Gillingham

The club

Gillingham were founded in 1893 as New Brompton Football Club and took the town's name in 1912. They play at Priestfield Stadium in Gillingham, Kent, currently carrying the sponsored name MEMS Priestfield Stadium, capacity 11,582. The club are known as the Gills and play in blue shirts with white shorts. The club motto is Domus clamantium, "the home of the shouting men". Brad Galinson has held the majority stake since December 2022. Gillingham are the only Football League club based in Kent.

Recent seasons

Gillingham have been a League Two club for four seasons and are about to start a fifth. They were tenth in League One in 2019/20 with 51 points in a season curtailed by the pandemic, and tenth again in 2020/21 with 67. In 2021/22 they finished 21st with 40 points and were relegated. In League Two they were 17th in 2022/23 with 55 points, 12th in 2023/24 with 64, 17th in 2024/25 with 58, and 17th again in 2025/26 with 53 points from 46 games, a record of 13 wins, 14 draws and 19 defeats and a goal difference of minus 19. That is four mid-to-lower table finishes in a row despite significant investment since the 2022 takeover.

Honours and landmarks

Gillingham won the Fourth Division in 1963/64 and League Two in 2012/13. They won the Southern League in 1946/47 and 1948/49, and the Southern League Cup in 1946/47. They won the Second Division play-off final in 2000 to reach the second tier for the first time, and the League Two play-off final in 2009. They won the Kent Senior Cup in 1945/46 and 1947/48. Record attendance at Priestfield is 23,002 against Queens Park Rangers in the FA Cup on 10 January 1948. Ron Hillyard, a goalkeeper, holds the appearance record with 657 games between 1974 and 1990. Brian Yeo is the leading league scorer with 136 goals between 1963 and 1975. Record fee received is £1.5m for Robert Taylor to Manchester City in 1999; record fee paid is £600,000 for Carl Asaba from Reading in 1998.

Notable scorelines

Record victory: 10-0 against Chesterfield in a Football League match in September 1987. Record defeat: not stated in the sources consulted and not established. The 10-0 is the more useful of the two, and Chesterfield are in League Two this season, though Gillingham do not play them until 1 September.

Head-to-head notes

Gillingham do not publish all-time head-to-head records that could be retrieved, and none could be established for any 2026/27 League Two opponent. Several fixtures have a transfer line rather than a historical one. Striker Josh Andrews left for Grimsby Town on 1 July 2026, defender Remeao Hutton for Chesterfield on 17 July, and forward Elliott Nevitt for Oldham Athletic, all three now League Two opponents. Coming the other way, Kadeem Harris arrived from Salford City and Nick Freeman from Shrewsbury Town, both also League Two clubs. The Chesterfield fixture carries both the 1987 record win and the Hutton move. No published all-time record was found for any individual pairing.

Right now (2026/27)

Gareth Ainsworth is the manager. His appointment date could not be established from the sources consulted and should be checked.

The squad has been rebuilt substantially. Arrivals: midfielder Zane Albarus from Brighton and Hove Albion on a free transfer, left wing-back James Brophy from Cambridge United, striker Will Goodwin from Oxford United, centre-back Liam Gordon from Motherwell, winger Kadeem Harris from Salford City, goalkeeper Lennon MacLorg from Charlton Athletic, midfielder Nick Freeman from Shrewsbury Town, and centre-back Samuel Tabares from Southampton. No fees were published.

Departures were all releases or out-of-contract exits rather than sales, with no fee recorded for any of them: Josh Andrews to Grimsby Town on 1 July, Lenni Cirino to Hednesford Town on 2 July, Remeao Hutton to Chesterfield on 17 July, Shadrach Ogie to Woking on 25 July, and Glenn Morris to Dorking Wanderers, Elliott Nevitt to Oldham Athletic, Euan Williams to Dover Athletic and Marcus Wyllie to Aldershot Town on dates not published.

Pre-season has been poor in results terms. Gillingham lost 0-3 at Dover Athletic on 14 July, lost 0-1 at home to Charlton Athletic on 18 July, beat Millwall 1-0 at Priestfield on 21 July, lost 0-1 at Chatham Town on 24 July and lost 1-2 at Brentford B on 25 July. They were due at Ebbsfleet United on 31 July. One win in five going into the season.

League Two begins on 15 August 2026. Gillingham's opening fixture is at home to Walsall on Saturday 15 August. They then go to Fleetwood Town on 22 August, host Northampton Town on 29 August, go to Chesterfield on 1 September and to Rochdale on 5 September, and host Tranmere Rovers on 12 September.

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gillingham_F.C. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Gillingham_F.C._seasons https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026%E2%80%9327_Gillingham_F.C._season https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025%E2%80%9326_EFL_League_Two https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026%E2%80%9327_EFL_League_Two

Researched and written for not4quarters. Where a fact could not be established from the sources read, this page says so rather than guessing.