Those Were The Games
Priestfield’s biggest league gate
Published by Eccles on September 9, 2009
Gillingham v Millwall – September 2nd 1950
It was the first Saturday in June 1950 and London was enjoying an early summer heat-wave. The red London Transport buses were creating plenty of smoke and dust as they roared around Piccadilly Circus and up and down Regents Street, passing a small group of men who were walking around outside the main entrance to the Cafe Royal. Were they protesting about something? Rationing, the Korean War, H Bomb tests perhaps? It’s peacetime – get down to Hyde Park and enjoy the sunshine.
But a closer examination of the placards that these men carried, and the sandwich-boards that they wore, revealed their passionate purpose – “Please Vote For Gillingham Football Club Today” “Gillingham Football Club and Supporters Thank You.” For this Saturday, June 3rd 1950, was the day of the Football League Annual General Meeting, and the Gills were making yet another application to recover the Football League place they had lost in 1938.
This fifth attempt (the others were in 1939, 1947, 1948 and 1949) had promise. Previously re-elections would have meant an existing club being thrown out, as Gillingham were in 1938 when Ipswich Town had been admitted. This time the two Third Divisions were being extended from 22 to 24 clubs, extending the total Football League membership from 88 clubs up to 92. For Gills’ Chairman WSC “Charlie” Cox it was the golden chance.
Charlie Cox had made Gillingham’s return to the Football League the core policy of his chairmanship, and he pursued that goal with all his relentless drive and energy. In 1948 he had prepared a brochure plugging Gills’ case for all it was worth, and sent a copy of it to every Football League club. The brochure spelt out that the Gills were no longer the derelict also-rans of pre-war days, bumping around the bottom and regularly coming up for re-election. This was New Gillingham, a Kentish industrial powerhouse with a multi-million catchment area behind it. A New Gillingham with an exciting team that had regularly made its mark in the FA Cup, who had won two Southern League Championships in the last three years, backed by huge and passionate crowds well into five figures. The sandwich-board men and delegate lobbying outside the Cafe Royal were all part of his plan, and they were telling anyone who would listen.
The wait inside and outside the Cafe must have been dreadful, for Gills’ fans and officials had no final influence on their fate. Eventually “the results, Gentlemen, are as follows – for the Third Division (North) ….Scunthorpe United, Shrewsbury Town…..yes, yes, blah, blah, blah….for the Third Division (South)…..Colchester United 28 votes, Gillingham 44 votes, Merthyr Tydfil 5 votes ……..” Did anyone really care what the others got? THE GILLS WERE BACK – and by a thumping majority too.
Chairman Charlie Cox, almost beside himself with excitement, stood the sandwich-board men and assorted lobbyists a rattling good lunch and then it was into a small fleet of cars to return to the Medway Towns in triumph. And what dreams on that journey. No longer Southern League trips to the likes of Bath, Worcester, Hastings and Headington, it was hello again to the likes of Crystal Palace, Swindon, Norwich and Millwall.
The great news had travelled before them. At the A2 near Cobham the landlord of “The Three Crutches” had laid out a trestle table full of the finest Kentish ales to slake the thirsts from the hot dusty road. Someone produced some placards saying “Great News! Gillingham FC Third Division” and these were tied onto the cars for the drive through Rochester and Chatham. People cheered, clapped and waved, for on this golden day everyone wanted to be a Gills’ fan.
Onto Dock Road, and outside the Dockyard Main Gate, at the traditional boundary of the borough, the party were met by a civic deputation led by the Mayor, Councillor George Penfold. “I judge this to be the greatest day, in football, that Gillingham has ever known. Three cheers for the Gills!” In reply, Chairman Charlie Cox showed great humility in the hour of his finest triumph. He thanked everyone for their hard work and support, “especially through the dark times. We have learned our lesson. It has been an uphill struggle to get back. Thank God we have done it. We must never find ourselves in that position again.”
And although there were one or two nightmare seasons along the way Gillingham were never again required to apply for re-election to the Football League in the 37 years that that system remained. Charlie Cox kept another promise too, and that was to make money available to manager Archie Clark to sign the additional players needed to ensure that Gills had a good chance of survival back in the Football League. Archie splashed out £15,000 (huge by Gillingham standards of the time) on six new players.
For the fans, this was surely the return of the good times. After the Second World War football crowds everywhere had rocketed, and Priestfield was no exception. But the return of League football was something else. All the pre-war fixtures were back, even including the Easter Monday paddle-boat trip across the estuary to play Southend. During the summer Priestfield itself had a further facelift. Huge tank blocks were put in on the north-west corner to build terracing along the Redfern Avenue side, and further concrete terracing put in on the enclosure in front of the Main Stand. Finally, on Saturday August 19th 1950 and after twelve long years, League Football returned to Priestfield.
In some ways the fixture was a little disappointing, for it was home to Colchester United – former Southern League opponents who had gained League status alongside Gillingham. It scarcely mattered to the fans however. 19,542 packed in, Priestfield’s fourth highest gate ever. They saw a goalless draw, as each side felt each other out and got accustomed to their new surroundings. The Gills’ next two games, both away, saw a 3-1 defeat at Bournemouth and a 2-0 defeat at Bristol City. The following Wednesday early evening return with Bournemouth at Priestfield saw a 2-2 draw in front of 15.397, and on Saturday September 2nd 1950 came one of the eagerly awaited fixtures – Millwall at home.
Gillingham and the Lions had played each other regularly since 1894, and the Gills had come off very much second best. They had not won at New Cross since January 1904, a run that eventually stretched to 35 games until finally broken in 1960. Since their first visit to Priestfield in 1894 Millwall had actually won more times there than Gillingham had (14 wins to Gills 13). With Gillingham yet to win in the Third Division (South) and unbeaten Millwall second in the table, having won both away games and not conceding a goal, the omens for the Gills weren’t good.
But all that didn’t stop a vast crowd of 20,128 paying receipts of £1,475 and packing into Priestfield – the third biggest crowd at the ground, and the biggest ever League gate – to see this local derby. Their faith was rewarded. They saw what the local paper described as “forty-five glorious minutes when the Gills played streamlined supercharged soccer that left previously unbeaten Millwall floundering. Four times the ball flashed into the Millwall net to the accompaniment of full-throated roars from more than twenty thousand spectators.”
Our team was:-
(2-3-5) Larry Gage; Charlie Marks, Ron Lewin; Jimmy Boswell (Capt), Mike Skivington, Bill “Buster” Collins; Charlie Burtenshaw, Joe Campbell, Hughie Russell, Jackie Briggs, Bobby Veck.
It was a sunny September afternoon, and there was quite a strong breeze blowing towards the Rainham End. Millwall’s captain Gerry Bowler won the toss and decided to defend that end in the first half. Gillingham were well on top from the start. Inside-right Joe Campbell, signed for £2,000 that morning from Leyton Orient was having an impressive debut, and his accurate passing was setting up chances.
After twenty minutes Gillingham got a deserved goal. Jackie Briggs’ shot was charged down, but it ran loose and centre forward Hughie Russell drove a blistering strike into the roof of the net. Gills now really powered forward and after twenty-seven minutes they were 2-0 up after a stunning passing move. Mike Skivington fed the ball forward to Joe Campbell, he rode a couple of tackles and delivered to Hughie Russell. Hughie feinted to shoot, but slipped it to Jackie Briggs, and with the beleaguered Lions’ defence closing in on him he slipped it wide to Bobby Veck on the left who rifled a screamer across goal and into the corner.
Millwall were in trouble, and in Gills next attack they somehow survived a clear penalty claim after hacking down Joe Campbell within feet of the goal-line. It barely mattered. After thirty-two minutes a superb combination approach by Hughie Russell and Bobby Veck saw them lay it into Jackie Briggs’ path for him to smash into the roof of the net. And a minute later, with Gills next attack right-winger Charlie Burtenshaw hit one from just outside the box. It took a deflection off of a defender, but the power in it gave Lions’ keeper Finlayson no chance. 4-0. Pick that lot out!
Gillingham left the field to a standing ovation from the huge crowd and perhaps the team thought they had done more than enough to win. In the second half they eased down considerably, and seemed content just to stroke the ball about. They were hampered by early second half injuries to Joe Campbell and Hughie Russell and saw the effectiveness of both significantly reduced, but it was a dangerous policy to sit back against Millwall, who have rarely given a poor performance in any game they have ever played against the Gills. Ten minutes after the restart the Lions’ inside-right Jimmy Constantine scored with a simple header from a routine cross.
If anyone thought that was a consolation goal they were mistaken, because after sixty-seven minutes Millwall had made it 4-2 when a long punt into the goalmouth by left-back George Fisher deceived keeper Larry Gage, who had to look at it into the sun, and it dropped into the net. Four minutes later a quite brilliant forward move from the visitors was finished off by centre forward Frank Neary. Gillingham 4 Millwall 3 – and still nearly twenty minutes to go.
From an impregnable half-time position the Gills were now hacking and slashing the ball anywhere to clear their lines as the Lions swarmed around the Rainham End. The crowd packed in behind there were adding to the panic as the minutes ticked away. With four minutes left Millwall had a golden chance to equalise. The Gillingham defence got themselves into a tangle, and the Lions’ left-winger Johnny Jones had the ball at his feet four yards out from a gaping goal. He stabbed it wide of the post.
After that extraordinary escape Gillingham did manage to close the game out 4-3 and record their first Football League win on their return. There were twelve more wins to come in a seesaw season that had Gills taking their biggest Football League hammering (9-2 at Nottingham Forest) but also record their then biggest Football League win (9-4 against Exeter) – see Part 22. They shipped 101 goals in the 1950/51 season and finished 22nd, but importantly they were six points clear of Watford and Crystal Palace in the two re-election places.
It was good enough for starters. Gillingham had clung on to their second chance in the big time. The fans could look forward to more games like this classic encounter with the old rivals from New Cross, and see their favourites delight and exasperate in equal measure before finally winning through – as a Football League club once again.
Eccles
Those Were The Games
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