1986–87 Gillingham F.C. season

English football club season February 2015 February 2015 Gillingham 1986–87 Keith Peacock Roy Wood Third Division 5th FA Cup Third round League Cup Second round Associate Members' Cup Southern section semi-finals Tony CascarinoDave Shearer (16 each) Tony Cascarino (30) 16,775 vs Swindon Town (22 May 1987) 1,984 vs Colchester United (26 January 1987) _whiteborder _whitesides _whiteborder _bluesides _blueline 0000ff 0000ff 0000ff _bluenewolympic _whitesides _whiteline FFFFFF FFFFFF FFFFFF 0000FF 0000FF 1985–86 1987–88 During the 1986–87 English football season, Gillingham F.C. competed in the Football League Third Division. It was the 55th season in which the club competed in the Football League, and the 37th since the club was voted 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 the play-offs for promotion to the Football League Second Division, the team needed to win their final game and both Bristol City and Notts County had to fail to win theirs. A victory over Bolton 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 beating Sunderland in the semi-finals, Gillingham faced Swindon Town in the final. The two teams drew 2–2 on aggregate, necessitating a replay at a neutral venue, which Swindon won 2–0 to claim a place in the Second Division. During the season, Gillingham also reached the third round of the FA Cup, the second round of the Football League Cup, and the southern section semi-finals of the Associate Members' Cup. The team played 63 competitive matches, winning 31, drawing 12 (including one decided by a penalty shoot-out), and losing 20. Tony Cascarino was the club's leading goalscorer, with 30 goals in all competitions. Howard Pritchard and Paul 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. Background and pre-season thumb|right|alt=Former footballer Keith Peacock|Keith Peacock (pictured in 2025) was the club's manager. The 1986–87 season was Gillingham's 55th season playing in the Football 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 the Football League Third Division, the third tier of the English football league system, since the team gained promotion from the Fourth Division as runners-up in 1974.Brown 2003 83–90, 114 In the 12 seasons since then, the team had achieved a best finish of fourth place, one position away from promotion to the Second Division, a feat achieved in both the 1978–79 and 1984–85 seasons.Brown 2003 83–90, 114 The club had never reached the second level of English football in its history.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sport/football/767702.stm Second time lucky for Gills BBC Sport 6 August 2008 28 May 2000 3 March 2003 https://web.archive.org/web/20030303203928/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sport/football/767702.stm live In the 1985–86 season, Gillingham had finished fifth and missed out on promotion by two places.Brown 2003 83–90, 114 Keith Peacock was the club's manager for a sixth season, having been appointed in July 1981.Bateson 1986 252 Paul Taylor served as assistant manager,Gillingham V Middlesbrough Matchday Programme 3 Top Comment 13 September 1986 Paul Taylor Bill Collins, who had been with the club in a variety of roles since the early 1960s, held the post of first-team trainer, and John Gorman managed the youth team.Triggs 2001 94Gillingham V Northampton Town Matchday Programme 3 Top Comment 25 August 1986 Roy Wood Mark Weatherly took over as team captain, replacing Keith Oakes, who was only named as a substitute for the opening game of the season and left the club soon afterwards to join Fulham.Gillingham V Brentford Matchday Programme 3 Captain's Comment 27 September 1986 Mark WeatherlyTriggs 2001 236 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 potential liquidation order from the Inland Revenue.Elligate 2009 108 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.Elligate 2009 112 In July, the club's financial director announced that a settlement had been reached with the Inland Revenue. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A117837970/STND?u=wikipedia&sid=bookmark-STND&xid=72f55aba The Times 22 June 2021 Gale Football: Breathing space for Gillingham 18 July 1986 subscription Following the resolution of the issues behind the scenes, Peacock signed six new players before the season began. In July, midfielder Trevor Quow joined from Peterborough United for a transfer fee of £8,500.Triggs 2001 267 The following month, Gillingham signed Howard Pritchard, a winger who had made one appearance for the Welsh national team in 1985, from Bristol City for a fee of £22,500.Triggs 2001 263 Defender Graham Pearce and midfielder Mel Eves arrived from Brighton & Hove Albion and Sheffield United respectively on free transfers,Triggs 2001 115, 251 and the club paid semi-professional club Welling United a fee of £3,000 to sign winger Dave Smith.Triggs 2001 299 Defender Paul Haylock signed for £25,000 from Norwich City, having rejected a new contract shortly after helping the team win the Second Division championship.Triggs 2001 152 Several players left the club, including defender Mel Sage, one of the club's most promising young players, who joined Derby 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.Elligate 2009 124 Karl Elsey came close to leaving the club, but failed to agree a contract with Reading and so remained at Gillingham.Elsey deal is off Evening Standard 52 25 July 1986 28 June 2021 Newspapers.com subscription https://www.newspapers.com/image/722388153 The team prepared for the new season with several friendly matches, including a testimonial match for the long-serving Weatherly, for which Tottenham Hotspur of the First Division provided the opposition.Elligate 2009 123 The team retained the first-choice kit worn in the previous season of blue shirts with a white panel down each side. The away 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.Gillingham V Southend United Matchday Programme 8 Action Flashback 3 September 1985Gillingham V Derby County Matchday Programme 8 Action Flashback 4 January 1986Gillingham V Northampton Town Matchday Programme 8 On Film ... 25 August 1986 John LetleyGillingham V Fulham Matchday Programme 8 On Film ... 20 April 1987 John Letley Third Division August–December thumb|right|alt=Priestfield Stadium|Gillingham's home ground, Priestfield Stadium (pictured 1987) The team's first game of the season was an away match against Newport 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 and Dave Shearer scored the winner.Dunk 1987 172 The first home league game took place at Priestfield 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.Brown 2003 92–96 Shearer scored in a 1–1 draw and then got the only goal of the game away to Rotherham United to give Gillingham the win and seven points out of a possible nine from the first three games of the season.Dunk 1987 172 The team's unbeaten run in the league extended to six games with a goalless draw against Middlesbrough and 2–0 wins against both York City and Brentford, before the first defeat of the season came against Mansfield Town.Dunk 1987 172 Colin Greenall, a highly rated defender who had been signed from Blackpool for £40,000 at the start of September, made his debut in the Middlesbrough game.Dunk 1987 172Triggs 2001 140 A game against Chester City which should have taken place in late September was postponed because of an outbreak of illness among the opposing players.Dunk 1987 14 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.Dunk 1987 172 The team had no game on 11 October as the scheduled match away to AFC Bournemouth was postponed because Dorset Constabulary did not have sufficient manpower to police both the match and the Conservative Party Conference, which was taking place in the town.Elligate 2009 108 The unbeaten run came to an end with a 2–0 defeat away to Doncaster Rovers on 7 November, but the team then won 3–1 against fellow promotion-chasers Notts County, a game in which Shearer scored twice.Brown 2003 96 Despite a defeat away to Wigan Athletic on 29 November, in a match which was unusually played in the morning to avoid a clash with an international rugby league match taking place in the town,Gillingham V Notts County Matchday Programme 4 Gills Chat 22 November 1986 Tony Hudd Gillingham ended the month in second place in the league table.Dunk 1987 172 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 from Martin Robinson and Pritchard, which took the team to the top of the Third Division table.Elligate 2009 188 https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A117801214/STND?u=wikipedia&sid=bookmark-STND&xid=45b10c21 The Times 23 June 2021 Gale subscription Football: Gillingham end rivals' run to go top again 3 December 1986 Clive White https://www.newspapers.com/image/260292009/ Peacock is proud of Gills' display The Guardian 3 December 1986 Russell Thomas Newspapers.com subscription 27 June 2021 32 In the next league game, Gillingham lost 3–0 away to mid-table Bolton Wanderers, a game in which Tony Cascarino was sent off.https://www.newspapers.com/image/257814803 Phoenix of Bradford Michael Ralph 14 December 1986 The Observer 42 25 June 2021 Newspapers.com subscription Gillingham bounced back from the defeat with a 4–1 victory over Bristol Rovers which ensured they were back on top of the division heading into the Christmas period.https://www.newspapers.com/image/260296048 Albion lose ground, Jones the ball The Guardian 20 December 1986 28 June 2021 Newspapers.com subscription 14 The team ended 1986 with two games on consecutive days; a draw with Fulham on Boxing Day followed by a defeat to Swindon Town the next day left Gillingham in third place in the Third Division table going into the new year.Dunk 1987 172 The game against Swindon, regarded by fans as one of Gillingham's rivals since the 1970s,https://www.kentonline.co.uk/medway/news/gillingham-supporter-banned-16318/ Gillingham fan from Canterbury banned from all games for three years after threatening Swindon Town fans Jenni Horn Kent Online 24 April 2014 28 June 2021 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.Dunk 1987 172 January–May thumb|right|upright|Tony Cascarino (pictured 1987) scored the goal which ensured that Gillingham qualified for the promotion play-offs.|alt=Footballer Tony Cascarino Gillingham began 1987 with a home win over Walsall on New Year's Day. Pritchard scored a hat-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.Triggs 2001 263 https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/IF0500468327/TTDA?u=wikipedia&sid=bookmark-TTDA&xid=8623d3ef The Times 23 June 2021 Gale Yesterday's Football and Rugby Results subscription 2 January 1987 26 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.Dunk 1987 172 In February, Shearer sustained an injury, so Peacock signed Colin Gordon on loan from Wimbledon; the striker scored twice in four games before returning to his parent club.Triggs 2001 146 In the same month, goalkeeper Phil Kite joined from Southampton, initially on loan, after Ron 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.Triggs 2001 188 Midfielder Steve Jacobs, who had joined the club from Charlton Athletic in December, made his debut in February and played six consecutive league games, but then did not play again for over a month.Triggs 2001 171Dunk 1987 173 In March, Gillingham won three consecutive league matches for the first time since November, beating Carlisle United, Darlington, and Bournemouth.Dunk 1987 172 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 on Easter Monday, drew the club's largest home crowd since the Swindon game in December.Dunk 1987 172 Experienced defender Les Berry joined Gillingham from Brighton & Hove Albion during March; he made his debut in an away defeat to Bury at the end of the month and was an ever-present for the remainder of the season.Triggs 2001 58 The team began April with two consecutive wins against Doncaster Rovers and Blackpool but then lost to Walsall.Dunk 1987 172 On his return to the team against Walsall, Jacobs was sent off for retaliating after being fouled 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.Triggs 2001 171 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.Dunk 1987 172 At the start of the season, the Football League had introduced a new play-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.Foster 2015 8Bateson 1986 266 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.Brown 2003 84 https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A117630565/STND?u=wikipedia&sid=bookmark-STND&xid=ae690de0 The Times 25 June 2021 Gale subscription Football: Rush bows out in the usual way 11 May 1987 Andrew Longmore 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.Triggs 2001 348 Match results Key In result column, Gillingham's score shown first H = Home match A = Away match pen. = Penalty kick o.g. = Own goal ResultsDunk 1987 172 DateOpponentsResultGoalscorersAttendance 23 August 1986 Newport County (A) 2–1 Weatherly, Shearer 2,53330 August 1986 Bristol City (H)1–1 Shearer4,1856 September 1986 Rotherham United (A)1–0 Shearer3,24313 September 1986 Middlesbrough (H)0–0 4,88816 September 1986 York City (H)2–0 Weatherly, Eves4,11527 September 1986 Brentford (H)2–0 Eves, Robinson4,71030 September 1986 Mansfield Town (A)0–1 3,0464 October 1986 Bury (H)1–0 Cascarino4,32615 October 1986 Chester City (A)1–1 Greenall2,19818 October 1986 Carlisle United (H)1–0 Pritchard4,20421 October 1986 Darlington (A)1–1Shearer 1,51225 October 1986 Port Vale (A)2–1 Shearer (pen.), Pritchard3,0551 November 1986 Chesterfield (H)3–0 Greenall, Shearer, Pritchard4,3734 November 1986 Blackpool (H)2–1 Shearer, Weatherly5,9517 November 1986 Doncaster Rovers (A)0–2 2,69122 November 1986 Notts County (H)3–1 Shearer (2), Cascarino5,51429 November 1986 Wigan Athletic (A)1–3 Shearer2,4922 December 1986 AFC Bournemouth (A)2–0 Robinson, Pritchard7,75613 December 1986 Bolton Wanderers (A)0–3 4,86719 December 1986 Bristol Rovers (H)4–1 Pritchard, Robinson, Cascarino (2)4,47326 December 1986 Fulham (A)2–2 Parker (o.g.), Collins5,89427 December 1986 Swindon Town (H)1–3 Greenall9,9821 January 1987 Walsall (H)4–0 Pritchard (3), Elsey6,0033 January 1987 Notts County (A)1–3 Cascarino5,8323 February 1987 Rotherham United (H)1–0 Pritchard3,8627 February 1987 York City (A)1–2 Smith2,84514 February 1987 Chester City (H)1–2 Quow4,43817 February 1987 Newport County (H)1–1 Gordon3,64321 February 1987 Brentford (A)2–3 Cascarino, Gordon4,01528 February 1987 Mansfield Town (H)2–0 Cascarino, Pritchard4,2513 March 1987 Chesterfield (A)0–1 2,0267 March 1987 Port Vale (H)0–0 3,92914 March 1987 Carlisle United (A)4–2 Pritchard, Shearer (2), Cascarino2,11717 March 1987 Darlington (H)4–1 Cascarino (3), Shearer3,55821 March 1987 AFC Bournemouth (H)2–1 Weatherly, Shearer7,57728 March 1987 Bury (A)0–1 2,1974 April 1987 Doncaster Rovers (H)2–1 Elsey, Cascarino3,50111 April 1987 Blackpool (A)1–0 Shearer2,55818 April 1987 Walsall (A)0–1 5,10920 April 1987 Fulham (H)4–1 Shearer (pen.), Lovell, Cascarino (2)6,12322 April 1987 Bristol City (A)0–2 10,26025 April 1987 Bristol Rovers (A)1–0 Cascarino3,17428 April 1987 Middlesbrough (A)0–3 11,9372 May 1987 Wigan Athletic (H)0–0 5,4084 May 1987 Swindon Town (A)1–1 Pritchard10,2879 May 1987 Bolton Wanderers (H)1–0 Cascarino5,319 Partial league table 1986–87 Football League#Third Division main WDL left auto Football League Third Division final table, leading positions PR BOU Bournemouth MID Middlesbrough SWI Swindon Town WIG Wigan Athletic GIL Gillingham BRI Bristol City NOT Notts County 29 10 7 76 40 28 10 8 67 30 25 12 9 77 47 25 10 11 83 60 23 9 14 65 48 21 14 11 63 36 21 13 12 77 56 Division Champions, promoted CP Promoted P Participated in play-offs PP PP PP complete https://www.11v11.com/league-tables/league-division-three/1987/ 11v11 AFS Enterprises 27 March 2021 League Division Three end of season table for 1986–87 season 30 March 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210330111007/https://www.11v11.com/league-tables/league-division-three/1987/ live Play-offs thumb|right|alt=Roker Park football stadium|Although Gillingham lost at Roker Park (pictured in 1976), home of Sunderland, they reached the play-off final. Under the original format of the play-offs, the club which had finished immediately above the automatic relegation 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. https://www.theguardian.com/football/the-agony-and-the-ecstasy/2017/may/04/football-league-play-offs-30-1987-finals-championship-league-one-two The Guardian Richard Foster The Football League play-offs at 30: a quick fix that survived and thrived 4 May 2017 19 January 2021 12 November 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20201112011651/https://www.theguardian.com/football/the-agony-and-the-ecstasy/2017/may/04/football-league-play-offs-30-1987-finals-championship-league-one-two live At the semi-final stage, Gillingham were paired with Sunderland, who had finished the season in 20th place in the Second Division, in a two-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.Elligate 2009 87 Three days later at Roker Park in Sunderland, Pritchard scored for Gillingham inside the first five minutes to give his team a two-goal lead on 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 into extra 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 more away goals.Elligate 2009 89Foster 2015 194 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.Brown 2003 96 Violence broke out before the game between the two sets of fans and two British Transport Police officers were injured.Layton 2016 In the match itself, Swindon were "superior in all departments except the telling ones – finishing and goalkeeping" according to David Powell of The Times. The game remained goal-less until the 81st minute when Smith scored following a free kick from Quow to give Gillingham a single-goal lead going into the second leg. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A117629223/STND?u=wikipedia&sid=STND&xid=3009cfa4 The Times 30 March 2021 Gale Gillingham hopes high as a Kite subscription 23 May 1987 David Powell 30 March 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210330110950/https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=STND&u=wikipedia&id=GALE%7CA117629223&v=2.1&it=r&sid=STND&asid=3009cfa4 live Three days later at Swindon's County Ground, Elsey volleyed the ball into the goal to give Gillingham a two-goal lead on aggregate, but goals from Peter Coyne and Charlie Henry for Swindon made the result on the day 2–1 to Swindon and the aggregate score across the two legs 2–2. 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, a replay would take place at a neutral stadium.Elligate 2009 94 Robert Armstrong of The Guardian described the second leg as "an epic battle, in the best Anglo-Saxon tradition of the knockout competition". https://theguardian.newspapers.com/clip/74663116/the-guardian/ The Guardian Newspapers.com 29 March 2021 26 May 1987 28 Swindon spirit pulls back two-goal lead Robert Armstrong 30 March 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210330110946/https://theguardian.newspapers.com/clip/74663116/the-guardian/ live The replay took place at Selhurst Park, home of Crystal 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.Elligate 2009 96 Swindon took the lead after only two minutes following a defensive error by Gillingham.Elligate 2009 96 Although Gillingham were the stronger team in the second half, they could not manage to score a goal, and Steve 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.Elligate 2009 96 https://theguardian.newspapers.com/clip/55278305/the-guardian/ The Guardian 29 March 2021 Newspapers.com 30 May 1987 Russell Thomas Swindon remount on White's night 17 30 March 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210330110946/https://theguardian.newspapers.com/clip/55278305/the-guardian/ live Match results Key In result column, Gillingham's score shown first H = Home match A = Away match N = Match at a neutral venue pen. = Penalty kick o.g. = Own goal ResultsBrown 2003 96 DateRoundOpponentsResultGoalscorersAttendance 14 May 1987 Semi-final, first legSunderland (H) 3–2 Cascarino (3) 13,804 17 May 1987Semi-final, second leg Sunderland (A) 3–4Cascarino (2), Pritchard 25,470 22 May 1987Final, first legSwindon Town (H) 1–0Smith 16,775 25 May 1987Final, second legSwindon Town (A) 1–2Elsey 14,382 29 May 1987Final, replaySwindon Town (N) 0–2 18,491 Cup matches FA Cup As a Third Division team, Gillingham entered the 1986–87 FA Cup in the first round, where they were drawn to play Kettering Town of the Football Conference, the highest level of non-League football. Gillingham won 3–0 with goals from Robinson, Hinnigan and an own goal from a Kettering player.Dunk 1987 480 In the second round, Gillingham played another non-League team, Chelmsford City of the Southern League. Cascarino scored twice in a 2–0 victory.Dunk 1987 483 Gillingham's third round opponents were fellow Third Division team Wigan Athletic. The game was twice postponed due to heavy snow in the south of England, the club at one point hiring a police Land Rover to pick up players who lived in outlying areas after the football authorities initially refused the second postponement.Dunk 1987 23 https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A117701997/STND?u=wikipedia&sid=bookmark-STND&xid=575bbf4f The Times 22 June 2021 subscription Gale FA Cup Football: Cup reprieve for Gillingham 14 January 1987 After that decision was reversed, the match finally took place on 19 January. Greenall scored a goal from a penalty kick but Wigan scored twice to end Gillingham's cup run.Dunk 1987 486 Match results Key In result column, Gillingham's score shown first H = Home match A = Away match pen. = Penalty kick o.g. = Own goal ResultsBrown 2003 96 DateRoundOpponentsResultGoalscorersAttendance 15 November 1986 First Kettering Town (A) 3–1 Robinson, Hinnigan, Kellock (o.g.) 2,8456 December 1986Second Chelmsford City (H) 2–0Cascarino (2) 5,84319 January 1987Third Wigan Athletic (A) 1–2Greenall (pen.) 3,459 Football League Cup Gillingham entered the 1986–87 Football League Cup in the first round, being drawn against Northampton 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 the County Ground 2–2 for a 3–2 aggregate win.Dunk 1987 447, 450 In the second round, Gillingham were drawn against the reigning cup-holders, Oxford United of the First Division.https://www.newspapers.com/image/260265074 Luton's Cup test case 28 Russell Thomas The Guardian 5 September 1986 28 June 2021 Newspapers.com subscription The first leg was played at Oxford's home ground, the Manor Ground, where Gillingham were comprehensively outplayed, losing 6–0. Republic of Ireland international striker John Aldridge scored four of the Oxford goals.https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/sport/17930229.classic-clash-ruthless-oxford-united-hit-gillingham-six/ Classic Clash: Ruthless Oxford United hit Gillingham for six Oxford Mail James Roberts 26 September 2019 22 June 2021https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/aldridge-exit-opens-way-for-goodman-1.105736 Aldridge exit opens way for Goodman The Irish Times Peter Byrne 13 November 1996 7 August 2021 This was the most goals conceded by Gillingham in a match since a 7–1 defeat by York City in November 1984.Brown 2003 94–96 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.Dunk 1987 453 Match results Key In result column, Gillingham's score shown first H = Home match A = Away match pen. = Penalty kick o.g. = Own goal ResultsBrown 2003 96 DateRoundOpponentsResultGoalscorersAttendance25 August 1986First (first leg)Northampton Town (H)1–0Weatherly 2,9483 September 1986First (second leg)Northampton Town (A)2–2Cascarino (2) 2,72424 September 1986Second (first leg)Oxford United (A)0–6 5,2467 October 1986Second (second leg)Oxford United (H)1–1Cascarino 3,033 Associate Members' Cup right|thumb|alt=Ashton Gate football stadium|Gillingham were eliminated from the Associate Members' Cup at Ashton Gate (pictured in 1982), home of Bristol City, for the second consecutive season. The 1986–87 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 a round-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.Dunk 1987 462 https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A117804275/STND?u=wikipedia&sid=bookmark-STND&xid=c737cc14 The Times 22 June 2021 Gale Football: Sharp Gillingham swamp County 26 November 1986 subscription The team thus qualified for the first round, where they were paired with Colchester 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.Brown 2003 96Dunk 1987 463 In the southern section quarter-final, Gillingham played Port Vale; the match finished 3–3 after extra time, meaning that a penalty 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.Dunk 1987 464Gillingham V Newport County Matchday Programme 8–9 Ron's Night....To Remember!!! 17 February 1987 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.Brown 2003 95 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.Brown 2003 96 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.Brown 2003 95 Match results Key In result column, Gillingham's score shown first H = Home match A = Away match pen. = Penalty kick o.g. = Own goal ResultsBrown 2003 96 DateRoundOpponentsResultGoalscorersAttendance25 November 1986Preliminary (southern section)Notts County (A)5–0Cascarino (2), Shearer (2), Robinson1,66816 December 1986Preliminary (southern section)Northampton Town (H)1–0Pritchard2,04726 January 1987First (southern section)Colchester United (H)2–0Smith, Cascarino1,98410 February 1987Quarter-final (southern section)Port Vale (A)3–3Elsey, Cascarino, Smith2,76810 March 1987Semi-final (southern section)Bristol City (A)0–210,540 Players thumb|right|upright|alt=Football physiotherapist Phil Kite attending to an injured player|Phil Kite (left, pictured in 2009) joined Gillingham in February and was first-choice goalkeeper for the remainder of the season. 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.Brown 2003 96 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.Brown 2003 96 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.Brown 2003 96 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.Hugman 2005 331 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.Brown 2003 96 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.Elligate 2009 67Triggs 2001 351 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.Brown 2003 96 Cascarino scored a hat-trick on two occasions, once in the Third Division and once in the play-offs.Brown 2003 96 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.Brown 2003 96 Both Cascarino and Greenall were elected by their fellow professionals into the PFA Team of the Year for the Third Division.Triggs 2001 352 +Player statisticsBrown 2003 96PlayerPositionThird DivisionPlay-offsFA CupLeague CupAssociate Members' CupTotalAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsMark BeeneyGK200000100030Les Berry Les Berry (footballer)DF11050000000160Tony CascarinoFW4316553243546030Paul Collins Paul Collins (English footballer)MF8 10 0 3 0 3 0 0 0 14 1 Karl ElseyMF43 2 5 1 3 03 0 5 1 59 4 Mel EvesFW12 2 0 0 0 0 30 2 017 2 Irvin GernonDF14 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 150 Colin Gordon Colin Gordon (footballer)FW 42 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 2John Gorman John Gorman (footballer)DF0 0 0 0 00 20 0 0 2 0Colin GreenallDF 373 5 0 3 1 00 3 0 48 4Paul HaylockDF 450 50 30 40 3 0 62 0Ron HillyardGK27 0 0 0 3 0 3 0 4 0 37 0 Joe HinniganDF27 0 00 2 1 3 0 3 0 35 1Steve Jacobs Steve Jacobs (footballer)MF7 0 0 0 1 00 0 4 0 12 0Phil Kite Phil Kite (footballer)GK17 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 23 0Steve Lovell Steve Lovell (Welsh footballer)FW 6 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 1Keith OakesDF1 0 0 0 0 0 10 0 0 2 0Graham Pearce Graham Pearce (English footballer)DF 330 4 03 0 40 4 0 48 0Howard PritchardFW46 12 5 1 2 0 4 0 5 1 62 14Trevor QuowMF 191 5 0 10 40 40 33 0Martin Robinson Martin Robinson (footballer)FW30 3 1 0 3 1 30 21 39 5 Dave ShearerFW 3616 5 0 2 03 0 2 2 48 18Dave Smith Dave Smith (footballer, born 1961)FW27 1 5 1 2 0 1 0 5 2 40 4Mark WeatherlyDF44 4 1 03 0 3 14 0 55 5Graham WestleyFW1 00 0 00 0 01 0 2 0 FW = Forward, MF = Midfielder, GK = Goalkeeper, DF = Defender Aftermath Gillingham manager Peacock noted that he felt "as low as I have ever felt in football" after the play-off final defeat. 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.Triggs 2001 291 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 joined Millwall 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.Triggs 2001 82–84https://www.newspapers.com/image/722337976 Robinson may become a Mechelen man The Guardian 17 December 1986 28 June 2021 Newspapers.com subscription 34 He would go on to play at the highest level in both England and Scotland and represent the Republic of Ireland at Euro 1988, the 1990 World Cup and the 1994 World Cup.Triggs 2001 82–84 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, joining Southend United for £25,000.Triggs 2001 277–278 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.Elligate 2009 138 The team's form quickly declined and Peacock was sacked in December 1987, to be replaced by his former assistant Taylor.Elligate 2009 203 The team finished the 1987–88 season in 13th place in the Third Division. https://www.11v11.com/league-tables/league-division-three/1988/ 11v11 AFS Enterprises 28 March 2021 League Division Three end of season table for 1987–88 season 30 March 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210330111010/https://www.11v11.com/league-tables/league-division-three/1988/ live References Bibliography Bateson Bill Sewell Albert News Of The World Football Annual 1986–87 Invincible Press 1986 978-0-85543-076-4 Bateson 1986 London Brown Tony The Definitive Gillingham F.C.: A Complete Record Soccerdata 2003 978-1-89946-820-1 Nottingham Dunk Peter Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88 Queen Anne Press 1987 978-0-35614-354-5 London Elligate David Gillingham FC On This Day Pitch Publishing 2009 978-1-90541-145-0 Durrington The Agony & The Ecstasy Richard Foster 978-1-9109-0600-2 Ockley Books 2015 Huddersfield Barry Hugman The PFA Premier and Football League Players' Records 1946-2005 Queen Anne Press 2005 978-1-85291-665-7 London https://books.google.com/books?id=MR2tCwAAQBAJ&q=gillingham+swindon+1987+violence&pg=PT111 Tracking the Hooligans: The History of Football Violence on the UK Rail Network Amberley Publishing Limited 2016 Michael Layton Alan Pacey 978-1-4456-5181-1 Layton 2016 Stroud Roger Triggs The Men Who Made Gillingham Football Club Tempus Publishing Ltd 2001 978-0-75242-243-5 Stroud Category:Gillingham F.C. seasons Gillingham