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A brief history of Gillingham FC
By Nathan Jackson August 5 2008
Gillingham FC, much like the Imps, are one of those sides that really don't like the Playoffs. One fine example being the 1998/9 Division Two final when they were within a whisper of beating Manchester City before throwing it all away, but is that the general story throughout the rest of their footballing life?
Gillingham FC formed in 1893 under the name of New Brompton FC. Unlike most other sides in League Two, they lost their first ever match, going down to a strong Woolwich Arsenal Reserves by a scoreline of 5-1. The club then became founder members of the Southern League in 1894 and were placed into the Second Division. They won the League in the first season by defeating Swindon Town in a test match to win promotion.

Several years of struggle later an the club finished bottom of the division but avoided relegation due to an expansion of the League. New Brompton renamed themselves Gillingham FC in 1913 but performances continued to be disappointing and they finished bottom yet again in 1919/20, again avoiding relegation due to the Southern League Division One forming the new Football League Division Three.

Unsurprisingly, Gillingham finished bottom in the first season and they had to apply for re-election five times in the first 17 seasons and the League finally had enough, rejecting their application in 1938 and they returned to the Southern League. They finally achieved some success with local cup wins as the title. They also recorded their record victory during this period, a 12-1 win over Gloucester City.

Gillingham were re-elected to the League following the Division Three (South)'s expansion from 22 to 24 teams. Freddie Cox lead Gillingham to their first successful season in the Football League, wining the title by goal average of just .019 higher than Carlisle, to this day the tightest finish ever in the League. However, their stint in the division above didn't last long and they were relegated to the newly named Fourth Division.

Promotion followed in 1973 but it all went a bit quiet until 12 years later when the club reached the Playoffs. They reached the final but lost out to Swindon in the final. The following season saw Gillingham reach the national headlines by thrashing Southend United 8-1 on Saturday and then Chesterfield 10-0 on the follow Saturday. Several hard years both on and off the field followed before Tony Pulis lead Gillingham back up the divisions.

1998/9 again saw the Gills make the Playoffs again, reaching the final for a second time. They faced Manchester City and the Gills were 2-0 up with less than two minutes to go but City scored twice and went on to win the Playoff final. Pulis was sacked for gross-misconduct and Peter Taylor was appointed manager. The men from Priestfield again made the Playoffs, this time facing Wigan in the final at Wembley but it was third time lucky, winning 3-2 in extra time to be promoted to Division One.

They survived at the level for a few seasons before the club were relegated in the 2004/5 season to League One. They struggled in that division before being relegated in 2007/8.

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