A seemingly routine 2-0 win over Torquay United in the early stages of the 1963/64 season signalled the arrival of an all time Gillingham great, as Brian Yeo, just 19 years old and released by Portsmouth mere months earlier, grabbed a goal on debut, the first of a club record 149.

"I'd been playing in the reserves, I accepted that I was going to Gillingham to play in the reserve side initially, in the old days, it wasn't quite as important to be breaking through at a very young age." he said.

"Nowadays, if youngsters haven't made the grade at 16 or 17, they tend to be chucked out before they're given the chance, some potential can come a little bit later, nobody seemed to be in such a rush in the old days."

"I got an opportunity early on, which was quite nice, it was my first kick of the game and it was always good to score."

Gillingham manager Freddie Cox, who worked with Yeo in his days at Fratton Park, had already seen enough potential in the forward to bring him to Priestfield in July 1963, and while Yeo admitted it was disheartening to leave the south coast club, he was keen to prove himself in league football.

"I made a couple of appearances at 'Pompey' but I wasn't retained by George Smith, who was the manager there at the time, Freddie Cox offered me terms to come to Gillingham, which I accepted and was quite happy to.

"I had an offer from Yeovil, who were a Southern League club at the time, but I didn't have many other alternatives to be quite honest, it was a case of staying in the league for me.

"I had played with Freddie Cox for a couple of years and there were a few players I'd played with at Portsmouth there which made it easier for me, I wasn't going somewhere where I didn't know anyone.

"Rodney Taylor and Jimmy White moved to Gillingham from Portsmouth at the same time, it was quite easy to move down really, the only problem we had was that when I eventually came down to Gillingham, I didn't have anywhere to stay!"

Yeo's recollection of his first day as a Gillingham player is testament to the traditional values of English football and the amount of change it has undergone in recent times.

"I can remember walking to the ground on a Sunday morning with the luggage I'd brought with me from Portsmouth, I'd been told to go there, I remember arriving and thinking no-one was there.

"All of a sudden, someone came out of the players entrance, it was the chairman of the club, Dr. Grossmark, I introduced myself and he asked me where I was staying.

"I told him I didn't have anywhere, fortunately I knew Bob Smith who lived nearby so Dr. Grossmark took me over to his house and Bob and his family put me up for a few nights until the club got me some digs, in those days you accepted what was there."

Despite his instant impact in the Gillingham first team, Yeo was restricted to just 10 more league appearances that season as the club won the only football league title in their history, securing promotion to the Third Division along the way, but they were to struggle for most of Yeo's 12-years at Priestfield, making his goalscoring feats all the more impressive.

"If you look at the records, we seemed to be battling relegation during most of my time at the club, the good years were few and far between, it's a lot harder playing down at the bottom than at the top!

"Back when I played it was the time of changing playing systems, I was one of those players, being an inside forward, who was caught in between the two, I played a lot of games in midfield for Gillingham, which wasn't my best position by far."

Yeo's best days in a Gillingham shirt, by his own admission, came under the stewardship of Andy Nelson, during which time he equalled Ernie Morgan's club record of 31 league goals in a single season, writing his name into the club's history books for the first time.

"Andy Nelson played me off the centre forward, usually Damien Richardson, that was the best pairing we had, those were the most enjoyable years I've had from a football point of view.

"Playing in that position and doing what I was best at, getting in the box and nicking a goal, wasn't too complicated to be honest, as I knew Ernie Morgan and I was a friend of his, equalling his record was a nice feeling."

Despite the coverage of football statistics not comparing to today's multi-media efforts, Yeo was made aware of the fact he was edging closer to breaking the club's all time goalscoring record, and he remains proud of the achievement to this day.

"You couldn't avoid it really, it was in the newspapers, it's quite nice to know you were there for quite a few years and you still hold the record, obviously everyone wants to hang onto their record.

"I'm sure someone will come along one day and break it, when that happens, it happens, but it's nice to know you scored a lot of goals, particularly for me as a striker.

Andy Nelson left the club for Charlton Athletic in 1974, and with Yeo and his wife looking to the future, the Gillingham talisman considered calling time on his career.

"We had bought a newsagents in Gillingham, and it was very difficult trying to run a shop and play football at the same time.

"I'd already done it for a year and if it hadn't been for her looking after the shop at the time, I probably couldn't have done that, ironically, that was the year I equalled Ernie's record.

"There was a lot of strain on her to run the shop, I'd had a good year, and thought it was probably the best time to call it a day, I told Dr. Grossmark how I felt and I told the club I was finishing.

"Len Ashurst came along from Hartlepool and asked me to play a year part-time, which I did, I didn't make that many appearances that year, Peter Feely scored quite a few goals for him so I was mainly used as a sub."

12 months on, despite another plea from manager Ashurst to continue playing on a part-time basis, with a record of 356 Gillingham appearances, 136 league and 13 cup goals, Yeo announced his retirement.

"By then I didn't feel as if I was doing myself or the club justice and felt it was best to bow out, I was probably a little bit young when I look back on it, but sometimes you can go on a little bit too long.

"The shop probably came along too early in my career, we weren't on great money and in the long run, from a financial point of view, it was better for me to concentrate on the business which we did for around 18 years, looking back, it probably was the right thing to do."

Yeo tried his hand at non-league management following on from his playing days, taking charge at Folkestone and Canterbury City in the 1970's and 80's, again running his business alongside following his passion for football.

"I did that to get football completely out of my system and then broke away from it altogether, I enjoyed it at the time but trying to get lads who are working all day to make midweek trips to Basingstoke or Waterlooville is quite difficult, eventually that got a bit too much."

Yeo has now been enjoying his retirement for five years, and while he still keeps an interest in his former clubs, he now finds himself very much at home on the golf course.

As the man himself says, inevitably some day his long standing record will be broken, but Brian Yeo's place in Gillingham's history will remain forever assured.