell under external control, and by the end of the season it was in danger of being expelled from the Football League and closed ^[14] . In June 1995, however, London-based businessman intervened in the process and bought the club. ^[17] He hired a new manager, Tony Pyulis , who led Gillingham to a promotion in his first season, taking second place in the old Third Division (now the Second Football League of England ) ^[5] . In 1999, the Gills entered the playoffs, but lost in the final of the playoffs of the second division of Manchester City . The Jills were scored 2-0 in less than two minutes before the end, however, the Citizens scored twice, equalizing the score in the compensated time, and eventually won 3-1 in * ^[18] . Shortly after losing in the playoffs, Pulis was fired for gross misconduct ^[19] , and Peter John Taylor was appointed club manager ^[20] . In the season Gillingham made it to the playoffs again, where he met Wigan Athletic in the finals at Wembley Stadium . The game ended with a score of 1-1 after 90 minutes, but thanks to goals in extra time from substitutes and , Gills won with a score of 3-2 and were first transferred to the First Division ^[18] .

Taylor then left to run the Leicester City club, and was appointed ^[21] . He led the club to its best result in the league - eleventh place in the 2002-03 season ^[5] , but the next season the club barely escaped relegation only due to the best goal difference . Hessenthaler resigned as manager in November 2004 ^[21] , and new boss ^{[22] was} unable to prevent Giles from being eliminated in League 1 . At the end of the 2007-08 season , the club was again downgraded, this time to League 2 ^[23] , but an immediate return to the third level was achieved through the playoffs after defeating the Shrewsbury Town team ^[24] . In the , however, on the last day the Jills dropped into the bottom four and dropped out into the Second League, failing to win a single away game in the League for the entire season ^[25] . This led to the termination of the contract with the manager ^26] , and Andy Hessenthaler was appointed manager of the club for the second time ^[27] . At the beginning of the 2012–13 season , Hessenthaler was replaced by , who led the club to a class upgrade as League 2 champions in his first season as team leader ^[28] . However, shortly after winning the Second League, Martin Allen was fired after a bad start to the season, which many regarded as an “unexpected dismissal” ^[29] . Peter Taylor returned for a second term in club management, but after his dismissal in December 2014, he was replaced by Justin Edinburgh ^{[30] [31] [32]} . In the 2015/16 season, the first full-fledged season at the head of the club, Edinburgh put Gillingham in second place by the end of the year after a 3-0 victory over Millwall ^[33] . “Gillingham” also managed to defeat the favorite of the Sheffield United league with a score 4: 0 in the first round ^[34] . However, after several serious injuries of leading players, “Gillingham” dropped to ninth place in the First League, losing to “Millwall” in the last round ^[35] . On January 3, 2017, Edinburgh was dismissed along with his entire coaching staff, since at that time the club was 17th in the First League ^{[36] [37]} .

Former Gillingham player returned as manager, but the team approached the retirement at the end of the 2016–17 season. Pennock left the club by mutual agreement in September 2017 ^[38] , and , another former Gills player, took over the club, which he had previously helped manage other managers ^[39] . Lovell left the club two games before the end of the 2018–19 season ^[40] . On May 21, 2019, was announced the new manager of Gillingham. He began his work on June 1, 2019 ^[41] .

The Jills have been playing at Priestfield Stadium throughout their existence ^[42] . The plot of land on which the stadium is located was originally purchased by the founders of the club through the issuance of 1,500 shares at the cost of 1 pound ^[2] . Source data on whether the land was named after the road on which this land was located, Priestfield Road ^[2] , or whether the road was named after the land ^[43] , differ; if the latter takes place, then the origin of the name of the land is unknown. Until the 1930s, this venue was widely developed, but until the end of the 1990s and before the arrival of Paul Skelly as the chairman of the team, there were few changes. Three of the four stands were demolished and rebuilt between 1995 and 2000. The fourth booth, known as the Town End, was demolished to make way for a new booth called the Brian Moore Stand in honor of sports television commentator , who was well known as a fan of Jills, but the club’s financial situation did not allow the construction of a new stand, and since 2003 a temporary stand was put up ^[44] . From 2007 to 2010, the stadium was officially named KRBS Priestfield Stadium as part of a sponsorship deal with the Kent Reliance Building Society ^[45] . In 2011, it was again renamed, this time, in the MEMS Priestfield Stadium, according to another similar agreement ^[46] .

At its peak in the 1940s, the official capacity of the stadium was indicated as “from 25,000 to 30,000 seats” ^[1] , but subsequent restructuring, the removal of terraces and the construction of new facilities led to its reduction to the current value of 11,582 places ^[47] . In the , the average attendance at home matches was 6,077, only 52% of the capacity ^[48] . The venue also hosted the home matches of the England women's football team ^[49] .

The training ground of the club is Beechings Cross, on Grange Road, Gillingham. In 2012, the club was involved in a dispute with the local council, which claimed that Gillingham owed more than £ 30,000 on unpaid bills related to the property ^[50] .

Although Gillingham has long been associated with blue and white colors, the original New Brompton team wore a game uniform consisting of black and white striped shirts with black shorts ^[2] . In 1913, a black and white stripe was discarded in favor of red shirts with blue sleeves, decorated with the coat of arms of the ^[51] . Striped shirts returned after the First World War, before in 1931 they were finally replaced by the usual combination of simple blue shirts and white shorts ^[52] . In recent years, there have been several changes in the blue and white colors.In the late 1990s, the team wore blue and black striped shirts that resembled the original form of New Brompton ^[53] . In the summer of 2003, it was ambiguously announced that the color of the T-shirts of the club’s main form for the next season would be mostly white, not blue. The announcement received such a hostile response from the club’s supporters that the white uniform was replaced with a blue and black hoop uniform, which was initially singled out as the third set of team uniforms ^[54] . In March 2010, the club announced a return to black and blue stripes in the 2010-11 season ^[55] . В честь столетия переименования клуба, комплект 2012—2013 годов был красным с синими рукавами и воротником, а герб клуба был заменён городским гербом. После завоевания титула Лиги 2 в 2012—2013 годах клуб дал владельцам абонементов возможность проголосовать за то, в каких цветах клуб будет играть в сезоне 2013-14 годов, и фанаты решили вернуться к сине-белому комплекту ^[56] .

Нынешний герб клуба — это щит, разделённый по вертикали на половины из чёрных и белых полос и сплошного синего цвета, отражающие изначальные и современные комплекты форм клуба. На синей половине изображена графская эмблема (герб) графства Кент , стоящая на задних лапах белая лошадь, хотя и слегка измененная по сравнению с обычной формой, поскольку грива стилизована под буквы слова «Gills». Этой стороне иногда давали красный или розовый фон, чтобы скоординировать его с гостевыми комплектами формы, содержащими эти цвета. Девиз клуба, который появляется на свитке под гребнем, звучит так: Domus clamantium ; латинское выражение, означающее «Дом кричащих [людей]» ( англ. the home of the shouting men ) ^[57] , традиционный эпитет, связанный с городом Джиллингемом ^[58] . В соответствии с гербом, талисман клуба, Томми Трюблу ( англ. Tommy Trewblu ), представлен в образе лошади ^[59] . Впервые он появился на матче против клуба Маклсфилд Таун в октябре 1998 года ^[60] .

Первым спонсором, появившимся на футболках Джиллингема, был итальянский производитель бытовых приборов Zanussi , который спонсировал клуб в середине 1980-х годов. Среди последующих спонсоров были Chatham Maritime, Medway Toyota, Cannon Tool Hire, , Kool, , SeaFrance , ^{[61] [62]} MHS Homes Group, , ^[45] Automatic Retailing, ^[63] , MEMS Power Generation, ^[64] и унитарной единицы Медуэй .

Current Composition

По состоянию на 2 августа 2019 года ^[65]

Coaches

В течение первых трех лет существования клуба вопросами команды занимался комитет. В 1896 году секретарь клуба, взял на себя ответственность за командные дела, став первым признанным менеджером Джиллингема ^[67] . Бывший игрок сборной Англии был назначен штатным менеджером в 1906 году ^[68] , но ушёл в 1908 году, и Грумбридж снова взял на себя обязанности по управлению командой. Грумбридж более 25 лет был связан с клубом, занимая посты менеджера и секретаря. Когда клуб был принят в Футбольную лигу в 1920 году, был назначен менеджером, но он ушёл в отставку за месяц до начала сезона ^[69] . Его сменщик, шотландец , таким образом, стал первым менеджером, который возглавил команду в матче Футбольной лиги ^[69] .

В 1939 году, через год после того, как клуб был отозван голосованием из Футбольной лиги, Арчи Кларк занял пост менеджера и все еще руководил командой, когда клуб был избран обратно в Футбольную лигу в 1950. Кларк оставался на посту до 1957 года ^[70] . встал во главе клуба в 1962 году и привёл клуб к чемпионству в Четвёртом дивизионе Футбольной лиги в сезоне , что сделало его первым менеджером, выигравшим дивизионный титул футбольной Лиги с клубом ^[71] . был уволен в 1971 году после того, как клуб вновь выбыл в Четвертый дивизион в сезоне ^[71] , но его преемник привёл клуб к возвращению в Третий дивизион три года спустя, до своего противоречивого ухода в отставку ^[72] .

Тони Пьюлис занял пост менеджера в 1995, когда на тот момент Джиллингем снова был в низшем дивизионе, и сумел довести клуб до повышения в классе в первом сезоне под своим руководством. Три года спустя он привёл команду к Второго Дивизиона, но был немедленно уволен после того, как его обвинили в грубом проступке ^[19] . Питер Джон Тейлор сменил его на посту менеджера и привёл клуб ко , по итогам которого Джиллингем впервые поднялся на второй уровень системы лиг английского футбола ^[73] . В 2013 году Мартин Аллен стал вторым менеджером, который привёл «Джилс» к дивизионному титулу в Футбольной лиге, поскольку команда выиграла чемпионат Лиги 2 ^[29] .

Председатели совета директоров клуба

Следующие люди были председателями совета директоров клуба: ^[74]

• Второй дивизион
  • Второе место (2): 1986/87 , 1998/99
  • Победитель плей-офф (1): 1999/00
• Третий дивизион
  • Второе место (1): 1995/96
• Четвертый дивизион
  • Чемпион (1): 1963/64
  • Второе место (1): 1973/74
• Вторая Футбольная лига
  • Победитель плей-офф (1): 2008/09
• Южная Футбольная лига
  • Чемпион (2): 1946/1947, 1948/49
  • Второе место (1): 1947/48
• Второй дивизион Южной Футбольной лиги
  • Чемпион (1): 1894/95
• Кубок Южной лиги
  • Победитель (1): 1946/47
• Лига Кента
  • Чемпион (1): 1945/46
• Кубок Лиги Кента
  • Победитель (1): 1945/46
• Большой кубок Кента
  • Победитель (2): 1945/46, 1947/48
  • Финалист (4): 1938/39, 1948/49, 1949/50, 1994/95

• Официальный сайт клуба (англ.)