Gillingham Football Club

This week Gillingham Ladies welcomed a new signing to the club, Paige Baker-Carroll, who has joined from Brighton & Hove Albion Ladies. Paige is a great addition to the squad and we look forward to seeing her on the pitch!

Gillingham Ladies were in action twice this week, scoring 15 goals and conceding only one goal to continue the teams good run of form and extend the unbeaten run to 8 games. Well done girls! 

The first fixture was at home to Dartford Royals in the Kent FA Womens Cup on Sunday, October 18. Gills Ladies were proud to welcome Gillingham Centre of Excellence girls to be mascots for the match, with the girls playing on the pitch and joining the team in the changing room before the game.

  

Manager Jack Wheeler welcomed the return of Chelsea Wallace to the starting line up following an injury lay off and Charlie Thurston lead the team in the absence of skipper Lauren Williams. 

Gills Ladies made an impressive start and opened the scoring in the first few minutes with Paige Baker-Carroll who beat two defenders and coolly placed the ball into the back of the net. Kallie Balfour drilled a deep cross to April Bowers who hit a looping shot from a difficult angle that slotted nicely in the top right corner. Lydia Wills broke away on goal and showed some great composure to make it 3-0.

Paige Baker-Carroll continued her fantastic debut and scored her second of the game, a free kick from Maddison North was played to her in front of goal. Her first shots were saved but the rebound sat perfectly and she slotted the ball into the bottom corner to make it 4-0. 

Late on in the first half a mistake by Gills Ladies defence was capitalised on by Dartford Royals and a powerful shot was placed into the top corner to make it 4-1. 

Gills Ladies started the second half looking for a fifth goal but chances were easily dealt with by the Dartford Royals defence. Emma Tune had a great chance to score with a delightful free kick which cannoned off the crossbar and fell to Kallie Balfour who was in front of goal but she was caught offside. 

Gills Ladies made a double substitution on 55 minutes with Shannon Redhouse and Emma Tune replacing Chelsea Wallace and Lydia Wills. The final substitution was made on 65 minutes with Georgia Reece replacing Ashleigh Loosemore.

With fifteen minutes of the second half to play Gills Ladies goalkeeper Courtney Shanly pulled up with an injury and due to all three subs being used Rachel Ahern transferred admirably from defence to goalkeeper for the remainder of the game. However, this did not affect the team and they added a superb fifth goal. A corner was played out to Jade Keogh on the edge of the penalty area who hit a beautiful lob, which dipped over the goalkeeper and into the back of the net to make it 5-1. Late on Rachel Ahern now goalkeeper was called into action and made a good save.

Gills Ladies Manager Jack Wheeler stated “the opening period of the game was very pleasing, particularly the transition from warm up to the game which led to the early goal. Second half we had good possession but the team eased off the gas massively, which allowed Dartford Royals back into the game. One of the many positives was that again there were a number of Centre of Excellence graduates in the team, overall it was a good win and we are into the next round of the cup”.

Gills Ladies second fixture this week, was away to Bury Ladies FC in the first round of the Ryman League Cup on Wednesday, October 21.  Manager Jack Wheeler made several changes to the team that won 5-1 against Dartford Royals. 

Even though there was 20 minute delay to the kick off, Gills Ladies opened the scoring early in the first half with Emma Tune setting up Shannon Redhouse down the wing and her positive run lead to a sweeping ball across goal and Paige Baker-Carroll showed great composure to finish.

Gills Ladies continued to enjoy a lot of good possession and time on the ball. A couple of good saves were required by the Bury Ladies goalkeeper before a prolific period of play late on in the first half that started with a counter attack with a great run through the middle by Shannon Redhouse with another cool finish to double the lead.

A third goal extended the lead with Jade Keogh provider who spotted the run of Paige Baker-Carroll who was positioned in the right place to slot home. Then shortly after Paige Baker-Carroll had another chance and fired Gills Ladies further into the lead. Ashleigh Loosemore with a great ball to set up Shannon Redhouse who unselfishly cut the ball back to Paige Baker-Carroll to supply the simplest of finishes and make it 5-0.

The second half began with some early opportunities for Gills Ladies. Paige Baker-Carroll with a quality turn and finish to make it 6-0. Paige then played a one two with Lydia Wills before beating the defence and finished with finesse to make it 7-0 and her fifth of the night.

Manager Jack Wheeler made his first substitution mid way through the second half with Georgia Reece and Rachel Ahern replaced by Fiona Constable and Hollie Musmeci.

Another great piece of attacking and it was Paige Baker-Carroll with yet another goal, this time a tap in to make it 8-0.  Emma Tune was given time and picked her spot from a difficult angle and placed the ball into the top corner to make it 9-0.

Lydia Wills had been instrumental in Gills Ladies attacking play throughout the game and she was rewarded for her hard work in the last few minutes of the game and took the scoreline to double figures (10-0).

For full match reports and post match interviews, please click here

We are extremely proud to announce that Jade Keogh has been nominated for Gills FC Goal of the Month for September, for her sublime free kick against Norwich City Ladies. Good luck Jade. You can vote for Jade here.

Following a reshuffle of Gills Ladies coaching team, the club are looking for a new assistant manager. If you're ambitious, dedicated and passionate about coaching and are interested in the role, please email Charlotte Richardson crichardson@priestfield.com.

The club are also looking for a part time Performance Analyst intern to join the team, training for this role will be given and this role can be carried out remotely. If you are interested in this role, please send your CV to Nick Gearing ngearing@priestfield.com.

The Kent Girls and Ladies League have joined forces with Gills Ladies to offer all affiliated clubs within the Kent Girls and Ladies League a unique opportunity to be Gills Ladies match day mascots. 

If you would like your team to have the chance to experience this fantastic opportunity for our next home game against Herne Bay Ladies in the SSE Womens FA Cup on Sunday November, 8 please contact Charlotte Richardson crichardson@priestfield.com.

Since the start of the season there has only been two home league games played, a Season Ticket is still great value and are available to purchase from the club’s ticket office at Gillingham FC, as well as at home match days and online via Season Ticket.

Season Tickets enable Gills Ladies fans to access all league home games and half price tickets for cup fixtures.  Adult Season Tickets cost £25 (free entry for U16s).

Support for the team was great again with 120 supporters attending the match against Dartford Royals but we would love to see more supporters come and watch the team. We look forward to seeing all the supporters at our next game.

The next league game for Gills Ladies is away to Bedford LFC on Sunday, October 25 (kick off 2pm) and the next home league game is on Sunday, November 15 (kick off 2pm) against Old Actonians.

Gills Ladies postponed first game of the season against Ipswich Town FC has been rescheduled to take place on Sunday, March 20.  For full fixture list please click here.

Gills Ladies host Herne Bay Ladies in the fourth qualifying round of the SSE Womens FA Cup and the match will take place on Sunday, November 8 (kick off 2pm).

Gills Ladies travel to Lewes Ladies in the second round of the FA Womens Premier League Plate and the match will take place on Sunday, November 29 (kick off 2pm).

The draw for the second round of the Ryman League Cup has taken place and Gills Ladies will host Tottenham Hotspur LFC, date to be confirmed.

Tickets for all cup games are £3 for adults, £1.50 for season ticket holders and free entry for under 16s.

A positive visit to Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday, October 17 is followed up with another away day, this time to Middlesex this Saturday, October 24.

We are pleased to be offering Coaches Open Evenings over the course of the season, these sessions are for all coaches and volunteers of grassroot clubs and are free to attend. The next session is being held on Wednesday, November 4, the evening will be hosted by our Technical Director, Mark Patterson who will deliver a session on ‘counter attacking to finish and managing overloads’ with our U13 squad. Coaches will have the opportunity to go pitch side and ask questions about the session and topic. For more information or if you would like to attend please contact Centre Manager, Georgia Bowie gbowie@priestfield.com or 01634 350125. The open evening will provide coaches with two FA CPD (Continuous Professional Development) hours. 

 

 

Gillingham Football Club’s official Club charity ‘Take Heart Mercy Mission’ has departed for another trip to Sri Lanka to perform life-saving heart surgery on young children with serious heart defects, children who would be unlikely to survive without the surgery they receive. 

 

Take Heart Mercy Mission, was developed as a result of the great work carried out over the past 10 years by a group of volunteer medics from the Evelina Children’s Hospital in London, and previously with Guys Hospital, led by the prominent children’s heart surgeon, Conal Austin, and leading cardiologist John Simpson. 

 

Gillingham Football Club were able to make a big difference to little hearts, recently raising an incredible £75,000 to aid the club’s work within Kent schools, businesses, institutions and homes, to educate children on healthy hearts, deliver educational packages on how to look after your heart and facilitate educational programmes on drug awareness, smoking, alcohol abuse, obesity, good exercise and healthy eating.

 

As part of the trip our Community Trust Coaches also attend the local schools and put on fun football based sessions and tournaments for the children. They are also able to put on some educational workshops for the teachers regarding the delivery of multi-sports to children. Equipment and kit is also taken out for the children so that even after our coaches have departed they can still continue playing sports.  

 

 

After a visit from the Brownies last week, we were delighted to attend their weekly meeting and get the footballs and goals out for a bit of football. Our coaches were also joined by two of our Academy and Girls COE players as we continue to inspire the next generation.

Don’t forget this October half-term we will again be running a FREE Girls Only Soccer School for girls of all abilities aged between 5 and 12 years of age. To find out more and to see details of all our Soccer Schools this October please click here.