The king has had his coronation, now let’s have the Gillingham summation…
The Gills were bottom of League Two in mid-January but ended up finishing just three points off the top half following a superb second half of the season once their American takeover went through
Saturday 10 June 2023
NEXT HOME GAME: Huddersfield - Saturday 22 July, 3pm
NEXT AWAY GAME: Lincoln (in Spain!) - Friday 7 July, 12pm (Click here for our away day guide)
Dear County fans, Stopfordians, and any Gillingham supporters joining us today, a very warm welcome to your Saturday edition of The Scarf My Father Wore.
The last team to feature in our 2022-23 review were Colchester, who found themselves in the relegation zone at Christmas. The other club stuck in the bottom two as Santa was zipping round the skies was Gillingham, who were still rock bottom in mid-January. But following their American takeover, the Gills were one of the form teams in League Two over the second half of the season. Matt Boosey from Gills in the Blood reflects on an eventful campaign in Kent.
Finally, a big thank you to Mark at Blue Bee Customs for sponsoring today’s edition.
Enjoy your weekend.
Des Junior
Had King Charles invited you to his coronation celebrations, and insisted you brought him the best food you’d experienced inside a League Two ground this season, what would you have treated him to?
At Wimbledon the queues were too big to get anything, Sutton was an evening game over the festive period so I didn’t eat, Colchester I got stuck in traffic so only got in the ground with five minutes to spare, and at Walsall they forgot my pie and I couldn’t be arsed to go and ask for it as the game was kicking off. That leaves Charlie boy with either the copious amount of breakfast bars I consumed on the drive to Swindon or Gills’ very own pie that was so overcooked I couldn’t separate the burnt pastry from the red hot metal tray it called home.
Charles is now king of the UK. But who would you choose to be crowned king of Priestfield, and who would be locked up in the tower? You can pick anybody who’s had some sort of connection with the club this season.
This is an easy one. Brad Galinson would be king with Paul Fisher (former chief operating officer who helped facilitate the takeover) as his noble prince.
I’m sure plenty of Gills fans would throw former chairman Paul Scally in the tower.
Best moment of 2022-23?
Hearing the news two days before Christmas that we had been taken over; without that I am convinced I would be writing these answers as a supporter of a National League club.
Worst moment of 2022-23?
Too many to mention during what was a truly woeful first half to the campaign where we couldn’t score a goal in the league, let alone win a game.
Funniest moment of 2022-23?
Gallows humour started to take hold when we broke our own record for minutes without a league goal twice in the same (half a) season, so probably the chanting of “We’ve got the ball, we’ve got the ball” would be a personal favourite.
Our French midfielder Tim Dieng’s discovery of his love for Tequila Rose at the end of season dinner was also amusing.
Four Four Two said you’d finish 13th. When Saturday Comes said you’d finish 9th. You finished 17th. Discuss.
Both optimistic based on how the first five months of the season played out, but at least make me feel less daft (only just) about my prediction of 8th. 17th was always likely to be around our level from January given how much ground we had to make up.
County 0 Gillingham 0 in March. Gillingham 1 County 1 in April. Thoughts?
We came to Edgeley Park to spoil and get our point, which we did.
In Kent I thought we were the better side but fair play to you lot for staying in the game. Overall two draws were probably just about right.
Best and worst away days of 2022-23?
Best was either the 2-0 win at Colchester or the mental 3-3 draw at Swindon.
The worst was probably Walsall where we managed – despite an upturn in form and results – to lose 2-0 to a woeful side who hadn’t won a game for about three months.
After decades travelling around the world, Sir David Attenborough’s most recent BBC documentary covered Great Britain. Let’s imagine David and his crew have been filming Gillingham fans throughout the 2022-23 season. In that famous voice of his, how would he describe them?
For the first half of the campaign I imagine he would have compared us to lemmings, desperately sticking together and trying to find the nearest cliff to leap off as one. From January perhaps the hyena, just loads of us laughing hysterically.
With Wrexham up and MK Dons down, there’s a couple of teams coming into League Two who generally cause quite a lot of debate wherever they go. You’re on Moonpig.com buying a welcome card for both of them. What messages are going inside?
“Dear MK Dons, welcome back to League Two. You will have to embrace both the franc-highs and the lows. Regards.”
“Dear Wrexham, Ryan and Rob. Gillingham is home to The Hollywood Bowl, although that’s probably not quite the same as you’re used to. Regards.”
Click on the links below to read the previous 2022-23 reviews we’ve published so far.
Carlisle / Colchester / Crawley / Grimsby / Leyton Orient / Mansfield / Newport / Northampton / Rochdale / Sutton / Swindon / Tranmere / Wimbledon
Trainers wrecked at last night’s Courteeners gig? Step this way…
Loads of our readers were at Heaton Park for the Courteeners gig last night, and I’m sure many more will be there over the weekend for Parklife. If you find your trainers get wrecked, simply give Mark a call at Blue Bee Customs and he’ll have them patched-up and ready to go again in no time (as you can see from the before and after photos above). Or you can just buy some new ones from his excellent selection.
Visit bluebeecustoms.net for further details.
Photo of the day
Let battle commence…
Today in SK
🥂 Food and drink 🥂
Head down to Petersgate Tap (SK1) for a refreshing pint of Newton Court Cider.
Bottomless Saturday at TRUNK (SK7). £30 per person (includes 1 breakfast item) from 10am till 12pm. Bottomless lunch £35 per person (includes 3 tapas dishes) from 12pm till 4pm. T&Cs apply and 90 minutes of selected bottomless drinks.
🎤 Karaoke 🎤
Lee at the Nelson Tavern (SK1). 8pm - 1am.
⚽️ Live football ⚽️
If you’re heading out to watch the Champions League final tonight (8pm kick-off) you should opt for one of these places.
Bask (SK1). 75” screens, with DJ Gareth Brooks on afterwards till 2am.
The Alexandra (SK3). Seven TVs inside, with three outside in the beer garden. Guilty Pleasures will be serving food from 3pm.
The George & Dragon (SK7). Click here to book a table.
🎶 Live music 🎶
Bad Motherc*vers at The Dog & Partridge (SK2). Live covers band. 8pm.
Geronimo at The Armoury (SK3). A dynamic folk rock-pop duo captivating audiences with soulful charm, from Elton John to Abba and beyond. 8pm.
The Scarf My Father Wore works closely with venues on a daily basis to bring you the most comprehensive guide to all of the best offers and events taking place across the whole SK region. Click on the links below for full details of everything taking place in your area over the next few weeks.
SK1 / SK2 / SK3 / SK4 / SK5 / SK6 / SK7 / SK8 / SK9 / SK10 / SK11 / SK12 / SK13 / SK14 / SK15 / SK16 / SK17 / SK22 / SK23
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