What went wrong for Gillingham?
Plus neighbourhood plan referendum win, review of GSA café in Rochester, weekly event guide, news in brief, and more
After starting so well, Gillingham Football Club’s push for promotion from League 2 fell away, with a mid-table finish, and head coach Stephen Clemence left the club within 48 hours of the season ending. Our Gills columnist looks back at the season to try and figure out where it all went wrong. Further down, we have news on yesterday’s Arches (Chatham) Neighbourhood Plan referendum, a review of the GSA café in Rochester, our weekly event guide, news in brief, and more.
What went wrong? Ten moments that defined Gillingham’s season
by Ben Hopkins
After much excitement for a new era, Gillingham’s 2023-24 was ultimately disappointing with a 12th place finish, and by the end, two sacked managers. Ben Hopkins looks back at ten of the moments that defined the season…
The pursuit for a striker
The big talking point of pre-season was the rumour that Gillingham’s main transfer target was Alfie May, consistently a high-scorer in League One for a weak Cheltenham side and as close to a sure-bet signing as you could imagine. In retrospect, the investment that would be required would be a daft sum for League Two, and no one was particularly surprised when May headed to Charlton instead. Still, with Macauley Bonne, Tom Nichols and a few midfielders who could contribute a useful amount of goals, what could go wrong? Well… everything. Gillingham ended up as the division’s second lowest scorers. Meanwhile, May scored 23 by himself.
Four wins from four!
Regardless, Gills started the season on fire with an away win at one of the favourites, Stockport, followed by further 1-0 wins over Accrington, Sutton and Crawley. Perhaps four wins accompanied by cool beer in the late summer sun warped my usually dour perspective, but anything felt possible. Perhaps this would be like 1996 when Tony Pulis led Gills to promotion on the back of a record-breaking defence that only conceded 20 goals. Or perhaps we were riding our luck a little and this would never last…
Macauley Bonne: He parks where he wants
It turned out that Macauley Bonne was not the messiah but a very bad driver. Giving teammates Tim Dieng and George Lapslie a lift to training, he spun out of control on Woodlands Road and careered into a wall and a parked car. No one was injured, but rumours lingered that the incident hit team morale, too. At least we got the most memorable chant of the season: “Macauley Bonne, he parks where he wants.”
Neil Harris is fired
The next seven games saw Gills win just twice, including defeats against two of the league’s weaker teams, Colchester and Grimsby. Poor results, few goals, and limited creative impetus meant it wasn’t hugely surprising that Harris was given the heave-ho. You could make a case for keeping him (and random strangers have pitched this to me ever since, usually while standing at a urinal), but something needed to change. A more compelling idea is that if the Galinsons didn’t have faith in him, they should’ve acted at the end of the previous season. By some fluke, Harris ended the season two divisions higher, first heading to Cambridge and then back to Millwall.
Indecision
Somehow it took almost a month to appoint Stephen Clemence as Harris’s replacement, with former players Steve Bruce and Scott Lindsey in contention as academy coach Keith Millen took temporary charge. His run started with a win versus MK Dons and later saw an away win at Swindon, but really all momentum was lost during this time, with Millen’s bizarre red card during a 4-1 tonking at Walsall taking a detour into the farcical. Having remained at Crawley, Lindsey still made the play-offs on a much tighter budget.
Clemence In!
Eventually Clemence was appointed, which even then felt like a gamble. A highly regarded coach, for sure, but it’s rare that a 45-year-old with no first team managerial experience at all would be given such a job. Our old nemesis optimism returned with a vengeance, although initial results were mixed. Defeat at Wrexham was unsurprising, a 3-1 win versus Salford was encouraging, and a 3-1 defeat at Tranmere was very poor, but at least we beat Wimbledon.
The January transfer window
Despite his oddball introductory social media post, the signing of Remeao Hutton was exciting: proven at this level and exactly what we need. Beyond that, though, the January transfer window was somewhere between cursed and ill-judged. Losing Bonne and Nichols was understandable given their limited impact, but the strikers recruited in their place contributed very little. Josh Andrews looks like an exciting prospect for next season, but he wasn’t fit to start a game until mid-April, by which time the season was realistically over. Young Columbian Jorge Cabezas Hurtado became an instant fan favourite but managed less than 90 minutes in a Gills shirt before his season ended with his injury, and Josh Walker scored just once. Would Andrews or Hurtado have made the difference? We’ll never know.
The ides of March
Impressively, Gillingham haven’t lost a home league game this year. Unfortunately, two wins and eight draws really isn’t promotion, or even play-off, form. With a better striker and/or stronger starts, draws against Tranmere, Grimsby and Crewe could’ve all been wins. Yet other results kept Gillingham lurking there or thereabouts… All they needed was an elusive run of good form.
Harrogate hell
April Fool! A decent first-half showing and a goal from George Lapslie suggested that Gillingham would comfortably devour Harrogate by full-time if only they could score a second. What did we get instead? A complete capitulation. Being 3-1 down after 70 minutes was bleak in the circumstances. Conceding another two in injury time cast us into the depths of hell. Was this the moment in which the Galinsons’ prior support for Clemence evaporated?
Clemence Out!
As unlikely as it had seemed for weeks on end and with a solid win versus Barrow lifting the mood, Gillingham went into the penultimate (and immensely challenging) game at Mansfield with a chance of still making the play-offs. Leading by a Dieng goal and with other results going our way, there was the chance that just maybe everything would somehow work in our favour. Spoiler: very little ended in our favour. A final day draw versus Doncaster was entertaining if ultimately irrelevant and that was the end of the Clemence era. Next up: the Kevin Maher / Gareth Ainsworth / Scott Lindsey / Andy Woodman era (delete as appropriate). Which I suspect will be decided just as soon as I hit send on this column…
Ben Hopkins is a connoisseur of pessimism, thereby providing all of the qualities needed to be a Gillingham fan.
In brief
📹 A local urban explorer has been looking around the former St. John Fisher school in Chatham and has posted footage on TikTok. Given the site only closed in 2022, it already looks fairly apocalyptic.
🍔 In more TikTok news, the burger guy on Chatham High Street is surprisingly big on the platform. BurgermanSerj has over 100,000 followers, and regularly posts his interactions with customers. Billy the Quid appears to be doing okay.
🚛 Medway has bought a new fleet of bin lorries after the previous ones had been taken beyond the end of their natural life, causing reliability issues. 46 new lorries were bought for around £12m, £5m less than was budgeted, marking possibly the first time a council procurement has ever come in under budget.
🗣️ Rochester and Strood MP Kelly Tolhurst held a parliamentary debate on the future of Chatham Docks this week. Turnout was, to be generous, sparse, with around six MPs taking part.
🚄 No trains will operate in Medway on Tuesday (7 May) due to strike action on both Southeastern and Thameslink services. A limited service will be available from Ebbsfleet.
🦺 Medway housing association MHS has been fined £528,000 over a potentially fatal breach of health and safety rules. The breach led to an employee suffering burns after digging into an underground cable.
⚽ Chatham Town Football Club have made it to the Isthmian Premier Division play-off final after beating Horsham on penalties. The team will now play Enfield Town on Monday (6 May) for a spot in the National League South next season.
Arches win Neighbourhood Plan referendum
It was a weird vibe at Medway Park for last night’s vote counting. This was likely because the main event, such as these things are, wasn’t even being counted last night. While the votes for the Kent Police and Crime Commissioner election were verified before being locked in a room until Sunday, the only real count taking place was on the Arches (Chatham) Neighbourhood Plan referendum that took place through Luton and parts of Chatham.
So, it was perhaps not wholly surprising that very few people other than Medway Council staff were in the room. A smattering of Labour and Conservative activists made it along, a singular Lib Dem, two representatives from the referendum campaign, and absolutely no other media than us. For the first local democracy of the year in Medway, there were no Local Democracy Reporters in sight, nor any other ‘independent local journalists’, who were presumably upsetting the establishment somewhere else.
Now, admittedly it can be hard to get excited about neighbourhood plans, and the concept in this context is relatively new. Last night, it was suggested that the plan here was the first urban one in Kent and possibly the entire southeast. Neighbourhood plans offer the community a way to set out their aspirations for an area in terms of future land use and development. If they are supported, the local council then uses them as part of their planning decision making progress.
The results for the Arches (Chatham) Neighbourhood Plan were as follows:
For: 727 (87.8%)
Against: 101 (12.2%)
Turnout was 15.8%.
As expected, turnout hardly set the voting boxes alight, but those who did vote were clearly in favour of adopting the plan. As a result, the neighbourhood plan will now be made part of the statutory development plan for the local area.
Counting will begin in earnest for the Kent Police and Crime Commissioner election on Sunday, a decision made by Gravesham Council (who are leading the count) to ruin our weekends. As a result, we’ll be up at the count on Sunday afternoon, where a final result is expected around 3pm. Of course, we’ll let you know the full results just as soon as we have them.
Under our Medwayish banner, we’re delighted to collaborate with excellent Medway illustrator Matilda Flood on an exciting new range of items based on her ‘Ellen Chapman - Medway’s Lion Queen’ series of works. Ellen was a 19th-century lion tamer who performed to large audiences, including Queen Victoria. Matilda’s work highlights the aspects of Ellen’s life that took place in Chatham.
From next week, you can pledge your support for postcards, wrapping paper, and a tea towel based on these beautiful illustrations. If you’re interested, please click here to be notified when the project formally launches.
Out to Lunch: GSA Café in Rochester
In which Steven Keevil assesses the lunch options available in our towns. This week, he’s been down to the GSA Café in Rochester…
Located in a commercial unit under a supported housing complex within the Rochester Riverside development is the Gillingham Street Angels (GSA) Café. The café is a good size and vibrant in the middle of a lunchtime rush. This caused a slightly Hunger Games fight for this writer, as I endeavoured to secure a table for lunch.
It must be said that the café has a slightly odd aesthetic, being as it is also a greengrocer, butchers, and seafood stall. Queuing at the counter added a surreal feel to the proceedings. When first queuing to order, I found myself stuck behind a man who had enlarged his table for four into a table for six and was being told in no uncertain terms by the staff member behind the counter that this wasn’t the done thing. The second time of queuing, I was held up by the same counter processing a seafood order to go and then a lady wanting some lamb chops from the meat section.
We went on Fish Friday and the portions being served were generous and the prices very reasonable. This writer ordered ‘surf and turf’. This caused slight consternation when, following a lifetime of surf orders being scampi, saw shelled prawns delivered instead. I like prawns but deshelling them not so much. The prawns were large and charred, and once I got over myself, delicious. The chips were some of the best chips I have eaten in Medway, which is not meant as a backhanded compliment. Which leaves us with the steak. When you are eating steak and chips and you prefer the chips, something has gone awry. The steak was thin and lacking in flavour, at least in comparison to the rest of the meal. Also, in what is becoming a theme, the salad needed a dressing.
If you are looking for somewhere to lunch, then go here for largely tasty, large portions at good prices. Go early or late to ensure you get a table, but do not dare take more than four chairs for your table.
Events this week
🎨 The next Rochester Art Fair is this weekend, taking place 3-5 May at the Corn Exchange in Rochester. Attendees can browse and purchase art from established and emerging artists across a range of disciplines. Tickets £7.
🍻 Sweeps Festival is this weekend for fans of folk music, weird dancing, and getting blindingly drunk. The event is on 4-6 May throughout Rochester town centre. Free.
🎞️ Cineworld is screening a season of Danny Boyle films through May, starting this Tuesday (7 May) with the criminally underrated Sunshine. Tickets £5.
🌷 Rochester Cathedral is opening its gardens for tours on Thursday (9 May). Previously, these were open to the public, but they are now only accessible with these booked events. Tickets £9.50.
🎭 The Deep Blue Sea is Medway Little Theatre’s latest production. From this Thursday (9 May) until 18 May, their stage will host Terence Rattigan's classic play. Tickets £12.
More Authority
Following our regular Tuesday news briefing, on Wednesday we published a piece on the next round of the Shared Prosperity Fund and what it means for Medway. This is the third year of money being awarded for groups and organisations to improve their local area, and Medway is distributing the money in a unique way.
Coming up this weekend, we’ll be publishing a quick edition on Sunday afternoon once we have the results of the Kent Police and Crime Commissioner election. We’ll be at the count in Gravesham to get the numbers directly, with a result expected around 3pm.
For paid supporters, there’s a veritable bonanza of content. Tomorrow, we’ll be publishing our latest arts edition, highlighting the work of five local creatives. Our Sunday interview this week is with Neil Charlick, Chief Executive of the Gillingham Street Angels charity, which has grown hugely over the past few years. It’s a lengthy and probing chat about exactly what the charity does, the line between a charity and a business, and just how many people GSA are helping each month.
Footnotes
Sounds that soundtracked the creation of this edition: Next Year in Zion by Herman Dune, Prioritise Pleasure by Self Esteem, and the sweet, sweet sound of rolling election results.
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