Martin Allen's side equal 1984-85 record
On Saturday Martin Allen's Gillingham equalled a club record of ten away wins in a season thanks to Cody McDonald’s second-half strike against Bradford City at the Coral Windows Stadium.While goals are of course important in any victory it also helps to be strong at the other end and there have been six clean sheets recorded in these wins.
The Gills have only previously won 10 games away from home once before which was in the 1984-85 season, under the management of Keith Peacock.
However research shows that back then it took until the last away game of the campaign, when goals from Tony Cascarino and Dave Mehmet completed a 2-0 Division Three win over Reading at Elm Park, that the tally actually reached double figures.
That season’s previous wins had come at Orient (4-2), Wigan (1-0) and Swansea (1-0) all of which came in September, then trips to Lancashire in November saw both Burnley (1-0) and Bolton (2-1) defeated then a 1-0 win at Doncaster in December saw the total at six at the turn of the year.
It took until March that the Gills tasted success on the road once again but a 3-0 victory at Newport was followed by a 2-1 triumph at Cambridge United before Walsall succumbed to a 1-0 loss in April.
What with nine away games remaining this season, including tonight’s trip to York City, there is a great chance of the record being broken along the way.