Ipswich Town vs Gillingham FC EFLT Preview & Matchday Thread
Posted: Sun Oct 06, 2019 11:27 pm
Ipswich Town vs Gillingham FC
Tuesday 8th October 2109 – 19:45
Portman Road
Pre-Match Thoughts - Mike
In Command.......
Isn't it a wonderful feeling to be going into a Two week break knowing that whatever happens next weekend Town will come out of it top of the pile and still Four points clear of the chasing pack ? But that is exactly the situation we find ourselves in following our excellent result at Fleetwood on Saturday, I think we laid down a marker for the rest of the League to take notice of and it is going to take a very good team to beat us at this moment in time, with Wycombe also not in action next weekend we are guaranteed a nice little gap between us and the rest and I think with injuries to James Norwood & Kane Vincent-Young along with call ups for Flynn Downes & Alan Judge it was a masterstroke by Paul Lambert to call the game with Wycombe off and give everyone another well earned rest, it has worked out extremely well for us on this occasion.
What would be nice would be if we can actually turn in a good performance following a International break as it never seems to happen and while Accrington are finding things tough at this moment in time we cannot afford to be complacent and sloppy at their place Sunday week, as we found out to our cost last season in the cup and lets not forget the very small matter of the dreaded Sky cameras being in attendance, we all know how rubbish we tend to be when they show up so we need to be right at it when the game comes around.
I would like to thank Joey Barton for opening his big mouth and giving the boys some added incentive to go and get the win, quite what he thought it was going to achieve is anyone's business and clearly it backfired, it comes hot on the heels of big mouth (and body) Steve Evans' bizarre outburst a couple of weeks back when we won at Gillingham, I suppose these teams are going to try anything to unsettle us and as we all know we are pretty much everyone's cup final this season so I don't expect this will be the last time someone tries these forlorn tactics.
Cup Action Next.....
Tuesday evening sees us play our Second group game in the EFL Trophy with Gillingham the visitors (and gobshite Evans again), following our win against Spurs U21s in our opening game a win here would see us progress to the second round of the competition where I believe it is still regionalised with Group winners playing Group runners up, from what I gather it is regional until the Quarter final stage but going on our past cup history we won't have to worry too much about that !!!
No doubt Paul Lambert will shuffle the pack big time and you can expect to see the likes of Kenlock, Norris, Dobra, Georgiou, Huws etc etc all getting some game time as others take a rest, I feel it is the right approach as these players need to be kept match fit and part of it all should the time come they are needed, it would be good to see Toto Nsiala getting a run out too as he closes in on a return to action.
Gillingham are quite fresh in the mind having played them recently so we will know they are no pushovers and with a weakened Town team this could well go either way but I will stick with Town to edge it and actually make the second Round of a cup competition for the first time in like One Hundred years !!!!! I am really looking forward to seeing young Dobra in action again, he stole the show last time and hopefully he can shine again. COYB'S.
The Opposition – Gillingham
The local success of a junior football side, Chatham Excelsior F.C., encouraged a group of businessmen to meet with a view to creating a football club which could compete in larger competitions. New Brompton F.C. was formed at the meeting, held on 18 May 1893.
The founders also purchased the plot of land which later became Priestfield Stadium. The new club played its first match on 2 September 1893, losing 1–5 to Woolwich Arsenal's reserve side in front of a crowd of 2,000. New Brompton were among the founder members of the Southern League upon its creation in 1894, and were placed in Division Two. They were named Champions in the first season (1894–95) going on to defeat Swindon Town in a test match to win promotion.
In the seasons that followed, the club struggled in Division One, finishing bottom in the 1907–08 season, avoiding relegation only due to expansion of the league. Whilst the club's league performance was disappointing, the side did manage a famous cup victory over Football League First Division Sunderland and held Manchester City to a draw before losing in the replay. In 1912 the directors passed a resolution to change the club's name to Gillingham F.C., and the team played under this name throughout the 1912–13 season, although the change was not officially ratified by the shareholders until the following year. The team finished bottom of Division One in the 1919–20 season but for a third time avoided relegation, due to the subsequent elevation of all Southern League Division One clubs to form the new Football League Division Three.
In the first season of the newly created Football League Division Three, the 1920–21 season, Gillingham again finished bottom, and in the years to follow there was little improvement on this, the club continually finishing in the lower reaches of the bottom division.
In 1938 the team finished bottom of the Third Division (South) and were required to apply for re-election for the fifth time since joining the league. This bid for re-election failed, with Gillingham returning to the Southern League and Ipswich Town being promoted in their place.
Gillingham quickly established themselves as one of the stronger sides in the league, winning a local double of the Kent League and Kent Senior Cup in the 1945–46 season. In the 1946–47 season the team won both the Southern League Cup and the Southern League championship, during which they recorded a club record 12–1 victory over Gloucester City. The Gills also won the league title in 1948–49.
In 1950, plans were announced to expand the Football League Division Three (South) from 22 to 24 teams and, taking into account their local success in the interim, Gillingham were re-elected to the Football League with a landslide vote.
The team spent eight seasons in Division Three (South) before the restructuring of the league system for the 1958–59 season saw them placed in the newly created Fourth Division. They remained in this division until 1964, when manager Freddie Cox led them to promotion, winning the first championship in the club's history. The team finished the season level on 60 points with Carlisle United, but with a fractionally better goal average (1.967 against 1.948), which was the tightest league title finish in Football League history.
After relegation back to the Fourth Division in 1970–71, the Gills were soon promoted back to the Third Division in the 1973–74 season. After this the club seemed to find its level in Division Three, regularly mounting a challenge for promotion which ultimately fell short each time, never more so than in 1986–87 when they reached the play-offs only to lose in the final to Swindon Town. During this period the club produced future stars Steve Bruce and Tony Cascarino, who was famously bought from non-league Crockenhill in exchange for a set of tracksuits.
In 1987, the Gills hit the headlines when, on consecutive Saturdays, they beat Southend United 8–1 and Chesterfield 10–0, the latter a club record for a Football League match. Just a few months later, however, manager Keith Peacock was controversially sacked, and within 18 months the club had fallen into Division Four. The ensuing spell in the lower division brought little success, and in the 1992–93 Division Three campaign the Gills narrowly avoided relegation to the Football Conference.
Beset with financial problems, the club went into administration in January 1995, and by the end of the 1994–95 season faced the threat of being expelled from the Football League and closed down. In June 1995, however, a London-based businessman, Paul Scally, stepped in and bought the club. He brought in new manager Tony Pulis, who led Gillingham to promotion in his first season, finishing second in the old Division Three (now Football League Two).
In 1999 the Gills made the play-offs but lost in the Division Two play-off final to Manchester City. The Gills were 2–0 up with less than two minutes left only to see City score twice, the equaliser in injury time, and go on to win 3–1 in a penalty shoot-out. Soon after the play-off loss, Pulis was sacked for gross misconduct, and Peter Taylor appointed manager. In the 1999–00 season Gillingham qualified for the play-offs again, where they faced Wigan Athletic in the final at Wembley Stadium. The game finished 1–1 after 90 minutes, but, thanks to goals in extra time from substitutes Steve Butler and Andy Thomson, the Gills won 3–2 and were promoted to Division One for the first time.
Taylor then left to manage Leicester City, and Andy Hessenthaler was appointed as player-manager. He led the club to their best ever league finish of eleventh in the 2002–03 season, but the following season saw the club narrowly avoid relegation on goal difference. Hessenthaler resigned as manager in November 2004, and new boss Stan Ternent was unable to prevent the Gills' relegation to League One.
At the end of the 2007–08 season the club was relegated again, this time to League Two, but an immediate return to the third level was secured via the play-offs after beating Shrewsbury Town.
In the 2009–10 season, however, the Gills slipped into the bottom four on the last day, and were relegated back to League Two, having failed to win a single away game in the league all season. This resulted in manager Mark Stimson having his contract terminated, and Andy Hessenthaler was appointed as manager of the club for the second time. At the start of the 2012–13 season Hessenthaler was replaced by Martin Allen, who led the club to promotion as League Two champions in his first season in charge. However, shortly after winning League Two, Martin Allen was sacked in what many saw as a "surprise sacking" after a poor start to the season.
Peter Taylor returned for a second spell in charge, but following his sacking in December 2014 he was replaced by Justin Edinburgh which saw the Gils finish in 12th place.
The 2015–16 was his first full season in charge, Edinburgh led the Gills to a second-place position at Christmas, after a 3–0 victory against Millwall. Gillingham had also managed to defeat League favourites Sheffield United, with a 4–0 victory on the first day of the season. However, after a run of bad injuries to crucial players, Gillingham slipped to a ninth-place finish in League One, after losing on the last day of the season, against Millwall.
Edinburgh was sacked on 3 January 2017, along with his entire coaching team, with the club placed 17th in League One.
Last season Gillingham finished in 13th place.
On 21 May 2019, Steve Evans was announced as the new manager of Gillingham and began his role on 1 June 2019.
The Manager – Steve Evans
Match Referee – Tom Nield
IPSWICH TOWN 1 GILLINGHAM 0