The new look Gillingham Ladies entertain Bedford Town Bells this Sunday in the first competive match since their affiliation with Gillingham Football Club. After 16 years of being independent this match will be one of the team's most historic. The match kicks off at 2pm this Sunday at Woodstock Park, Sittingbourne.

After a hectic pre-season new Manager Martin Andrews is looking forward to the tie, " I spent the last 4 or 5 weeks constantly on the phone trying to arrange friendlies, organise venues for training and already there have been a few sleepless nights. We only played 3 matches and realistically I would have liked a couple more, I would also have liked to see the ladies tested a lot more, as apart from the Palace match it probably was too easy. We beat Deal Town 5-1, lost to Crystal Palace 4-1 and last Sunday beat Ashford Town 8-1 but I didn't get to see as much of the team as I would have liked" 

Andrews is pleased with the look of his squad, "I've been really impressed with the quality of players in the squad, technically they are very good and it has really opened my eyes to the quality of ladies football. My eight year old daughter Liberty is in awe of them and was first to get their autographs. Now we need to push them and get them more focused, and make them realise that they are now not just Gillingham Ladies but representing Gillingham Football Club which itself is a massive honour for all of us involved"

The other addition to the coaching staff this summer is Ian Varley who arrives as Assitant Manager, "Ian is a very experienced coach and player, he works for The FA and currently plays for Sittingbourne. We are very fortunate to have him on board, as he has has played football at a serious level and that means a lot to the team. The first thing Ian and I did was to sit down and assess how we can make the girls more professional, we need to make them realise that they are representing a massive football club, and the attention to detail we have put in is immense"

Also coming on board is Mark Crawford who is a specialist goalkeeping coach, Mark previously spent the last 2 years working with Charlton Athletic Ladies, and is now working with the girls Centre Of Excellence. Mark's knowledge in goalkeeping is immense, he had his first session with our keeper Alison Smith on Tuesday night, and I have never seen a player beaming so much after just one session. Ali's attitude since I came in has been fantastic and she has never in 16 years had a specialist coach, so I cant wait to see Ali's development in a months time. Mark coming on board is a massive coup not only for the Ladies but for the Centre of Excellence and credit must go to Kerry Craigie and Pete Sayer for getting him on board."

So what of Sunday's match, last season the Ladies beat them 5-2 away in September but lost 2-1 at home.  According to Ian Varley  "The girls are buzzing and are really looking forward to it, their fitness is at fantastic levels, and we cannot wait for the game to come. In the last part of the match against Ashford you really saw how fit the ladies were as we hit 4 goals in the last 20 minutes. We also hit the post 3 times, we are only looking forward now and whats in the past is in the past"

The squad on Sunday is exactly the same as the 8-1 win against Ashford Town with Jac Fiddyment being sadly unavialble  "Jac is a big blow for us, I feel for her as she is the all time goalscorer and longest serving player. For her to miss this milestone match is hurting her. For us to be a strong squad we need to have competion for places, we've got Anna Broad, Kirsty Goodall & Kylie Overton who will all be eager to do there best and give me a real headache for when Jac returns from injury. We have a good squad, however I would like to add another one or two players in various postions to really push us on. We wont just settle, the players have to be better than we currently have, and then they must work hard to get into the starting line up"

Gillingham Squad:-