Weekly update of what has been happening at the club…
Additions to the Ladies Squad
This week the Gills welcomed two new signings to the club, April Bowers and Ellie Manning who have joined from West Ham Ladies. Ellie was Gills players of the season in 2014/15. Both players will be a great addition to the squad and we look forward to seeing them both on the pitch.
Gills hit a treble against Old Actonians
This week Gillingham Ladies were on the road for their next league game against Old Actonians with another good performance and win, making it three consecutive league wins.
Preparation for the match was not ideal with the team caught in traffic which meant the kick off time was delayed by 15 minutes and had less time for the pre-match warm up; however, this did not appear to have any effect on the team. The Gills started brightly with good early possession and broke the deadlock on 2 minutes with a great individual goal from birthday girl Shannon Redhouse, the Gills then had numerous good chances in the first half but were unable to double their lead.
The second half started in style with Kallie Balfour hitting the crossbar and then the post with a great strike unfortunately it did not go in, then Old Actonians hit back straight away with a shot of their own. The home side’s possession was short lived as Shannon Redhouse dribbled into the box and passed to Kallie Balfour who had time to take a touch and finish in the bottom corner to take the Gills lead to 2-0. Old Actonians had a period of pressure in the second half on the Gills goal and had a goal ruled out for offside.
Substitutes Lydia Wills, Vanisha Patel and new signing April Bowers were introduced mid-way through the second half. Five minutes before the end of the match Rachel Aherne picked up an injury and due to all substitutes being used Manager Darren Hare took the decision to move her up front. Wills picked the ball up wide and played a square ball into the box and Rachel Ahern was in the perfect position to slot the ball home to increase the score line to 3-0! Shannon Redhouse was voted player of the match by the opposition which was well deserved.
Opportunity to be a match day mascot
The Gills have joined forces with Kent Girls and Ladies League to offer its clubs a unique opportunity to be match day mascots. All affiliated clubs within the Kent Girls and Ladies League are invited to apply to be the Gills mascot.
The mascot experience will start with a behind the scenes tour and meet and greet with the first team in their dressing room, mascots will be invited to watch the Gills warm up in preparation for their fixture and walk out with the team to perform the pre-match Respect handshake. Mascots will also perform ball girl duties.
Girls Centre of Excellence travel to Hampshire
COE U11-17s travelled to Hampshire FA for their fixture on Saturday 19 September.
The COE are holding a number of Open Evenings this season for coaches and volunteers of grassroot clubs to find out more about the Centre of Excellence programme. The first session will be held on 28 September.
Girls Academy
The team attended Mid Kent College this week to promote the Football League Trust Female Football Development Programme (FLT FFD) at the Freshers Fair. The first session of this year’s FLT FFD Programme was held at Brompton Academy with a great group of girls.
Congratulations to all of the Wave 1 participants from our Summer programme with National Citizen Service, who attended the NCS graduation evening celebrating their achievements.
This week saw career talks held for the Girls Academy squad including Myles Ball from UCFB who spoke to the girls about the degrees available at Wembley Stadium and Burnley. The squad also swapped tracksuits for jeans on Friday 18 September to support Jeans for Genes Day.
Schools can now sign up for the 2015/16 Football League Girls Cup (U13s) and the winning schools will win the right to represent Gillingham FC in the national stages of the tournament and could progress all the way to the final and the opportunity of playing at Wembley Stadium.
Season Tickets
With only 2 home games played so far Season Tickets are still great value and are available to purchase from the club’s ticket office, as well as at match days and online.
Season Tickets cost £25 and enable Gills Ladies fans to access all league home games and half price tickets for cup fixtures.
Next League Fixtures
The next league game for Gills Ladies is away to Luton Town LFC on Sunday 27 September at 2pm.
Please note due to upcoming cup fixtures 2 home league games (4 and 18 October) and 1 away league fixture (11 October) will be re-arranged to an alternative date and the home fixture against Crystal Palace on 23 September has also been postponed.
Cup Fever
The Gills will travel to Southampton Saints LFC for the first round of the FA Womens Premier League Cup on Sunday 4 October at 2pm.
The SSE Womens FA Cup third qualifying round sees the Gills host AFC Wimbledon Ladies on Sunday 11 October at Chatham Town FC at 2pm.
The Gills start the defence of the Kent FA Womens Cup against Dartford Royals at Chatham Town FC on Sunday 18 October at 2pm.
The Gills will travel to Bury Ladies FC for the first round of the Ryman League Cup on Wednesday 21 October at 7:45pm
Tickets for all cup games are £3 for adults, £1.50 for season ticket holders and free entry for under 16’s.