Chairman's Letter - Let's Pack Priestfield

Fans given #PackPriestfield offer and competition ahead of Saturday's Doncaster game

Dear fellow supporters,


What an opening month it’s been for us, our most successful August in the club’s history.


Justin and the team have covered 1,925 miles in the opening month of the season and whilst we have already enjoyed good home games against Sheffield United and Wigan Athletic, after a spell on the road it will be a welcome return to Priestfield on Saturday afternoon.


We’ve made a good start to the season and produced a string of fine displays away from home to preserve our unbeaten start to the league campaign. We now have two very tough and important league games at home and it is important we get all supporters behind the boys to spur them on.


I’ve spoken about the special energy around the club at the moment, we’re a tight knit family at Gillingham and our fans play a huge part in that.  I’d encourage all fans that have not picked up a ticket for Saturday’s game to do so. To our loyal season ticket holders, I ask you to invite friends and family to come and check out this young, hungry and hard-working team.


There may be some fans who’ve not visited the club for a couple of years, some friends and family who perhaps have not shown much interest in their local club before. The overwhelmingly positive feedback we’ve had from fans since taking over the catering operations at the club and how this has impacted upon their match day experience has been pleasing.


The variety we offer, especially in our Rainham Terrace, we hope encourages fans to want to come to our games earlier, enjoy socialising in a brighter, more attractive space with food offerings that are appealing, top quality and affordable.


It’s a facility we have that is worth showing off hence why we plan to run a special offer on Saturday to reward fans for their loyalty to us and for bringing a friend with them.


Our fans have set Priestfield alight in our opening two games despite the relatively modest attendance figures we expect during August and the school holiday period. But now we hope that everyone is back and ready to ‘roar us on’. 


If we can pack out Priestfield over the next two weekends, I’ve no doubt we will continue to enjoy some fantastic, memorable afternoons and set September alight too.


To thank fans for their support, we will be asking you to have a drink on us, with a promotion of ‘Buy one, get one free’ on all drinks purchased between 1:30-2:15pm on Saturday afternoon.


I really enjoyed my Q and A with fans on Twitter the other week, so for all our tweeters, we’re also running a competition. If you think you’ve brought the largest number of friends and family with you this Saturday, take a photo of you all at Priesfield and send it to @TheGillsFC. My staff tell me we’re using a hashtag #PackPriestfield – so please share with that.


The best photo, with the largest group of fans supporting the boys, will win an exclusive meet and greet opportunity with the first team squad to be arranged with the manager.


Our team has also created a special image for you to download and use to help spread the word about our Pack the Priestfield campaign. It’s made up of all the images fans have shared with us so far this season. I’m sure you’ll agree it is quite a powerful image and really captures the passionate and vibrant fan base we’re lucky to have here week in, week out but we want more to be a part of it.


I hope you can join us this Saturday and come back to support the boys against Blackpool the following week and throughout the season. Your support is appreciated by all of the players, staff and me. 


Let’s keep Priestfield rocking.


Up the Gills!


Paul D P Scally

Chairman


P.s Have you tried the paella yet?


To book your seats for our upcoming games please click the box below.