Gillingham FC vs Ipswich Town 
Saturday 6th March 2021 – 13:00
Preistfield Stadium
Pre-Match Thoughts - Mike
What A Week It's Been..............
Well I have to say even by Ipswich Town standards it has been quite a week, the departure of One manager, the arrival of another almost immediately, in fact they probably passed each other on the way in & out ! Then we've had talk of takeovers, One minute it's a done deal due to land registry applications and all that jargon, the next minute we have Marcus Evans telling everyone there is no such deal even on the table and not to believe everything we read, coming from him that' s a classic for sure, so all in all it's been very eventful but quite what the truth of it all is will only be revealed in the coming weeks/months.
For me the biggest thing in all that is the arrival of a manager that I was really keen to see at Portman Road, he ticks most if not all of the boxes required for where we are as a club right now and already I have thoroughly enjoyed his first interview, frank and to the point and forthright in his intentions and expectations for the club, no fence sitting and a refreshing honesty about what he wants, and yet he also manages to keep the wise cracks flowing throughout, something we rarely got from Paul Lambert in all the time he was here, yes indeed it was a refreshing change.
Paul Cook is making it quite clear it is Top Two and promotion which is the target, albeit a very unlikely one but that is what I want to hear, failing that he says we will be in the play offs and looking to win them, none of this take each game as it comes and see where we end up nonsense, you have to aim big and be positive, so welcome to ITFC Paul Cook and all the very best to you, give it your best shot and the support you receive in return will be phenomenal, once we can return to grounds again that is.
Mixed in between all the off field stuff is the small matter of another vital Town win and with it Three more crucial points which has seen us close up further to the play off places, sitting in Seventh place and just Two points off the top six is not something we envisaged a couple of weeks back but Three wins on the bounce has made the world of difference and while we have been picking up the points those around us have been slipping up, our form now is very good and it could be just the right time to go on a really good run, we have certainly put to bed the theory that we cannot beat the top sides in the division as we have now doubled Accrington and beaten Hull and Doncaster too, oh how it would be looking now had we not slipped up at home to Swindon & Northampton but that is gone and we need to carry on the good work of the last week or so.
We still have some of the big boys to play but looking at the fixture list we also have a lot of winnable games too, the likes of Wimbledon Twice, Shrewsbury Town, Fleetwood Twice, Plymouth Argyle, Wigan Athletic, Bristol Rovers, Rochdale, MK Dons, Northampton & Swindon are all games we should be going into believing we can and will win, that's Twelve games that don't look beyond us when we are on it, Paul Cook needs to make sure we are on it !!!
First up is One of the games I didn't highlight, a visit to Gillingham for a 1.00pm kick off, again we can go into it with confidence high, not to mention the bounce of a new man at the helm, all the players should most definitely be out to impress what with the slate wiped clean for everyone, all the shirts are up for grabs and that has to be a positive for us, nobody can afford a bad performance or they will be out of the starting line up, I for One cannot wait to see Cook's first starting Eleven but with the team unchanged in recent games and on a winning run I doubt very much he will tinker with it too much at first, those players have pretty much earned the right to start.
Although Gillingham away can be a tricky game I am in a bullish mood about our chances and am going for a Town win to make it Four in a row and quite possibly a place in the Top Six come Saturday evening, how good would that be ! I just hope and pray that should it now go as we all hope and probably expect it to that the morons don't come out in force and start the "I'm not sure about this guy Cook cobblers" Rome wasn't built in a day. Town Win for me. 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.
On 21 May 2019, Steve Evans was announced as the new manager of Gillingham and began his role on 1 June 2019.
Last season Gillingham finished one place above Town in 10th place.
The Manager – Steve Evans
Form Guide
Gillingham Last 5 Matches – currently in 14th place with 44 points
16 Feb Gillingham 1 - 3 Peterborough
20 Feb Gillingham 2 - 0 Bristol Rovers
23 Feb AFC Wimbledon 1 - 0 Gillingham
27 Feb Portsmouth 1 - 1 Gillingham
2 Mar Gillingham 3 - 2 Milton Keynes
Ipswich Last 5 Matches – currently in 7th place with 50 points
16 Feb Ipswich Town 0 - 0 Northampton
20 Feb Ipswich Town 0 - 0 Oxford Utd
23 Feb Hull City 0 - 1 Ipswich Town
27 Feb Ipswich Town 2 - 1 Doncaster
02 Mar Accrington 1-2 Ipswich Town
Match Referee – Graham Salisbury
GILLINGHAM 1 IPSWICH TOWN 2
, maybe not. Too far. 
I’m doing the best I can, FFS!”
