ON THIS DAY

News relevant to the club on this day previously

Richard Day looks back at news relevant to Gillingham FC on this day in history, games, players, debuts etc...

FIXTURES...

1903 - New Brompton 0-0 Plymouth A    SLD1

1908 - Reading 0-1 New Brompton          SLD1
The winning goal came from Arthur Pickett at Elm Park

1914 - Gillingham 4-0 Swindon T            SLD1
Goals from Sam Gilligan (2), Ernie Pinkney and a Tom Leslie penalty saw the Robins well beaten

1925 - Gillingham 0-0 Charlton Ath       D3S     Att: 7,544

1931 - Watford 2-0 Gillingham               D3S     Att: 10,079

1936 - Swindon Town 3-0 Gillingham    D3S     Att: 8,748

1953 - Southampton 1-0 Gillingham      D3S     Att: 17,801

1959 - Bradford PA 3-0 Gillingham       D4       Att: 6,104

1962 - Oldham Athletic 2-1 Gillingham D4      Att: 17,175
An Alec Farrall goal wasn't enough for a point at Boundary Park

1964 - Gillingham 2-0 Port Vale             D3      Att: 8,839
Two goals from Brian Gibbs was enough against the Valiants

1970 - Gillingham 1-4 Bristol Rovers     D3     Att: 4,748
A Ken Pound goal couldn't stop the Pirates plundered the points

1970 - Bournemouth 1-0 Gills Res          FC

1972 - Gillingham 4-0 Darlington           D4    Att: 1,932
A sparse crowd missed a great display as Brian Yeo (2), George Jacks and Alan Wilks hit the target

1977 - Port Vale 2-2 Gillingham             D3    Att: 3,418
Ken Price and John Crabbe were the scorers in the draw at Vale Park

1981 - Plymouth Arg. 1-2 Gillingham    D3   Att: 3,094
Goals from Trevor Lee and Richie Bowman earned the Gills victory at Home Park

1984 - Leeds Utd 3-2 Gillingham    LC2-2L  Att: 11,109
Dave Shearer and Tony Cascarino both netted at Elland Road but it wasn't enough

1987 - Gillingham 3-0 Bristol R             D3   Att: 4,399
David Smith, Steve Lovell and Howard Pritchard goals ended Rovers hopes

1992 - Doncaster R 1-0 Gillingham       D3   Att: 2,477

1998 - Gillingham 3-0 Wycombe W      D2   Att: 4,575
A Robert Taylor double plus a Mark Saunders goal were more than enough to beat the Chairboys

2009 - Gillingham 3-2 Wycombe W      L1   Att: 5,316
Goals from Josh Gowling, Curtis Weston and Simeon Jackson saw the Gills scrape a win

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DEBUTS...

The following players made their Gillingham debuts in the above games...

1987 - Mark Cooper and Gavin Peacock at home to the Pirates

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BIRTHS...

1912 - William Cronin

The Scot arrived at Priestfield Stadium in August 1931 and made the first of just two appearances at Clapton Orient three months later.


1968 - Brian Clarke

The central defender joined the Gills as a schoolboy in October 1983 and progressed through the ranks to sign professional terms in the summer of 1987.

His first-team debut came early the following season when Swansea City were the visitors.

Brian was with the club for four seasons but a serious knee injury kept his appearances down to 52.


1970 - Rod Thomas

The right-winger joined the Gills on loan from Watford in March 1992 and made his debut in the home game against Mansfield Town.

He scored one goal, in a 3-3 draw at Chesterfield, in eight appearances for the club.

Rod later played for Carlisle United, Chester City and Brighton & HA.


1974 - Ade Akinbiyi

Tony Pulis' pursuit of the striker eventually paid dividends when a then club record fee of £250,000 saw him join from Norwich City in January 1997.

He first pulled on a Gills shirt in a reserve game against Crawley Town at a foggy Town Mead but his debut came at Notts County and he opened his goal account the following week in a 4-1 win against Plymouth Argyle at Priestfield.

After scoring 29 goals in 68 games a £1.2 million offer from Bristol City saw him heading to Ashton Gate and big money moves to Wolves (£3.5m) and Leicester City (£5m) followed.

 
1981 - Danny Spiller

Danny, born in Maidstone, came through the ranks at Priestfield and has now made 179 appearances for the club in his two spells.

He left for Millwall in June 2007 but his spell at the New Den was plagued by injuries and he appeared for both Welling United and Dagenham & Redbridge before returning to Priestfield in the summer of 2010 following Andy Hessenthaler's return.

At the end of the 2011-12 campaign he was one of a number of players to be released and signed for Luton Town of the Blue Square Premier..

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DEATHS...

1976 - Ernest Watkins

The centre-forward made just four appearances for the Gills after joining from Fulham in August 1931, making his debut against Brentford at home.

Within three months he had moved on, joining Charlton Athletic.

Ernest died in his home town of Finchley on 10th October 1976.