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...

NEWS…

1987 - The Gills splash out a six-figure fee for the first time when centre-forward Mark Cooper is signed from Tottenham Hotspur for £102,500

1992 - Manager Damien Richardson and assistant Ron Hillyard were dismissed following the 3-0 loss at the Dell in the Coca Cola Cup

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FIXTURES…

1904 - Plymouth A 3-2 New Brompton         SLD1
John Morris and Joe Elliott both scored in this defeat at Home Park

1910 - New Brompton 0-0 Northampton T  SLD1

1921 - Gillingham 1-2 Portsmouth                 D3S
Centre-half John Waugh but Pompey took the points

1927 - Gillingham 1-2 Coventry City              D3S  Att: 4,667
The Sky Blues won despite a Jonah Wilcox goal

1932 - Luton Town 2-1 Gillingham                D3S  Att: 6,244
George Nicol netted as the Gills lost at Kenilworth Road

1949 - Gillingham 1-1 Torquay Utd Res.     SLD1 Att: 9,312
Harold Williams was on target in this draw

1955 - Shrewsbury T 3-1 Gillingham           D3S  Att: 9,724
A Paddy Sowden goal wasn't enough at Gay Meadow

1958 - Gillingham 3-0 Gateshead                 D4    Att: 4,335
Two goals from John Edgar and another from Bill Patrick saw the Gills to an easy victory

1960 - Darlington 2-2 Gillingham                  D4   Att: 6,708
John Shepherd scored twice as the Gills drew at Feethams

1960 - Gillingham 'A' 0-3 Margate                 Seanglian Lge

1966 - Torquay Utd 4-1 Gillingham           D3   Att: 5,771
A Charlie Crickmore goal was purely a consolation at Plainmoor

1969 - Reading 1-0 Gillingham                  D3   Att: 6,128

1977 - Gillingham 2-1 Rotherham Utd     D3   Att: 7,854
A Ken Price double was enough to grind out a result against the Millers

1983 - Gillingham 2-0 Preston NE       D3           Att: 3,725
Terry Cochrane and Mark Weatherly were the scorers against the Lilywhites

1985 - Portsmouth 2-1 Gillingham     MC2-2L   Att: 7,629
An own goal by Kevin Dillon didn't help as the Gills went out at Fratton Park

1988 - Gillingham 0-1 Chesterfield     D3           Att: 2,877

1994 - Gillingham 1-0 Torquay Utd     D3           Att: 2,450
Chris Pike scored the winner against the Gulls at Priestfield

2011 - Gillingham 1-1 Port Vale          L2           Att: 4,676
Danny Kedwell equalised with a 63rd minute penalty after Marc Richards had put Vale ahead

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DEBUTS…

The following player made his Gillingham debut in the above games…

1983 - Terry Cochrane versus Preston at Priestfield

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BIRTHS…

1929 - Harry Hughes
The former Southport, Chelsea and Bournemouth centre-half came to Priestfield in the summer of 1958 and made his debut on the opening day of the season against Millwall.

He went on to make 221 appearances for the Gills, being an ever-present for three consecutive seasons. Harry scored 16 goals for the club, 11 of which came from the penalty spot.

In June 1963 he joined Guildford City where a broken leg sustained in September 1965 ended his playing days.


1938 - Terry Simpson
The experienced Simpson played for Southampton, Peterborough United, WBA and Walsall before joining the Gills in July 1968.

He had made 41 appearances on the bounce before suffering a broken leg in the home game with Crewe in March 1969 that ended his career.

Terry became the player-coach under Basil Hayward for the 1970-71 campaign before returning to his home-town of Southampton.


1960 - Peter Gleasure
The experienced goalkeeper played three games on loan for the Gills from Northampton Town in February 1991, making his debut at home to Chesterfield.


1964 - Andy Kennedy
The Scot had attracted some reasonable transfer fee's earlier in his career at the likes of Birmingham City, Blackburn Rovers, Watford and Brighton & HA.

He arrived at Gillingham under boss Mike Flanagan in September 1994 following a trial but the centre-forward made just two substitute appearances, his debut coming against Preston at home, before going to Hong Kong just two months later.


1976 - Christian Lee
Peter Taylor paid £35,000 to Northampton Town for the services of the centre-forward in August 1999.

His debut came as a substitute at Bury on the opening day but he made just five appearances for the Gills during an injury-plagued time at Priestfield.

Christian had spells on loan at Rochdale and Leyton Orient before signing for Bristol Rovers in March 2001.


1988 - Marvin Hamilton
The versatile left-footed performer joined the Gills youth set-up in 2006 from Waltham Forest.

He made six first-team appearances under Ronnie Jepson in the 2007-08 season making his debut as a first-half substitute for Aaron Brown at Luton.

Marvin went on to play for Dover Athletic, Cypriot side APEP Pitsilia, Hemel Hempstead Town and is currently at Blue Square South Eastbourne Borough.