Gillingham

1986–87 season
Chairman	Roy Wood
Manager	Keith Peacock
Third Division	5th
FA Cup	Third round
League Cup	Second round
Associate Members' Cup	Southern section semi-finals
Top goalscorer	League:Tony Cascarino Dave Shearer (16 each) All:Tony Cascarino (30)
Highest home attendance	16,775 vsSwindon Town (22 May 1987)
Lowest home attendance	1,984 vsColchester United (26 January 1987)
Home colours Away colours
← 1985–86 1987–88 →

During the1986–87 English football season,Gillingham F.C. competed in theFootball League Third Division. It was the 55th season in which the club competed inthe Football League, and the 37th since the club wasvoted back into the league in 1950. Gillingham began the season strongly and were top of the Third Division table shortly before the mid-point of the season. The team's form declined in the second half of the season; to qualify for theplay-offs forpromotion to theFootball League Second Division, the team needed to win their final game and bothBristol City andNotts County had to fail to win theirs. A victory overBolton Wanderers, combined with both the other teams being held to draws, meant that Gillingham finished in fifth place and qualified for the play-offs. After beatingSunderland in the semi-finals, Gillingham facedSwindon Town inthe final. The two teams drew 2–2on aggregate, necessitating areplay at aneutral venue, which Swindon won 2–0 to claim a place in the Second Division.

During the season, Gillingham also reached the third round of theFA Cup, the second round of theFootball League Cup, and the southern section semi-finals of theAssociate Members' Cup. The team played 63 competitive matches, winning 31, drawing 12 (including one decided by apenalty shoot-out), and losing 20.Tony Cascarino was the club's leading goalscorer, with 30 goals in all competitions.Howard Pritchard andPaul Haylock made the most appearances; both played in 62 of the club's 63 matches. The highest attendance recorded at the club's home ground,Priestfield Stadium, was 16,775, for the home leg of the play-off final.

The1986–87 season wasGillingham's 55th season playing in theFootball League and the 37th since the club was elected back into the League in 1950 after being voted out in 1938. It was the club's 13th consecutive season in theFootball League Third Division, the third tier of theEnglish football league system, since the team gainedpromotion from theFourth Division as runners-up in 1974.^[1] In the 12 seasons since then, the team had achieved a best finish of fourth place, one position away from promotion to theSecond Division, a feat achieved in both the1978–79 and1984–85 seasons.^[1] The club had never reached the second level of English football in its history.^[2] In the1985–86 season, Gillingham had finished fifth and missed out on promotion by two places.^[1]

Keith Peacock was the club'smanager for a sixth season, having been appointed in July 1981.^[3]Paul Taylor served as assistant manager,^[4]Bill Collins, who had been with the club in a variety of roles since the early 1960s, held the post offirst-team trainer, andJohn Gorman managed theyouth team.^[5][6]Mark Weatherly took over as teamcaptain, replacingKeith Oakes, who was only named as asubstitute for the opening game of the season and left the club soon afterwards to joinFulham.^[7][8] Before the season began, a series of disputes took place involving the club's board of directors. In late June, chairman Charles Cox announced that he had dismissed three directors from their posts; the following day, the ousted trio gave an interview to the press and claimed that under his chairmanship the club's debt had reached £700,000 and that it faced the threat of a potentialliquidation order from theInland Revenue.^[9] Four days later, following a showdown meeting between the two parties, Cox resigned as chairman and the three deposed directors returned to the board with one of them, Roy Wood, becoming the new chairman. The directors then issued a statement to Gillingham supporters stating that the club's finances were under control and that money would be available to manager Peacock to sign new players in anticipation of another challenge for promotion.^[10] In July, the club's financial director announced that a settlement had been reached with the Inland Revenue.^[11]

Following the resolution of the issues behind the scenes, Peacock signed six new players before the season began. In July,midfielderTrevor Quow joined fromPeterborough United for atransfer fee of £8,500.^[12] The following month, Gillingham signedHoward Pritchard, awinger who had made one appearance for theWelsh national team in 1985, fromBristol City for a fee of £22,500.^[13]DefenderGraham Pearce and midfielderMel Eves arrived fromBrighton & Hove Albion andSheffield United respectively onfree transfers,^[14] and the club paidsemi-professional clubWelling United a fee of £3,000 to sign wingerDave Smith.^[15] DefenderPaul Haylock signed for £25,000 fromNorwich City, having rejected a new contract shortly after helping the team win the Second Division championship.^[16] Several players left the club, including defenderMel Sage, one of the club's most promising young players, who joinedDerby County of the Second Division for a fee of £60,000. Gillingham had hoped for a significantly higher fee, but with the two clubs unable to agree on terms, the transfer fee had to be set by an independent tribunal.^[17]Karl Elsey came close to leaving the club, but failed to agree a contract withReading and so remained at Gillingham.^[18] The team prepared for the new season with severalfriendly matches, including atestimonial match for the long-serving Weatherly, for whichTottenham Hotspur of theFirst Division provided the opposition.^[19] The team retained the first-choicekit worn in the previous season of blue shirts with a white panel down each side. Theaway kit, to be worn in the event of a clash of colours with the home team, changed from plain red to white with a blue zig-zag band across the chest.^{[20][21][22][23]}

The team's first game of the season was an away match againstNewport County; Haylock, Pearce, Pritchard and Quow all made their debuts in a 2–1 victory. Weatherly scored the team's first goal of the season andDave Shearer scored the winner.^[24] The first home league game took place atPriestfield Stadium seven days later against Bristol City in front of a crowd of 4,185, the largest attendance for Gillingham's opening home game since 1981.^[25] Shearer scored in a 1–1 draw and then got the only goal of the game away toRotherham United to give Gillingham the win and seven points out of a possible nine from the first three games of the season.^[24] The team's unbeaten run in the league extended to six games with a goalless draw againstMiddlesbrough and 2–0 wins against bothYork City andBrentford, before the first defeat of the season came againstMansfield Town.^[24]Colin Greenall, a highly rated defender who had been signed fromBlackpool for £40,000 at the start of September, made his debut in the Middlesbrough game.^[24][26]

A game againstChester City which should have taken place in late September was postponed because of an outbreak of illness among the opposing players.^[27] Following the defeat at Mansfield, Gillingham were unbeaten for the next seven league games, winning five and drawing two. Shearer scored in four consecutive games, taking his total for the season to seven goals.^[24] The team had no game on 11 October as the scheduled match away toAFC Bournemouth was postponed becauseDorset Constabulary did not have sufficient manpower to police both the match and theConservative Party Conference, which was taking place in the town.^[9] The unbeaten run came to an end with a 2–0 defeat away toDoncaster Rovers on 7 November, but the team then won 3–1 against fellow promotion-chasersNotts County, a game in which Shearer scored twice.^[28] Despite a defeat away toWigan Athletic on 29 November, in a match which was unusually played in the morning to avoid a clash with an internationalrugby league match taking place in the town,^[29] Gillingham ended the month in second place in theleague table.^[24]

The postponed game away to AFC Bournemouth was played on 2 December; since the start of the season Bournemouth had won every league game played at their home stadium,Dean Court. Gillingham, however, secured a 2–0 win with goals fromMartin Robinson and Pritchard, which took the team to the top of the Third Division table.^[30][31][32] In the next league game, Gillingham lost 3–0 away to mid-tableBolton Wanderers, a game in whichTony Cascarino wassent off.^[33] Gillingham bounced back from the defeat with a 4–1 victory overBristol Rovers which ensured they were back on top of the division heading into the Christmas period.^[34] The team ended 1986 with two games on consecutive days; a draw with Fulham onBoxing Day followed by a defeat toSwindon Town the next day left Gillingham in third place in the Third Division table going into the new year.^[24] The game against Swindon, regarded by fans as one of Gillingham's rivals since the 1970s,^[35] drew an attendance of 9,982, more than 4,000 higher than that at any other match at Priestfield to that point of the season.^[24]

Gillingham began 1987 with a home win overWalsall onNew Year's Day. Pritchard scored ahat-trick before half-time in a 4–0 victory which brought the team to within one point of league leaders Middlesbrough, who lost away to York City.^[13][36] After this the team lost four of their next six matches and increasingly began to lose touch with the teams at the top of the league; following a defeat against Brentford on 21 February Gillingham had dropped to sixth in the table.^[24] In February, Shearer sustained an injury, so Peacock signedColin Gordon onloan fromWimbledon; the striker scored twice in four games before returning to his parent club.^[37] In the same month, goalkeeperPhil Kite joined fromSouthampton, initially on loan, afterRon Hillyard was injured; the transfer was made permanent after some impressive performances and Kite retained the goalkeeping position for the remainder of the season, playing in every match.^[38] MidfielderSteve Jacobs, who had joined the club fromCharlton Athletic in December, made his debut in February and played six consecutive league games, but then did not play again for over a month.^[39][40]

In March, Gillingham won three consecutive league matches for the first time since November, beatingCarlisle United,Darlington, and Bournemouth.^[24] Shearer, in his first start after his injury, scored twice against Carlisle. Against Darlington, Cascarino became the second Gillingham player of the season to score a hat-trick, with three goals in a 4–1 victory. The Bournemouth game, played onEaster Monday, drew the club's largest home crowd since the Swindon game in December.^[24] Experienced defenderLes Berry joined Gillingham from Brighton & Hove Albion during March; he made his debut in an away defeat toBury at the end of the month and was an ever-present for the remainder of the season.^[41]

The team began April with two consecutive wins against Doncaster Rovers and Blackpool but then lost to Walsall.^[24] On his return to the team against Walsall, Jacobs was sent off for retaliating after beingfouled by an opponent. He did not play in any of the team's remaining games and left the club at the end of the season.^[39] A win against Bristol Rovers on 25 April left Gillingham in fifth place in the league table, but the next three games produced two draws and one defeat, after which the team had fallen to seventh position with one game remaining.^[24] At the start of the season, the Football League had introduced a newplay-off system, under which the teams which finished just below the automatic promotion places in the Second, Third, and Fourth Divisions would have the opportunity to compete for one further promotion place; in the Third Division this meant that the teams finishing third, fourth, and fifth in the final table would take part.^[42][43] To finish in fifth position and qualify for the play-offs, the team needed to defeat Bolton Wanderers on the last day of the league season and needed both Bristol City and Notts County not to win. A goal from Cascarino secured a 1–0 win, and as both of their rivals were held to 1–1 draws, Gillingham clinched a play-off place.^[44][45] Cascarino's goal was his 16th of the season in Third Division matches, tying him with Shearer as the club's top goalscorer in league matches.^[46]

Key

Results^[24]

Under the original format of the play-offs, the club which had finished immediately above the automaticrelegation places in the Second Division competed with the three clubs which had finished immediately below the automatic promotion places in the Third Division for a place in the second tier of English football for the following season.^[48] At the semi-final stage, Gillingham were paired withSunderland, who had finished the season in 20th place in the Second Division, in atwo-legged tie. Sunderland took a 1–0 lead in the first half of the first leg at Priestfield, but Cascarino scored a hat-trick after the interval to put Gillingham 3–1 up. A late goal for Sunderland made the final score 3–2 to Gillingham.^[49] Three days later atRoker Park in Sunderland, Pritchard scored for Gillingham inside the first five minutes to give his team a two-goal leadon aggregate, but Sunderland then scored twice. In the second half, Cascarino made the score 2–2 on the day and 5–4 on aggregate, but Sunderland got a third goal in the final minute to bring the aggregate scores level at 5–5 and send the game intoextra time. Both teams got one more goal in the extra period, at the end of which the score was 6–6 on aggregate, but Gillingham progressed to the final because they had scored moreaway goals.^[50][51]

The final against Swindon Town was also played over two legs and again the first match took place at Priestfield, where the attendance of 16,775 was the largest crowd of the season at the stadium.^[28] Violence broke out before the game between the two sets of fans and twoBritish Transport Police officers were injured.^[52] In the match itself, Swindon were "superior in all departments except the telling ones – finishing and goalkeeping" according to David Powell ofThe Times.^[53] The game remained goal-less until the 81st minute when Smith scored following afree kick from Quow to give Gillingham a single-goal lead going into the second leg.^[53] Three days later at Swindon'sCounty Ground, Elseyvolleyed the ball into the goal to give Gillingham a two-goal lead on aggregate, but goals fromPeter Coyne andCharlie Henry for Swindon made the result on the day 2–1 to Swindon and the aggregate score across the two legs 2–2.^[54] Unlike in the semi-final, away goals were not used as a tiebreaker in the final; instead the rules stated that, in the event of the scores finishing level after the two legs, areplay would take place at aneutral stadium.^[55] Robert Armstrong ofThe Guardian described the second leg as "an epic battle, in the best Anglo-Saxon tradition of the knockout competition".^[54] The replay took place atSelhurst Park, home ofCrystal Palace. It was Gillingham's 63rd match of the season, a new record for the highest number of games the team had played in a season since joining the Football League.^[56] Swindon took the lead after only two minutes following a defensive error by Gillingham.^[56] Although Gillingham were the stronger team in the second half, they could not manage to score a goal, andSteve White of Swindon got his second goal of the match in the second half. Despite further pressure on their goal, Swindon held on for a 2–0 victory and promotion to the Second Division.^[56][57]

Key

Results^[28]

As a Third Division team, Gillingham entered the1986–87 FA Cup in the first round, where they were drawn to playKettering Town of theFootball Conference, the highest level ofnon-League football. Gillingham won 3–0 with goals from Robinson, Hinnigan and anown goal from a Kettering player.^[58] In the second round, Gillingham played another non-League team,Chelmsford City of theSouthern League. Cascarino scored twice in a 2–0 victory.^[59] Gillingham's third round opponents were fellow Third Division team Wigan Athletic. The game was twice postponed due toheavy snow inthe south of England, the club at one point hiring a policeLand Rover to pick up players who lived in outlying areas after the football authorities initially refused the second postponement.^[60][61] After that decision was reversed, the match finally took place on 19 January. Greenall scored a goal from apenalty kick but Wigan scored twice to end Gillingham's cup run.^[62]

Key

Results^[28]

Gillingham entered the1986–87 Football League Cup in the first round, being drawn againstNorthampton Town of the Fourth Division. The first round was played over two legs; Gillingham won the first leg at Priestfield 1–0 and drew the second leg at theCounty Ground 2–2 for a 3–2 aggregate win.^[63] In the second round, Gillingham were drawn against the reigning cup-holders,Oxford United of theFirst Division.^[64] The first leg was played at Oxford's home ground, theManor Ground, where Gillingham were comprehensively outplayed, losing 6–0.Republic of Ireland international strikerJohn Aldridge scored four of the Oxford goals.^[65][66] This was the most goals conceded by Gillingham in a match since a 7–1 defeat by York City in November 1984.^[67] Although Gillingham managed to hold their First Division opponents to a 1–1 draw at Priestfield in the second leg, they lost 7–1 on aggregate and were eliminated from the League Cup.^[68]

Key

Results^[28]

The1986–87 Associate Members' Cup, a tournament exclusively for Third and Fourth Division teams, began with a preliminary round in which the teams were drawn into groups of three, contested on around-robin basis. Gillingham were drawn with Notts County of the Third Division and Northampton Town of the Fourth and won both games without conceding a goal, defeating Notts County 5–0 away from home and Northampton 1–0 at Priestfield Stadium.^[69][70] The team thus qualified for the first round, where they were paired withColchester United of the Fourth Division. Goals from Smith and Cascarino gave Gillingham a 2–0 win in front of 1,984 fans, the smallest crowd to attend a match at Priestfield during the season.^[28][71] In the southern section quarter-final, Gillingham played Port Vale; the match finished 3–3 after extra time, meaning that apenalty shoot-out was required to determine which team would progress to the next round. Gillingham scored all five of their penalties and then Hillyard saved Port Vale's final penalty meaning that Gillingham won the shoot-out 5–4.^[72][73] Now just two wins away from the final, Gillingham's next opponents were fellow Third Division promotion challengers Bristol City; it was the second consecutive season in which the two teams had met at this stage of the competition.^[74] The attendance of 10,540 at Bristol City's home stadium,Ashton Gate, was the largest crowd in front of which Gillingham had played up to that point in the season.^[28] Gillingham lost 2–0, meaning that their participation in the Associate Members' Cup was ended by Bristol City for the second season in a row.^[74]

Key

Results^[28]

Pritchard and Haylock made the most appearances of any Gillingham player during the season, both missing only a single game. Pritchard was in the starting line-up for 44 of the 46 league games and came on as a substitute in both the others. He also played in all of the club's games in the FA Cup, League Cup, Associate Members' Cup and play-offs with the sole exception of the match against Chelmsford City in the FA Cup, for a total of 62 games in all competitions.^[28] Haylock was absent for one league game, against Middlesbrough in April, but played in every match in the other competitions and thus finished the season with the same number of appearances; unlike Pritchard, he was in the starting line-up for all 62 games in which he played.^[28] Cascarino had the next highest number of appearances, with 60; he missed three consecutive league games between 26 December and 1 January but started every other match.^[28] Oakes,Graham Westley and youth-team manager Gorman made the fewest appearances, each playing twice. Gorman, aged 37, was named as a substitute in the first leg of the League Cup tie against Oxford United and was in the starting line-up for the second leg; he had not played a professional match in England since 1979.^[75] Westley's two appearances were both as a substitute, making him the only player to play for Gillingham during the season without starting a game.^[28] The veteran Weatherly made his 500th appearance for the team in April, only the fourth player in the club's history to reach this milestone.^[76][77]

Cascarino was the team's leading scorer when considering goals in all competitions. The striker scored 16 goals in Third Division matches, 2 in the FA Cup, 3 in the League Cup, 4 in the Associate Members' Cup and 5 in the play-offs for a total of 30 goals. Shearer scored the same number of goals as Cascarino in Third Division matches but only added 2 in other competitions for a total of 18.^[28] Cascarino scored a hat-trick on two occasions, once in the Third Division and once in the play-offs.^[28] Pritchard scored the team's only other hat-trick of the season and was the only other player to reach double figures, scoring 12 goals in the Third Division and 14 overall.^[28] Both Cascarino and Greenall were elected by their fellow professionals into thePFA Team of the Year for the Third Division.^[78]

Gillingham manager Peacock noted that he felt "as low as I have ever felt in football" after the play-off final defeat.^[57] He also rued the absence of Shearer for parts of the season, contending that if the Scottish striker had been fit throughout, his goalscoring partnership with Cascarino would have secured an automatic promotion place.^[79] It had been speculated during the season that if Gillingham again failed to gain promotion, Cascarino, seen as the team's most valued player, would be signed by a club in a higher division, officials from several top clubs having visited Gillingham matches to watch him in action. Shortly after the play-off final defeat he joinedMillwall of the Second Division for a transfer fee of £225,000. This was at the time the highest fee which Gillingham had ever received for a player.^[80][81] He would go on to play at the highest level in both England and Scotland and represent the Republic of Ireland atEuro 1988, the1990 World Cup and the1994 World Cup.^[80] Robinson, who had been a regular starter in the first half of the season but featured less frequently in the latter stages, also moved on, joiningSouthend United for £25,000.^[82]

Gillingham began the following season mounting another challenge for promotion, and in the early part of the season beat Southend United 8–1 and Chesterfield 10–0 on consecutive Saturdays.^[83] The team's form quickly declined and Peacock was sacked in December 1987, to be replaced by his former assistant Taylor.^[84] The team finished the1987–88 season in 13th place in the Third Division.^[85]

• Bateson, Bill; Sewell, Albert, eds. (1986).News Of The World Football Annual 1986–87. London: Invincible Press.ISBN 978-0-85543-076-4.
• Brown, Tony (2003).The Definitive Gillingham F.C.: A Complete Record.Nottingham: Soccerdata.ISBN 978-1-89946-820-1.
• Dunk, Peter, ed. (1987).Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88. London:Queen Anne Press.ISBN 978-0-35614-354-5.
• Elligate, David (2009).Gillingham FC On This Day.Durrington: Pitch Publishing.ISBN 978-1-90541-145-0.
• Foster, Richard (2015).The Agony & The Ecstasy.Huddersfield: Ockley Books.ISBN 978-1-9109-0600-2.
• Hugman, Barry (2005).The PFA Premier and Football League Players' Records 1946-2005.London:Queen Anne Press.ISBN 978-1-85291-665-7.
• Layton, Michael; Pacey, Alan (2016).Tracking the Hooligans: The History of Football Violence on the UK Rail Network.Stroud:Amberley Publishing Limited.ISBN 978-1-4456-5181-1.
• Triggs, Roger (2001).The Men Who Made Gillingham Football Club.Stroud: Tempus Publishing Ltd.ISBN 978-0-75242-243-5.

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