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…
1899 - Brighton Utd 2-1 New Brompton SLD1
Malcolm Lennox got himself on the scoresheet
1922 - Norwich City 2-0 Gillingham D3S
1928 - Gillingham 2-0 Walsall D3S Att: 4,296
A Jonah Wilcox double proved enough to earn the points
1933 - Gillingham 3-2 Southend Utd D3S Att: 5,816
Sim Raleigh scored twice, including a penalty, and James Liddle added another against the Essex side
1950 - Gillingham 4-2 Gravesend & N SLD1 Att: 11,158
Horace Williams, Hughie Russell, Bill Burtenshaw and George Forrester all netted in a comfortable home win
1961 - Brentford 1-1 Gillingham 'A' Seanglian Lge
1967 - Gillingham 0-0 Swansea T D3 Att: 6,593
1978 - Oxford Utd 1-1 Gillingham D3 Att: 5,002
Danny Westwood slotted home for the Gills at the Manor Ground
1984 - Brentford 2-3 Gillingham D3 Att: 4,317
Goals from Russell Musker, Tony Cascarino and John Leslie saw the Gills to victory at Griffin Park
1988 - Gillingham 0-0 Brentford D3 Att: 4,002
1995 - Gillingham 0-0 Lincoln City D3 Att: 4,191
2003 - Leeds Utd 1-2 Gillingham FAC4R Att: 29,355
A Guy Ipoua effort couldn't prevent the Gills bowing out at Elland Road
2006 - Chesterfield 1-1 Gillingham L1 Att: 4652
Tommy Black put the Gills ahead but the Spireites equalised late on
2013 - Gillingham 0-1 Wycombe W L2 Att: 4,758
The Sky Cameras were at Priestfield for this game
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DEBUTS...
The following players made their Gillingham debuts in the above games...
1989 - Tim O'Shea versus Brentford
2006 - Gary Mulligan at Chesterfield
2013 - Anton Robinson as a substitute against Wycombe
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BIRTHS...
1932 - Gordon Brown
The Scot had been at Blairhall Colliery, Blackburn Rovers and Newport County before arriving at Priestfield in June 1959.
Having made his debut against Gateshead in an amazing 5-4 win at home on the opening day of the season, the outside-left went on to total 13 goals in 73 games.
After leaving Gillingham in July 1961 Gordon remained in Kent and played for both Ashford Town and Sittingbourne.
1934 - George Francis
The Acton born centre-forward had played for Grove Athletic, Paddington, QPR and Brentford (twice), where he enjoyed a prolific spell, before a £4,000 deal brought him to Priestfield in August 1962.
He made his debut at home to Chester in August 1962 and went on to net 21 times in 58 games with one of his goals, at Newport in April 1964, clinching the Fourth Division title.
After leaving Gillingham in August 1964 he had spells at Hastings United, Hillingdon Borough and Stevenage.
1948 - Tony Thear
Previously with Arsenal and Luton Town, Gills manager Basil Hayward brought him to Priestfield in February 1967.
Although a regular in the Combination [reserve] side he had to wait until the trip to Grimsby Town on the penultimate day of the season to make his debut.
He made another eight appearances, scoring once in a 3-1 home win against Swindon, before joining Bedford Town in August 1968.
Tony later played for Folkestone before becoming player-manager at Dunstable Town in October 1972.
1952 - Mervyn Cawston
The Norfolk born goalkeeper played for hometown club Diss before joining Norwich City as an apprentice in the summer of 1967.
He turned professional at Carrow Road two years later but found first-team opportunities limited and found himself being loaned out to Southend United, Newport County and Chicago Sting.
Gerry Summers brought him to Priestfield in May 1976 and he made his debut early the following season at Walsall.
Mervyn made 21 consecutive appearances before he lost his place to Ron Hillyard and in March 1977 he completed a £8,500 move to rejoin NASL Sting on a permanent deal.
After returning to England in August 1978 - a £20,000 deal seeing him return to Southend where he enjoyed more than five years.
He left Roots Hall in March 1984 and had spells at a large number of league and non-league clubs mostly in the south-east.
1959 - Martin Hodge
The Everton goalkeeper came on loan to Gillingham in January 1983 as cover for the injured Hillyard and he made the first of four appearances away at Oxford United.
Despite Keith Peacock's interest in signing him permanently, he returned to Goodison Park as the two clubs failed to agree a fee and was to eventually cost Sheffield Wednesday £50,000 in September 1983.
At Hillsborough he made a club record 214 consecutive appearances and throughout his career played in more than 500 League games for a number of clubs.
1989 - Febian Brandy
The young Manchester United forward joined the Gills on loan in November 2009 and scored on his debut in an FA Cup tie with Southend United at Priestfield.
In all Febian made nine appearances in his three months at the club, adding one further goal.
Short spells followed at Notts County and Panetolikos in Greece before signing for League One Walsall in the summer of 2012.
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DEATHS...
1981 - Joe Jacques
Born in North-East town of Consett, Joe played for England Boys before joining the groundstaff at First Division Preston North End in 1959.
Spells at Lincoln City, where he made his Football League debut, Darlington, Southend United preceded a move to Gillingham when boss Andy Nelson paid £5,000 for the defender in November 1972 and he made his Gills debut in a 4-2 home win against Bradford City.
The skipper scored one goal for the club, against Colchester United at Priestfield in April 1973, in 76 appearances for the Gills before moving to Dartford in December 1974.
He later played for both Hartlepool United and Crook Town.
On this day in 1981, at the age of just 36, Joe died of a heart attack at his Darlington home.
2000 - Gordon Brasted
Gordon played for hometown club Burnham Ramblers as a boy before signing for Arsenal in March 1953. He proved to be a prolific goalscorer for the "A" and Reserve teams before succumbing to a major cartilage problem.
He had a short spell at Gillingham in 1956-57, scoring four goals in five games which included a hat-trick against Aldershot, but the injury proved too great and he returned to his old club Burnham Ramblers, helping out as a weekend activity.
It became a lifelong passion and in 1999 he was presented the Award of Merit by the Essex County F.A. for thirty-year’s service to football.
Gordon died in Burnham on Crouch on this day in 2000.