Continuing our look at clubs in League two during the build-up to the start of the new campaign…
FACT FILE
Team Name: Gillingham Football Club
Nickname: The Gills
Year Founded: 1893
Stadium: MEMS Priestfield Stadium
Capacity: 11,582
2023/24 SEASON
Gillingham were fancied as one of the favourites to go up at the start of the 2023/24 season and they showed why early on – winning six of their opening eight games. They also defeated Championship side Southampton in the EFL Cup before narrowly losing to Premier League Luton Town in the second round. Performances started to drift from late September and head coach Neil Harris was dismissed from his role in early October. Kieth Millen took interim charge of the team until the start of November when Stephen Clemence was appointed as head coach. The Gills started to become harder to beat from December until the start of March, only losing twice in the league in that period. Their form seemingly flipped straight after as they could only muster two more victories in their final 11 games. Gillingham ended up in 12th place, six points off the play-off places, and Clemence left the club after the final game of the season.
MANAGER
Mark Bonner started his coaching career in 2002, working as an academy coach at Cambridge United and then later Southend United. He would return to Cambridge in 2011 to work in a number of positions – mainly in the academy. However, in 2018 he was named as a first-team coach for manager Shaun Derry. Bonner would get a couple spells as caretaker manager in the coming years before being named permanent manager in 2020. The Cambridge-born coach spent three years in charge at the Abbey Stadium, winning promotion to League One in 2021. He was sacked in November 2023 but was named as manager of Gillingham in May.
KEY PLAYER
Elliott Nevitt became one of the statement signings this summer when he swapped Crewe Alexandra for Gillingham. Despite struggling earlier on in the Football League career, the forward burst into life last campaign and was a big reason behind Crewe’s run to the play-off final.
Last season in numbers:
Appearances – 52
Goals – 18
Assists – 2
Yellow Cards – 13
Red Cards – 0
Minutes Played – 3,402
PLAYED FOR BOTH
Darren Oldaker signed his first professional contract with Gillingham in 2016 after spending a year in their academy. He made intermittent appearances as he looked to break into the first team. The midfielder had a loan spell at Hythe Town in 2019 and left Gillingham in 2019.
After impressing for Dorking Wanderers as they achieved promotion to the National League, Oldaker joined Chesterfield in the summer of 2022. The Guidlford-born player quickly established himself in the starting line-up and became an important player. In the two years he has spent in North Derbyshire, Oldaker has made 75 appearances, scored six goals and helped the Spireites to the National League title.
HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD
P 7 W 23 D 17 L 30
Gillingham have the better record between the two clubs since the first competitive fixture back in 1961. Since the start of the 2010s, the Spireites have only lost twice in the last ten meetings against their Kent counterparts.
PREVIOUS GAME
The two sides last met on Valentine’s Day in 2017 at Priestfield. The hosts took control of proceedings in the first half and had an effort that struck the woodwork. Gillingham eventually took the lead with just over 20 minutes to play; Max Ehmer met a corner, his header looped over Lloyd Allinson and the ball found the back of the net. However, with the clocking ticking into added time, Tom Anderson lashed home from close-range to snatch a point against the run of play.
