ON THIS DAY...

Richard Day reviews this day in the club's history

News relevant to Gillingham FC on this day in history, games, players, debuts etc...

FIXTURES...


1899 - Gravesend Utd 2-2 New Brompton  SLD1
Louis Campbell and Tom Grieve netted in this North Kent derby

1909 - Luton Town 3-0 New Brompton       SLD1

1915 - Gillingham 4-3 Southampton            SLD1
A brace apiece from P Glen and Sam Gilligan edged the Gills to a narrow win

1920 - Southend Utd 0-1 Gillingham           SLD1
An Arthur Wood goal won it at Roots Hall

1926 - Gillingham 1-1 Crystal Palace         D3S   Att: 7,371
Fred Brown struck to secure a home point

1931 - Gillingham 3-5 Exeter C                    D3S   Att: 6,408
Albert Collins, Roy Bethell and James Harbot all netted but the visitors still left with the points

1937 - Gillingham 0-2 Clapton Orient        D3S   Att: 6,277

1948 - Yeovil T 0-1 Gillingham                    SLD1
A Johnny Warsap effort won it in the West Country

1953 - Gillingham 4-2 Shrewsbury T        D3S   Att: 12,082
A double from Paddy Sowden, including a penalty, plus further goals from Rex Cherry and Ken Lambert saw off the Shrews

1954 - Swindon T 2-1 Gillingham           D3S   Att: 7,180
Paddy Sowden was again on target, this time in defeat

1961 - Gillingham 2-0 Southport            D4   Att: 4,128
Alec Farrall and John Shepherd struck the goals as the Gills eased to victory

1961 - C.Palace 2-3 Gillingham 'A'        Seanglian Lge

1965 - Bournemouth 1-2 Gillingham       D3   Att: 7,508
The Gills won at Dean Court thanks to goals from Brian Gibbs and Ron Newman

1971 - Halifax T 2-1 Gillingham                D3   Att: 4,026
The Shaymen took the points despite a Mike Green effort

1971 - Gills Res 3-4 West Ham Utd        FC

1972 - Gillingham 1-1 Peterborough U  D4   Att: 4,228
Bill Williams netted for the Gills against the Posh

1974 - Gillingham 1-0 Peterborough U     D4   Att: 12,577
The top of the table clash saw a Keith Lindsey penalty separate the sides

1976 - Gillingham 2-0 Bury                         D3   Att: 4,732
Goals from Dave Galvin and Joe Durrell shook the Shakers

1981 - Gillingham 1-0 Walsall                   D3   Att: 4,112
A Ken Price effort unseated the Saddlers

1982 - Doncaster R 1-1 Gillingham         D3   Att: 3,902
The Gills took a point from Belle Vue thanks to a John Sitton goal

2004 - Gillingham 1-2 Cardiff C                C     Att: 7,852
Chris Hope had equalised against the Bluebirds but Alan Pouton's penalty miss proved costly

2010 - Oldham Ath 1-0 Gillingham          L1   Att: 3,486

2012 - Folkestone Inv 1-3 Gills Yth          JUC
Goals from Ashley Miller, Josh Hare and Bradley Dack saw the Gills progress to the John Ullmann Cup Final

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DEBUTS...

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

1931 - James Harbot at Exeter

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BIRTHS...

1898 - Ernie Watkins

Born in Finchley Ernie had played non-league football with both Barnet and his home town club before embarking on a career in the Football League when joining Birmingham City.

Spells followed at Southend United, Brentford and Millwall before the centre-forward joined the Gills from Fulham in August 1931 and made his debut the following month against Brentford at home.

After just four games for the club he was on the move again, joining Charlton Athletic where a knee injury forced his retirement from the game.


1945 - Tony Weston

The Yalding born full-back played for both Maidstone United and Bromley as a youngster before joining the Gills, initially as an amateur, in the summer of 1963.

He signed professional terms in November 1963 and was a regular in the reserves, eventually making his debut a year later in a home goalless draw with Grimsby Town.

In his near seven years at the club he made 177 appearances, scoring three times.

His final tally would have been more had he not missed a large chunk of the 1967-68 campaign with a broken ankle sustained in the home game with Oxford United in the October.

In July 1970 he joined Ashford Town before embarking on a personal tour of Kent playing for Folkestone (twice), Tonbridge and Gravesend & Northfleet, before later taking up the role of reserve/youth team manager at Maidstone United.