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...


1902 - New Brompton 0-0 Bristol R   SLD1

1913 - Gillingham 2-0 Exeter City   SLD1
Goals from Sam Gilligan and P Glen were enough to beat the Grecians

1919 - Brighton & HA 3-0 Gillingham   SLD1

1924 - Aberdare Ath 2-1 Gillingham   D3S
Fred Brown was on target in Wales

1930 - Gillingham 0-0 Clapton Orient   D3S   Att: 8,445

1952 - Gillingham 2-1 Torquay Utd   D3S   Att: 12,623
Trevor Long and Ken Lambert were the scorers against the Gulls

1958 - Gillingham 2-2 York City   D4   Att: 12,023
The Gills scorers against the Minstermen were Bill Patrick and Gordon Pulley

1966 - Bristol R 4-1 Gillingham   D3   Att: 9,113
A Brian Yeo goal was scant consolation

1969 - Barrow 1-1 Gillingham   D3   Att: 2,877
Mike Green netted in this draw in the North West

1975 - Shrewsbury T 1-0 Gillingham   D3   Att: 3,242

1980 - Rotherham Utd 2-0 Gillingham   D3   Att: 5,903

1983 - Gillingham 3-1 Exeter City   D3   Att: 3,943
Steve Bruce and Mark Weatherly (2) were the scorers against City

1986 - Gillingham 1-0 Carlisle Utd   D3   Att: 4,204
Howard Pritchard notched the winner here

1997 - Northampton T 2-1 Gillingham   D2   Att: 7,191
A goal from Ade Akinbiyi wasn't enough at Sixfields

2003 - Wigan Ath 1-0 Gillingham   C   Att: 6,696
 
2005 - Gillingham 2-0 Crawley Town   FLT1R   Att: 1988
Extra-time goals from Danny Jackman and Frannie Collin eventually saw off the Conference side

2008 - Bradford City 2-2 Gillingham   L2   Att: 12,432
Simeon Jackson scored twice as the Gills came from two down - despite having Mark Bentley red-carded

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DEBUTS...

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

1952 - George King against Torquay at Priestfield

1983 - Phil Cavener at home to Exeter

2005 - Tony Bullock, Frannie Collin and Jon Wallis against Crawley
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BIRTHS...

1904 - Jim Forsyth
Jim arrived from Portsmouth in June 1928 but had to wait until October before making his debut at home to Crystal Palace.

He made 34 league appearances for the club before moving to Millwall at the end of the season.


1958 - Howard Pritchard
The experienced Welsh international winger, previously at Bristol City and Swindon Town, cost the Gills £22,500 in August 1986 and made his debut at Newport County.

He scored 23 goals, including a New Year’s Day hat-trick against Walsall, in his 113 appearances in his two seasons with the Gills.

A £20,000 deal took him to Walsall in July 1988 and later returned to Kent for a spell at Maidstone United.


1970 - Ricky Pearson
The centre-half joined the Gills as a trainee having previously played for Chatham's youth team.

By the time Ricky signed professional terms in July 1989 he had already made his first-team debut as a substitute against Bolton Wanderers at home.

He made a total of 11 appearances for Gillingham and later played for a host of non-league clubs around Kent.


1973 - Andy Arnott
The Chatham-born centre-forward came through the ranks at Gillingham turning professional in May 1991.

His first-team debut came as a goalscoring substitute in a 2-0 home win against Scarborough early in the following season.

A trial at Manchester United never led to anything and Andy went on to score 14 goals in 96 games for the Gills.

Spells at a number of other clubs followed until a groin injury enforced his retirement in February 2001.