Those Were The Games: 1893-2005
A file of match reports to chronicle the highlights and lowlights of Gillingham Football Club (formerly known as New Brompton)
INTRODUCTION
A football club is many things, but at its cornerstone is the playing of football matches, primarily on a Saturday afternoon. New Brompton/Gillingham have played over 5,000 competitive matches since 1893, and only one club currently a member of the 92 have not faced us in competitive battle. That club is Manchester United – who might have fallen before us when we reached the FA Cup Quarter Finals in 2000 except that they were hiding away in some Mickey Mouse FIFA competition in South America.
Of the rest, very many matches have faded from memory with the passing of time but as with all clubs there are games that still stand out decades later. The phrases “I was there when…” or “I remember when we played…” become the touchstone for recounting an indelible memory that makes Gillingham Football Club what it is, and hopefully fires younger or newer fans with the enthusiasm to stay with it.
The match reports that follow are what I believe are some of the “I was there” ones down the years. Obviously, most of them are chronicles of great victories, usually against the odds (memories are like that), but not always so. The bitter humiliations of defeats, failures and perceived wrongs can leave memories that gnaw at the soul, and these are chronicled too. But unlike most match reports you won’t be told the result in the title (although something like “Nightmare” might be a bit of a giveaway). Hopefully, the report will unfold like the match itself, with all the colour from it too, so that now reading about it decades later you too can say “I was there”.
Eccles
THOSE WERE THE GAMES: 1893-2005 – THE SERIES
- Preface – Our Place In The World Of Football
- A Game From 1893
- New Brompton Pass The Test
- A Game From 1898
- A Game From 1899
- New Brompton’s Finest Hour – January 11th 1908
- A Game From 1914
- A Game From 1919
- Welcome to the Football League – August 28th 1920
- Gallant Little Gillingham – January 12th 1924
- A Game From 1924
- Top Gun Fred – April 26th 1930
- A Game From 1933
- A Game From 1934
- Priestfield at War: 1939-1945
- A Game From 1945
- A Game From 1946
- Barry Town Stomp – March 15th 1947
- Who Saw The Goal – January 10th 1948
- A Game From 1949
- Priestfield’s Biggest League Gate – September 2nd 1950
- Done Up To The Nines – January 17th 1951
- A Game From 1952
- A Game From 1954
- Netbuster – February 26th 1955
- Gillingham’s Biggest Cup Win – November 16th 1957
- A Game From 1959
- Games From 1960/61
- Behave Yourselves! – January 14th 1961
- Nightmare on Holker Street – October 9th 1961
- A Game From 1963
- Let There Be Light – September 25th 1963
- A Game From 1964
- A Game From 1965
- A Game From 1966
- A Foggy Night In Old Gillingham Town – September 21st 1966
- A Game From 1970
- A Game From 1970
- A Game From 1973
- A Game From 1974
- A Game From 1974
- A Game From 1976
- A Game From 1977
- A Game From 1977
- The Swindon Saga – March 31st & May 5th 1979
- Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now – April 28th 1979
- A Game From 1980
- A Game From 1982
- A Game From 1982
- A Game From 1984
- A Game From 1984
- Two Christmas Crackers – December 26th & 29th 1984
- A Game From 1985
- A Game From 1987
- A Game From 1987
- A Game From 1987
- Gillingham’s Biggest League Win – September 5th 1987
- A Game From 1987
- A Game From 1989
- GFC on Sky TV – November 18th 1991
- A Game From 1993
- A Game From 1995
- A Game From 1995
- A Game From 1996
- Eighty-eight years of hurt didn’t stop us believing – November 13th 1996
- A Game From 1999
- A Game From 1999
- A Game From 1999
- A Game From 2000
- A Game From 2000
- A Game From 2000
- A Game From 2000
- The Power – And The Glory – January 29th 2000
- A Game From 2001
- A Game From 2002
- A Game From 2003
- Gills Upset The Neighbours – January 3rd 2004
- A Game From 2004
- A Game From 2005