No denying shit season
Ben Hopkins on another season to forget for Gillingham FC
Gillingham FC’s performances since Ben Hopkins’ previous update have been mostly terrible, but early signs suggest that April has delivered a modicum of improvement...
The games
Cambridge was the best of times and the worst of times. On a personal level, it was one of the most entertaining away days in my memory. Yet if you know a Gillingham fan, you’ll probably have been subject to the unofficial club lore that match days are brilliant… but if only you could skip the part between 3pm-5pm. Gills at least left it until 3.02pm to go a goal down.
Plenty of us were still waiting to filter into the stand when a cheer rang out. “I take it we’re losing already,” someone muttered. The response? “Well, we’re not likely to score this early, are we?” The match was as good as over, but Gills managed to leak a further four goals for good measure.
After arguably the worst performance of the season (although there has been plenty of competition for that dubious honour in 2026 alone), a spirited but somehow also lacklustre 2-0 home defeat to Swindon was at least an improvement. Home to Bristol Rovers actually saw Gills take the lead via a slightly lucky penalty, only to return after half-time flatter than last year’s pancakes and sink to a 2-1 defeat - complete with one of the most dim-witted reasons for a red card imaginable courtesy of captain Armani Little. Another sizable away following at Crawley appeared to at least be rewarded with a boring goalless draw… only for Crawley to score twice late on, prompting the remaining Gills fans to chant, “We turn up, so why can't you?”
So naturally no one had high hopes going into April, but some strong individual performances and less emphasis on long balls saw Gills land a credible 2-2 draw at Walsall and then comfortably defeat Accrington 2-0 at Priestfield.
The scores don’t add much of interest to the league table. Last month, I predicted a finish of 13th-17th, but now I’ll downgrade a touch to 15th-19th. The last time Gillingham finished as low as 19th in the fourth tier was in 1995.
