1993–94 Gillingham F.C. season

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League Cup
First round
League TrophyFirst round
Top goalscorerLeague: Nicky Forster (18)
All: Nicky Forster (18)
Highest home attendance4,573 vs Northampton Town (27 December 1993)
Lowest home attendance1,091 vs Colchester United (28 September 1993)

During the

league table
in October, the team spent most of the season in the bottom half and finished 16th.

Gillingham also competed in three

Football League Trophy. The team played a total of 49 competitive matches, winning 14, drawing 17, and losing 18. Nicky Forster was the team's top goalscorer, with 18 goals, all scored in the Football League. He also made the most appearances, playing in 46 of the team's 49 competitive matches. The highest attendance recorded at the club's home ground, Priestfield Stadium, was 4,573, for a game against Northampton Town
.

Background and pre-season

The

FA Premier League in 1992.[2] Gillingham had finished 21st in the 22-team division in the 1992–93 season, narrowly avoiding relegation into non-League football.[3]

Gillingham's

coach role.[9] Gary Micklewhite, another highly experienced player, joined Gillingham from Derby County.[10][11]

A new

away kit, to be worn in the event of a clash of colours with the home team, was all red with similar black and white panels on the shirts.[12] The team prepared for the new season with a number of friendly matches, including one against Charlton Athletic of the First Division. Alan Gough, a goalkeeper who had recently left Fulham, played on a trial basis against Charlton but Gillingham opted not to sign him to a contract.[14]

Third Division

August–December

Brunton Park, Carlisle
Gillingham's win at Carlisle United's Brunton Park (pictured in 2007) was the club's first league victory away from home for more than 18 months.

Gillingham's first match of the season was at their home ground, Priestfield Stadium, against Chesterfield. Both Smillie and Micklewhite made their debuts in a game which finished 2–0 to Gillingham's opponents;[15][16] a week later the team again lost without scoring a goal, losing 3–0 away to Rochdale.[17] Gillingham's next five league games all ended in draws; Paul Baker scored the team's first league goal in the first of these games, a 2–2 draw at home to Scarborough.[17] Steve Banks, a 21-year old goalkeeper who had joined the club five months earlier, made his debut in the following game at home to Doncaster Rovers, replacing the previous season's regular goalkeeper, Scott Barrett.[18] After a late goal from Nicky Forster gave the team a third consecutive league draw against Wycombe Wanderers, Flanagan told the press that "the sign of a good side is that they can roll their sleeves up and battle back."[19]

Following their run of five consecutive league draws, which set a new club record,

sent off after less than 15 minutes; it was the first time the team had won away from home in the Football League since March 1992.[22][23] The team's run of seven league games without defeat ended when they lost 1–0 away to Walsall on 9 October; Barrett was recalled to the team for the next game, in which Gillingham beat Darlington 2–1 at Priestfield with goals from Andy Arnott and Neil Smith to rise to 14th in the table.[24] Gillingham's next game, away to Crewe Alexandra, resulted in a 1–0 defeat, but the team then won two consecutive home games, defeating Colchester United 3–0 and Hereford United 2–0.[17][25] The two victories took the team up to 10th place in the table.[26] Forster scored in both games, taking his total of league goals for the season to 7, more than any Gillingham player had achieved in the whole of the previous season.[17][27]

Banks resumed the position of goalkeeper in early November and would remain in the starting line-up until April.[28] Following the win over Hereford on 2 November, Gillingham lost four of the next five games and slipped to 17th in the division.[29] The run included consecutive defeats in the first three matches of December against Lincoln City, Rochdale, and Chesterfield;[17] against Rochdale Baker was sent off again.[30] Forster scored Gillingham's second goal against Chesterfield, meaning that he had scored in six of the last seven league games.[16] Gillingham ended their losing run in the final game of 1993 on 27 December, beating Northampton Town 1–0 at home with an own goal from Steve Terry; the attendance of 4,573 was the largest recorded at Priestfield during the season.[31] The start of the match was delayed by 40 minutes as an electricity board worker had to be called out to disengage a timer switch which prevented the floodlights being turned on on weekday afternoons.[32][33] Gillingham ended the year 17th in the table.[34]

January–May

Priestfield Stadium
Gillingham's first game of 1994 was a home win at Priestfield Stadium (pictured c. 1987) against Bury.

Gillingham began 1994 with a second consecutive 1–0 win at Priestfield, defeating Bury with a goal from Smillie on 1 January;[17] the result took the team back up to 14th in the table.[35] Two days later, Banks kept a third consecutive clean sheet as Gillingham drew 0–0 away to Doncaster; it was the first league game since October in which Gillingham failed to score a goal.[17] Having failed to score in four consecutive games, Forster was relegated to the substitutes' bench for the game at home to Walsall on 22 January and was replaced in the starting line-up by Baker, who made his first appearance since before Christmas and scored in a 1–1 draw.[28] Seven days later, Forster came off the bench to score the winning goal away to Colchester in the final minute of the game.[16][36]

Forster once again came on as a substitute and scored in Gillingham's first match of February, a 3–1 defeat at home to Crewe.[16] It was the first in a run of five league games in which Gillingham achieved no wins and scored only two goals.[17] Forster returned to the starting line-up for the game away to Preston North End on 12 February but failed to score and the game finished goalless.[16] The last game of February and the first of March both resulted in 1–0 defeats, at home to Wycombe and away to Chester City.[17] Gillingham ended their winless run with a 1–0 win away to Torquay United on 5 March, but lost again seven days later away to Shrewsbury Town.[17] The team had now not won at home in more than two months and had slipped to 15th in the table.[37] In the final game of March, Forster scored for the first time in eight games as Gillingham defeated Carlisle 2–0 at Priestfield.[16]

Gillingham began the month of April with a second consecutive victory, winning 2–1 away to Northampton, and followed this with two consecutive 2–2 draws at Priestfield, against Chester and Preston.

play-offs for potential promotion to the Second Division and 13 points above 22nd-placed Northampton, who were relegated from the Football League.[40] Gillingham had the 12th best home record in the division but their overall position suffered from the fact that only two Third Division teams had a worse season away from home.[41][42]

Match details

Key
Results[17]
Date Opponents Result Goalscorers Attendance
14 August 1993 Chesterfield (H) 0–2 3,485
21 August 1993 Rochdale (A) 0–3 2,092
28 August 1993 Scarborough (H) 2–2 Baker, Forster 2,526
31 August 1993 Doncaster Rovers (H) 0–0 2,923
4 September 1993 Wycombe Wanderers (A) 1–1 Forster 6,226
11 September 1993 Torquay United (H) 2–2 Forster, Green (pen.) 2,927
18 September 1993 Shrewsbury Town (A) 2–2 Baker, Green (pen.) 2,811
25 September 1993 Scunthorpe United (H) 1–0 Smillie 2,872
2 October 1993 Carlisle United (A) 2–1 Forster (2) 6,449
9 October 1993 Walsall (A) 0–1 4,639
16 October 1993 Darlington (H) 2–1 Arnott, Smith 3,063
23 October 1993 Crewe Alexandra (A) 0–1 3,611
30 October 1993 Colchester United (H) 3–0 Green, Forster, Reinelt 3,964
2 November 1993 Hereford United (H) 2–0 Arnott, Forster 3,168
6 November 1993 Mansfield Town (A) 1–2 Forster 2,421
20 November 1993 Wigan Athletic (H) 2–2 Forster, Baker 2,751
27 November 1993 Lincoln City (A) 1–3 Baker 2,979
11 December 1993 Rochdale (H) 1–2 Forster 2,493
18 December 1993 Chesterfield (A) 2–3 Micklewhite, Forster 2,348
27 December 1993 Northampton Town (H) 1–0 Terry (o.g.) 4,573
1 January 1994 Bury (H) 1–0 Smillie 3,576
3 January 1994 Doncaster Rovers (A) 0–0 1,830
15 January 1994 Darlington (A) 1–2 Henry 2,111
22 January 1994 Walsall (H) 1–1 Baker 3,211
29 January 1994 Colchester United (A) 2–1 Smith, Forster 3,273
5 February 1994 Crewe Alexandra (H) 1–3 Forster 3,713
12 February 1994 Preston North End (A) 0–0 6,167
19 February 1994 Scarborough (A) 1–1 Baker 1,527
26 February 1994 Wycombe Wanderers (H) 0–1 4,302
1 March 1994 Chester City (A) 0–1 3,128
5 March 1994 Torquay United (A) 1–0 Green 3,353
12 March 1994 Shrewsbury Town (H) 0–2 3,095
19 March 1994 Scunthorpe United (A) 1–1 Baker 2,386
26 March 1994 Carlisle United (H) 2–0 Carpenter (pen.), Forster 2,627
2 April 1994 Northampton Town (A) 2–1 Carpenter, Forster 4,628
4 April 1994 Chester City (H) 2–2 Baker, Butler 3,165
12 April 1994 Preston North End (H) 2–2 Forster (2) 2,453
16 April 1994 Hereford United (A) 0–2 1,964
19 April 1994 Bury (A) 0–0 1,687
23 April 1994 Mansfield Town (H) 1–0 Forster 2,464
30 April 1994 Wigan Athletic (A) 0–2 1,346
7 May 1994 Lincoln City (H) 1–1 Carpenter (pen.) 2,759

Partial league table

Main article: 1993–94 Football League § Third Division
Football League Third Division final table, positions 13 to 18[40]
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
13 Bury 42 14 11 17 55 56 −1 53
14 Scarborough 42 15 8 19 55 61 −6 53
15 Doncaster Rovers 42 14 10 18 44 57 −13 52
16 Gillingham 42 12 15 15 44 51 −7 51
17 Colchester United 42 13 10 19 56 71 −15 49
18 Lincoln City 42 12 11 19 52 63 −11 47

Cup matches

FA Cup

As a Third Division team, Gillingham entered the 1993–94 FA Cup in the first round and were drawn to play away to Yeading of the Isthmian League Premier Division, two levels lower in the English football league system, who had progressed through four qualifying rounds to reach this stage of the competition for the first time.[43][44] The game was played at Church Road, home of Yeading's local rivals Hayes, as the police deemed the crowd segregation facilities at Yeading's ground, The Warren, to be inadequate.[45] Gillingham were held to a 0–0 draw by their semi-professional opponents, necessitating a replay at Priestfield.[46][47] In the second match, Gillingham scored three goals in the first half and ultimately won 3–1.[48] In the second round, Gillingham played away to Plymouth Argyle of the Second Division; Richard Green missed a penalty for Gillingham, who lost 2–0.[30][49][50]

Match details

Key
Results[51]
Date Round Opponents Result Goalscorers Attendance
13 November 1993 First Yeading (A)[a] 0–0 2,285
30 November 1993 First (replay) Yeading (H) 3–1 Smith, Micklewhite, Baker 2,285
4 December 1993 Second Plymouth Argyle (A) 0–2 6,051

a. ^ The match was played at Hayes's Church Road ground, but remained officially a home game for Yeading rather than being considered to have taken place at a neutral venue.[52]

Football League Cup

As a Third Division team, Gillingham entered the

aggregate score of 2–1.[54]

Match details

Key
Results[55]
Date Round Opponents Result Goalscorers Attendance
17 August 1993 First (first leg) Brighton & Hove Albion (H) 1–0 Reinelt 3,330
25 August 1993 First (second leg) Brighton & Hove Albion (A) 0–2 4,410

Football League Trophy

The 1993–94 Football League Trophy, a tournament exclusively for Second and Third Division teams, began with a round in which the teams were drawn into groups of three, contested on a round-robin basis. Gillingham were grouped with fellow Third Division team Colchester United and Cambridge United of the Second Division. Gillingham's first group match was at home to Colchester in late September and resulted in a 0–0 draw;[56] the attendance of 1,091 was the lowest recorded at Priestfield during the season.[31] Five weeks later, Gillingham played their second group game away to Cambridge and lost 2–0.[57] With only one point from the two games, Gillingham finished third in the group and failed to qualify for the second round, ending their participation in the competition.[58]

Match details

Key
Results[59]
Date Round Opponents Result Goalscorers Attendance
28 September 1993 First (group) Colchester United (H) 0–0 1,091
9 November 1993 First (group) Cambridge United (A) 0–2 1,463

Player details

During the course of the season, 24 players played for Gillingham in competitive matches. Forster made the most appearances, playing in 46 of the team's 49 games; he missed only one Third Division match and both of the team's two League Trophy games. Mark Dempsey made the fewest appearances, playing only one game.[31]

Eleven players scored at least one goal for the team. Forster was the highest scorer with 18 goals, all scored in Third Division matches. No other player reached double figures; Baker came closest with 9 goals but no other player scored more than 4.[31]

Player statistics[31]
Player Position
Third Division
 FA Cup League Cup League Trophy Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Andy Arnott FW 10 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 12 2
Paul Baker FW 33 8 3 1 0 0 2 0 38 9
Steve Banks GK 29 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 33 0
Scott Barrett GK 13 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 16 0
Gary Breen DF 22 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 24 0
Tony Butler DF 27 1 3 0 2 0 1 0 33 1
Richard Carpenter MF 40 3 2 0 1 0 1 0 44 3
Paul Clark DF 13 0 2 0 1 0 2 0 18 0
Steve Crane FW 6 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 10 0
Mark Dempsey MF 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0
Joe Dunne DF 37 0 3 0 1 0 0 0 41 0
Tony Eeles MF 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 3 0
Nicky Forster FW 41 18 3 0 2 0 0 0 46 18
Richard Green DF 39 4 2 0 2 0 1 0 44 4
Paul Hague DF 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 3 0
Liburd Henry FW 14 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 1
Eliot Martin DF 9 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 13 0
Gary Micklewhite MF 29 1 2 1 2 0 0 0 33 2
Lee Palmer DF 28 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 32 0
Robbie Reinelt DF 25 1 3 0 1 1 2 0 31 2
Neil Smillie MF 38 2 1 0 2 0 0 0 41 2
Neil Smith MF 35 2 3 1 1 0 1 0 40 3
Robin Trott DF 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0
Paul Watson DF 14 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 17 0

FW = Forward, MF = Midfielder, GK = Goalkeeper, DF = Defender

Aftermath

Eight days after the last game of the season, the club staged a gala centenary match at Priestfield featuring two teams of past and present Gillingham players managed by former Gillingham player

receivership.[62][63] Flanagan was made redundant by the administrators and replaced by Smillie for the remainder of the season.[64][65] Gillingham finished the season 19th in the Third Division, but the club's continued existence remained in doubt.[66][67] In June 1995, however, the club was saved from going out of business when it was purchased by businessman Paul Scally.[68][69]

References

  1. ^ Rollin 1993, p. 231.
  2. ^ Murray, Andrew (19 April 2021). "How the Premier League breakaway happened: The first season of 1992/93, as told by its heroes". FourFourTwo. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  3. ^ Rollin 1993, p. 589.
  4. ^ Elligate 2009, p. 112.
  5. ^ "Roeder appointed Watford manager – Football". The Times. 10 July 1993. Retrieved 12 December 2008 – via NewsBank.
  6. ^ Bateson & Sewell 1994, p. 273.
  7. ^ Rollin 1994, p. 235.
  8. ^ Pike, Keith (13 July 1993). "Deane transfer causes split – Football". The Times. Retrieved 12 December 2008 – via NewsBank.
  9. ^ Triggs 2001, p. 299.
  10. ^ Triggs 2001, p. 220.
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  13. ^ Triggs 1999, p. 12.
  14. ^ "Matchpoints". Gillingham Vs Chesterfield Matchday Programme. 14 August 1993.
  15. ^ Triggs 2001, pp. 220, 299.
  16. ^ a b c d e f Rollin 1994, pp. 232–233.
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Rollin 1994, p. 232.
  18. ^ Triggs 2001, p. 52.
  19. ^ Alexander, Jeremy (6 September 1993). "Soccer: Hard act to follow - Third Division: Wycombe 1, Gillingham 1". The Guardian. p. 12. Retrieved 6 March 2022 – via Gale.
  20. ^ Elligate 2009, p. 132.
  21. ^ "League Division 3 table after close of play on 18 September 1993". 11v11. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
  22. ^ Elligate 2009, p. 152.
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  26. ^ "League Division 3 table after close of play on 2 November 1993". 11v11. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
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  28. ^ a b c Rollin 1994, p. 233.
  29. ^ "League Division 3 table after close of play on 18 December 1993". 11v11. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
  30. ^ a b "Matchpoints". Gillingham Vs Bury Matchday Programme. 1 January 1994.
  31. ^ a b c d e Brown 2003, p. 103.
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  39. ^ Triggs 2001, p. 89.
  40. ^ a b Rollin 1994, p. 589.
  41. ^ "League Division 3 end of season table for 1993-94 season (home matches only)". 11v11. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
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  52. ^ Rollin 1995, p. 608.
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  54. ^ Rollin 1994, p. 619.
  55. ^ Rollin 1994, pp. 616, 619.
  56. ^ Rollin 1994, p. 636.
  57. ^ Rollin 1994, p. 638.
  58. ^ Rollin 1994, p. 639.
  59. ^ Rollin 1994, pp. 636, 638.
  60. ^ Elligate 2009, p. 87.
  61. ^ Triggs 2001, p. 122.
  62. ^ Elligate 2009, p. 14.
  63. ^ Moore, Glenn (27 March 1995). "Football Commentary : Little pity for the poor relations". The Independent. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  64. ^ Elligate 2009, p. 43.
  65. ^ "Administrators make Flanagan redundant; Football". The Times. 1 March 1995. p. 40. Retrieved 20 December 2021 – via Gale.
  66. ^ Rollin 1995, p. 555.
  67. ^ Elligate 2009, p. 81.
  68. ^ Elligate 2009, p. 105.
  69. ^ Kelso, Paul (15 February 2002). "Scally's rocky road to Highbury". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 26 January 2008. Retrieved 26 May 2011.

Works cited

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