ON THIS DAY

News relevant to the club on this day previously

Richard Day looks back at news relevant to Gillingham FC on this day in history, games, players, debuts etc...

FIXTURES...

1900 - New Brompton 0-1 Southampton    SLD1

1906 - New Brompton 2-0 Watford            SLD1
A Danny Cunliffe penalty and a Hitch own goal proved enough to beat the Hornets

1909 - New Brompton 5-0 Southend Utd   SLD1
A Joe Satterthwaite hat-trick plus further goals from Albert Court and John Taylor completed this rout against United

1923 - Gillingham 0-1 Swansea Town         D3S 

1928 - Newport Co. 5-0 Gillingham             D3S     Att: 4,354

1934 - Newport Co. 2-2 Gillingham             D3S     Att: 5,460
Wilf Crompton and Bert Williams got the goals to earn the Gills a draw in South Wales

1945 - Gillingham 4-1 Folkestone                KL       Att: 3,090
Tug Wilson (2), Vic Hole and Ling all scored to ensure victory in this Kent derby

1948 Gillingham 2-0 Guildford City            SLD1   Att: 5,545
Syd Gore and Tug Wilson were on target against the Surrey outfit

1951 - Gillingham 4-2 Port Vale                 D3S     Att: 14,354
Derek Lewis notched two goals while Jackie Briggs and Dave Thomas were also on target in this win against the Valiants

1954 - Gillingham 2-1 Brentford                D3S    Att: 8,202
Billy Millar and Jimmy Scarth got the goals that beat the West London side

1955 - Colchester Utd 1-1 Gillingham      D3S    Att: 5,208
Paddy Sowden was on target in the draw at Layer Road

1956 - Gillingham 1-3 Millwall                  D3S    Att: 11,758
Larry Baxter scored but it didn't dent the Lions pride

1962 - Workington 5-2 Gillingham          D4       Att: 4,523
An Alan Johnston own goal plus a Peter Godfrey effort failed to prevent a heavy defeat at Borough Park

1970 - Barnsley 3-1 Gillingham                D3        Att: 7,585
Ray Bailey scored the Gills consolation at Oakwell

1971 - Gillingham 0-0 Workington          D4        Att: 5,856

1973 - Gillingham 5-1 Doncaster Rov     D4        Att: 3,864
Damien Richardson (2), Brian Yeo, Alan Wilks and a David Peach penalty ensured a hefty loss for the Rovers

1979 - Gillingham 1-0 Exeter City           D3        Att: 7,538
Tony Funnell hit the winner against the Grecians

1981 - Gillingham 1-1 Bristol City           D3        Att: 3,887
A Ken Price goal didn't stop the Robins taking a point home

1984 - Swansea City 0-1 Gillingham      D3        Att: 3,784
Dave Mehmet got the only goal of the game at the Vetch Field

1987 - Gillingham 0-1 Chester City        D3       Att: 5,199

1990 - York City 1-1 Gillingham             D4       Att: 2,264
Ian Docker scored his first goal for the club at Bootham Crescent

2001 - Gillingham 1-2 Coventry City      D1      Att: 9,435
The Sky Blues won at Priestfield despite a Paul Shaw effort

2002 - Crystal Palace 2-2 Gillingham   D1      Att: 15,699
A David Perpetuini strike and a Hayden Mullins own goal saw the Gills return from Selhurst Park with a point

2003 - Walsall 2-1 Gillingham                C        Att: 6,395
A Wayne Brown penalty wasn't enough at the Bescot Stadium

2007 - Gillingham 1-1 Leeds United     L1      Att: 8,719
The Gills equalised in the 90th minute through Ian Cox to deny nine-man Leeds a point after they'd seen Tresor Kandol, Jermaine Beckford as well as boss Denis Wise sent-off

2012 - Gillingham 1-2 Rochdale          L2      Att: 5,874
A Danny Kedwell effort couldn't prevent a first league defeat of the season

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DEBUTS...

The following players made their debuts in the above games...

1923 - William Cosgrove versus Swansea

1934 - James Harvey at Newport

1990 - Dave McDonald away at York

1973 - Ian Thorpe against Doncaster at Priestfield

2003 - Bertrand Bossu at Walsall

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BIRTHS...

1900 - Arthur Smeaton

Alex made just three appearances for the club after arriving at Priestfield from Luton Town in June 1930 and making his debut against Brighton & HA on the opening day of the season.


1939 - Peter Hall

The experienced forward cost Gillingham boss Basil Hayward £1,500 when joining from Bedford Town in November 1967.

After scoring on his debut at Bury, Peter made a total of nine appearances before suffering a knee injury that eventually enforced his retirement.


1952 - Peter Henderson

Peter didn't get his chance in the Football League until joining Chester City in December 1978 aged 26.

In the summer of 1980 Gerry Summers paid £30,000 for the services of the centre-forward and he made his debut at Exeter City on the opening day of the season.

He made 11 appearances but an Achilles injury all but ended his playing days at the top level.

After time playing non-league football he trained as a physiotherapist and worked at Birmingham City, Stoke City and Glasgow Celtic.
 

1976 - Darren Byfield

The former Aston Villa forward had played for eight different clubs, many on loan, before joining the Gills from Sunderland in the summer of 2004.

His debut came against Ipswich Town at Portman Road on the opening day and he scored his first goal in the following game against Leeds United.

In all Darren scored 20 goals in 71 appearances for the Gills before rejecting a new deal and joining Millwall in June 2006.

Since then the Jamaican international has played for Bristol City, Doncaster Rovers, Oldham Athletic, Walsall and Solihull Moors. 

He is currently plying his trade at Blue Square Premier side AFC Telford.


1980 - Patrick Agyemang

A £150,000 deal brought the goalscoring winger to Priestfield in January 2004 from Wimbledon making his debut against Derby County at Pride Park.

During his ten-month spell at the club he scored eight goals in 34 appearances before a £350,000 fee took him to Preston NE. 

After a successful spell at Deepdale a similar fee took him to QPR in January 2008.

In five seasons at Loftus Road injuries have seen him appear 83 times overall and included him making his Premier League debut in their away game at Everton. He also had loan spells at Bristol City, Millwall and Stevenage before making the move to Broadhall Way permanently in August 2012.