Can Gillingham steady the ship?
Gillingham Football Club appeared to be resurgent under a new owner. After sacking their manager, will they pull it back together or snatch defeat from the jaws of victory?
Editor’s note: Sport isn’t something we write about here regularly on Local Authority. This is mostly because the two of us behind this project are more comfortable with the duelling of a council chamber rather than any kind of stadium. Medway’s only football league team is in the process of going through some significant changes and is looking at a potentially bright future after years of going nowhere fast. As such, we’ve recruited successful writer and Gills fan Ben Hopkins to look at the season so far, and whether the team might be able to make the most of the opportunity or snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
Can Gillingham steady the ship?
by Ben Hopkins
Last December, Gillingham’s 70-plus year status as a football league team was in doubt as a squad lacking both quality and depth had boarded the fast train to non-league. The atmosphere around the club was even worse with most fans overcome by a cocktail of anger and apathy, while the matchday experience - epic beer queues, erratic food service, overzealous stewarding - wasn’t any better.
But then salvation emerged in the shape of Florida business couple Brad and Shannon Galinson. They boosted the squad with a wealth of new signings, took the time to correct all of the nagging issues that had lurked around the club for so long, strengthened the club’s backroom staff and - most importantly of all - offered a beacon of hope when fans were at their lowest ebb. Manager Neil Harris led his new-look team on a remarkable run of form, comfortably achieving survival after our fate looked effectively sealed.
The Galinsons’ plans continued over the summer. Not only did they again boost the quality of the squad, but they instigated numerous initiatives to benefit the club’s longer-term finances, from digital advertising boards to a soon-to-be-opened club shop, and continued their fervent relationship with fans with a morale-boosting pre-season adventure to Como. And so this season started with the hope, perhaps even expectation, that Gillingham could mount a promotion push. Thirteen games later, Harris has already departed and Gillingham are lurking just outside of the play-off positions. The mission - memed semi-ironically by fans as HMS Piss The League - hasn’t quite left the docks.
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