Richard Day reviews this day in the club's history
News relevant to Gillingham FC on this day in history, games, players, debuts etc...FIXTURES...
1897 - New Brompton 1-0 Reading SLD1
David Skea netted the only goal of the game
1901 - Bristol City 2-0 New Brompton SLD1
1904 - New Brompton 1-1 Bristol Rov. SLD1
A goal from JW White earned a point
1915 - QPR 3-0 Gillingham SLD1
1926 - Millwall 0-0 Gillingham D3S Att: 12,169
1932 - Crystal Palace 1-0 Gillingham D3S Att: 11,596
1937 - Reading 6-2 Gillingham D3S Att: 6,775
Efforts from Tom Robinson and William Duncan weren't enough at Elm Park
1954 - Gillingham 2-0 Southampton D3S Att: 13,024
Goals from Trevor Long and Paddy Sowden proved too much for the Saints
1960 - Gillingham 2-0 Bradford PA D4 Att: 7,281
Pat Terry and John Shepherd scored the goals in this win
1963 - Gillingham 2-4 Port Vale FAC3 Att: 6,713
The Gills were knocked out despite goals from Brian Gibbs and George Francis
1965 - Gillingham 1-0 Carlisle Utd D3 Att: 14,384
Rodney Green got the winner against the Cumbrians
1971 - Gills Res 4-4 Swansea C FC
1976 - Walsall 4-0 Gillingham D3 Att: 5,493
1982 - Gillingham 3-2 Plymouth Arg D3 Att: 4,835
Steve Bruce, Tony Cascarino and loanee David Kemp against his parent club, got the goals
1988 - Gillingham 3-1 Doncaster R D3 Att: 4,049
A Steve Lovell double, including a penalty, and Mark Cooper found the net against the Rovers
1990 - Gillingham 2-1 Carlisle Utd D4 Att: 29,81
Billy Manuel and Peter Heritage were the marksmen in this one
1993 - Gillingham 1-1 Doncaster R D3 Att: 2,995
A David Crown effort earned a point
1996 - Gillingham 0-0 Scunthorpe Utd D3 Att: 5,547
1999 - Burnley 0-5 Gillingham D2 Att: 8,981
Robert Taylor was the hero at Turf Moor netting all five including a penalty
2010 - Carlisle Utd 2-0 Gillingham L2 Att: 4,646
Two goals from Ian Harte, including a penalty, saw the Gills make the long journey home pointless.
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Debuts...
The following player made his Gillingham debut in the above games...
1926 - John Ward at Millwall
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Births...
1933 - Irvine Gray
The outside left arrived at Priestfield in August 1956 having been unable to win a first-team place at Barnsley.
It was the following month that he made his debut against Swindon Town at home, the first of just nine appearances in his one season with the club.
Spells at a number of Kent clubs followed, including a player-manager role at Sheppey United before returning to Gillingham where he was youth coach alongside Bill Collins.
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Deaths...
1989 - David Whitelaw
The former Bristol City goalkeeper joined Gillingham from Southend United in the summer of 1935 and made his debut at Reading in September.
He went on to make 155 appearances in various competitions for the club.
After departing the club, the Glaswegian guested for Bournemouth,Chester and Wrexham during World War II
David died aged 69 in Oxford on this day in 1989.
1990 - Les Ames
The Kent and England cricketing legend proved he had ability with a bigger ball having spells at Charlton Athletic and Clapton Orient, where he played 14 league games, before coming to Priestfield in September 1931.
He quickly made his Gills debut at outside-left against Luton Town at Kenilworth Road and went on to score once, against Bristol Rovers, in a total of just five appearances.
Les, a wicketkeeper/batsman, had made his first-class debut for Kent in July 1926 against Warwickshire at the Nevill Ground in Tunbridge Wells while the first of his 47 England games came on in August 1929 against South Africa at the Oval.
After finishing playing in 1951, he went on to become a successful manager and administrator in the cricketing world, managing three M.C.C. tours, the 1966-67 Under-25's to Pakistan, and the senior sides to the West Indies in 1967-68 and Ceylon and Pakistan in 1968-69.
He was also the first former professional player to be appointed as a Test selector in 1950, continuing until 1956 before serving again in 1958.
From 1960-74 he was the secretary and manager of Kent County Cricket Club, taking Kent, under the captaincy of another Kent legend Colin Cowdrey, to the County Championship in 1970 with one-day cricket greatness following.
Les died suddenly at his home in Canterbury on February 27, 1990, aged 84, and around a thousand people were to attend a memorial service in his honour Canterbury Cathedral.