Gillingham Football Club is an English association football club originally formed in 1893 and known until 1913 as New Brompton F.C. The first man to hold a role equivalent to what is today referred to as a manager was William Ironside Groombridge, who was appointed as club secretary in June 1896 and quickly expanded the role to cover all aspects of team and club administration. Apart from two two-year spells when the club opted to appoint a full-time team manager to allow Groombridge to concentrate solely on club administration, he fulfilled the dual roles of secretary and manager until after the First World War. Upon being admitted to the Football League in May 1920, the club appointed Robert Brown as manager, but he resigned without ever taking charge of a match. He was replaced by Scotsman John McMillan, the club's first non-English manager.
The next significant manager of Gillingham was Archie Clark, under whose management the club returned to the Football League in 1950, having been voted out in 1938. Freddie Cox was the first manager to win a major trophy with Gillingham, taking the Football League Fourth Division championship in the 1963–64 season. Under his successor, Basil Hayward, the club was relegated back to the Fourth Division in the 1970–71 season, but Andy Nelson led the club to promotion back to Division Three three years later. After the Gills were relegated once again in the 1988–89 season, Tony Pulis managed the club to promotion seven years later. Pulis also took the team to the final of the play-offs for promotion to the second tier of English football in the 1998–99 season. Pulis was sacked immediately after this for gross misconduct,[1] but his successor, Peter Taylor, took the club back to the play-off final the following season, in which victory over Wigan Athletic saw the club promoted to Division One for the first time in its history. Peter Taylor left to join Leicester during the close season and club captain Andy Hessenthaler took over as manager for the club's first, and to date only, stint in the second tier.
After Hessenthaler was dismissed following a poor start to the 2004–05 season, the club saw a number of managers come and go in a relatively short time before Mark Stimson's arrival in 2007. His two and a half-year tenure saw the club promoted back to the third tier via the play-offs, but he was dismissed the following season. Hessenthaler then returned to the club for a period of two years before he was promoted to Director of Football to make way for Martin Allen. Allen became only the second manager to win a trophy with the club, leading the team to the League Two championship in 2013, but he was dismissed a few months into the following season after a poor start, following which another former manager, Peter Taylor, returned to the club.
Managers
Statistics are correct up to 29 April 2024 and include all senior competitive peacetime first-team matches. Minor county competitions such as the Kent Senior Cup and Kent Senior Shield are not included as the club rarely, if ever, fielded its first team.
| Name | Nationality | From | To | P | W | D[a] | L | Win%[b] | Honours | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| William Groombridge (secretary) |  England | 3 June 1896[2] | Late November 1906[3] | 416 | 160 | 91 | 165 | 38.46 | [4] | |
| Steve Smith | England | Late November 1906[5] | Summer 1908[6] | 71 | 20 | 18 | 33 | 28.17 | [7] | |
| William Groombridge (secretary) | England | Summer 1908[2] | Summer 1913[8] | 212 | 75 | 45 | 92 | 35.38 | [9] | |
| Sam Gilligan |  Scotland | Summer 1913[8] | Summer 1915[8][c] | 81 | 22 | 17 | 42 | 27.16 | [10] | |
| George Collins | England | 28 July 1919[11] | 12 May 1920[12] | 47 | 11 | 10 | 26 | 23.40 | [13] | |
| Robert Brown | England | 12 May 1920[12] | 9 June 1920[12] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | ||
| Johnny McMillan | Scotland | 2 July 1920[14] | 3 August 1922[15] | 135 | 42 | 28 | 65 | 31.11 | [16] | |
| William Groombridge (secretary) | England | 3 August 1922[15] | 10 May 1923[17] | 44 | 16 | 7 | 21 | 36.36 | [18] | |
| Harry Curtis | England | 10 May 1923[19] | 30 March 1926[20] | 135 | 45 | 39 | 51 | 33.33 | [21] | |
| unknown caretaker | 30 March 1926[20] | 12 April 1926[20] | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 25.00 | [22] | ||
| Bert Hoskins | England | 12 April 1926[23] | 29 March 1929[20] | 127 | 36 | 31 | 60 | 28.35 | [24] | |
| unknown caretaker | 29 March 1929[20] | 7 May 1929[25] | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 12.50 | [26] | ||
| Dick Hendrie | Scotland | 7 May 1929[25] | 29 December 1931[27] | 108 | 30 | 22 | 56 | 27.78 | [28] | |
| unknown caretaker | 29 December 1931[27] | 18 January 1932[25] | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 | [26] | ||
| Fred Maven | England | 19 January 1932[29] | 25 May 1937[30] | 246 | 80 | 56 | 110 | 32.52 | [31] | |
| Alan Ure | England | 26 May 1937[30] | 16 June 1938[32] | 45 | 11 | 6 | 28 | 24.44 | [33] | |
| Bill Harvey | England | 11 July 1938[34] | 19 July 1939[35] | 48 | 30 | 7 | 11 | 62.50 | [36] | |
| Archie Clark[d] | England | 2 August 1939[15] | 23 November 1957[37] | 577 | 251 | 128 | 198 | 43.50 | Southern League champions 1946–47 and 1948–49, Southern League Cup winners 1946–47, Kent League champions 1945–46 | [38] |
| Harry Barratt | England | 23 November 1957[37] | 4 May 1962[39] | 226 | 82 | 54 | 90 | 36.28 | [40] | |
| Freddie Cox | England | 13 June 1962[32] | 17 December 1965[41] | 172 | 83 | 42 | 47 | 48.26 | Fourth Division champions 1963–64 | [42] |
| Jimmy Boswell (caretaker) | England | 17 December 1965[43] | 4 January 1966[43] | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 | [44] | |
| Basil Hayward | England | 4 January 1966[45] | 25 May 1971[30] | 282 | 89 | 80 | 113 | 31.56 | [46] | |
| Andy Nelson | England | 24 June 1971[47] | 3 May 1974[48] | 151 | 66 | 37 | 48 | 43.71 | [49] | |
| Len Ashurst | England | 6 May 1974[50] | 15 October 1975[51] | 61 | 23 | 19 | 19 | 37.70 | [52] | |
| Bill Collins (caretaker)[53] |  Northern Ireland | 15 October 1975[51] | 27 October 1975[54] | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0.00 | [55] | |
| Gerry Summers | England | 27 October 1975[54] | 22 May 1981[56] | 292 | 92 | 106 | 94 | 31.51 | [57] | |
| Keith Peacock | England | 14 July 1981[58] | 29 December 1987[59] | 370 | 161 | 90 | 119 | 43.51 | [60] | |
| Paul Taylor | England | 29 December 1987[59] | 26 October 1988[61] | 40 | 11 | 8 | 21 | 27.50 | [62] | |
| Bill Collins Damien Richardson (caretakers) | Northern Ireland Ireland | 26 October 1988[63] | 31 October 1988 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 | ||
| Keith Burkinshaw | England | 31 October 1988[61] | 11 April 1989[64] | 32 | 8 | 4 | 20 | 25.00 | [65] | |
| Keith Blunt (caretaker) | England | 11 April 1989[66] | 18 April 1989[66] | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 | [66] | |
| Damien Richardson | Ireland | 18 April 1989[66] | 8 October 1992[67] | 173 | 53 | 49 | 71 | 30.64 | [68] | |
| Paul Clark (caretaker) | England | 8 October 1992[67] | 26 October 1992[69] | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.00 | [70][71] | |
| Glenn Roeder | England | 26 October 1992[69] | 9 July 1993[72] | 37 | 8 | 12 | 17 | 21.62 | [70] | |
| Mike Flanagan | England | 12 July 1993[73] | 28 February 1995[74] | 90 | 20 | 27 | 43 | 22.22 | [75] | |
| Neil Smillie (caretaker) | England | 28 February[74] | May 1995[76] | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 60.00 | [77] | |
| Tony Pulis |  Wales | 29 June 1995[78] | 30 June 1999[79] | 218 | 94 | 62 | 62 | 43.12 | [80] | |
| Peter Taylor | England | 7 July 1999[34] | 12 June 2000[81] | 62 | 34 | 12 | 16 | 54.84 | Second Division play-off winners 1999–2000 | [82] |
| Andy Hessenthaler | England | 29 June 2000[78] | 23 November 2004[83] | 228 | 77 | 54 | 97 | 33.77 | [84] | |
| John Gorman (caretaker) | Scotland | 23 November 2004[83] | 30 November 2004[85] | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 | [86] | |
| Darren Hare Iwan Roberts Paul Smith (caretakers) | England Wales England | 4 December 2004[87] | 7 December 2004[88] | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 | [89] | |
| Stan Ternent | England | 7 December 2004[88] | 15 May 2005[90] | 25 | 7 | 11 | 7 | 28.00 | [91] | |
| Neale Cooper | Scotland | 21 May 2005[92] | 15 November 2005[93] | 22 | 7 | 5 | 10 | 31.82 | [94] | |
| Ronnie Jepson | England | 15 November 2005[93] | 9 September 2007[95] | 87 | 32 | 16 | 39 | 36.78 | [96] | |
| Iffy Onuora Mick Docherty (caretakers) | Scotland England | 9 September 2007[97] | 8 October 2007[97] | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 40.00 | [97] | |
| Iffy Onuora (caretaker) | Scotland | 8 October 2007[97] | 1 November 2007 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 50.00 | [98] | |
| Mark Stimson | England | 1 November 2007[99] | 10 May 2010[100] | 144 | 48 | 41 | 55 | 33.33 | 2009 Football League Two play-off final winners | [101] |
| Andy Hessenthaler | England | 21 May 2010[102] | 8 May 2012[103] | 101 | 39 | 29 | 33 | 38.61 | [84] | |
| Martin Allen | England | 5 July 2012[104] | 13 October 2013[105] | 64 | 27 | 17 | 20 | 42.19 | Football League Two champions 2012–13 | [106] |
| Peter Taylor | England | 14 October 2013[107] | 31 December 2014[108] | 67 | 23 | 14 | 30 | 34.33 | [109] | |
| Andy Hessenthaler Steve Lovell Darren Hare Mark Patterson (caretakers) | England Wales England England | 31 December 2014[108][110] | 7 February 2015 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 37.50 | [84] | |
| Justin Edinburgh | England | 7 February 2015 | 3 January 2017 | 102 | 40 | 26 | 36 | 39.22 | [111] | |
| Adrian Pennock | England | 4 January 2017 | 25 September 2017[112] | 32 | 6 | 11 | 15 | 18.75 | [113] | |
| Peter Taylor (caretaker) | England | 25 September 2017[112] | 12 October 2017[114] | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 25.00 | [109] | |
| Steve Lovell | Wales | 12 October 2017[114][115] | 26 April 2019[116] | 92 | 32 | 26 | 34 | 34.78 | [117][e] | |
| Mark Patterson (caretaker) | England | 26 April 2019[116] | 4 May 2019 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 50.00 | [118] | |
| Steve Evans | Scotland | 1 June 2019[119] | 9 January 2022[120] | 129 | 41 | 41 | 47 | 31.78 | [121] | |
| Steve Lovell (caretaker) | Wales | 10 January 2022[122] | 31 January 2022[123] | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0.00 | [117] | |
| Neil Harris | England | 31 January 2022[123] | 5 October 2023[124] | 90 | 31 | 25 | 34 | 34.44 | [125][f] | |
| Keith Millen (caretaker) | England | 5 October 2023[126] | 1 November 2023[127] | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 33.33 | [128] | |
| Stephen Clemence | England | 1 November 2023[127] | 29 April 2024[129] | 34 | 12 | 9 | 13 | 35.29 | [130] |
Notes
a. ^ Drawn matches decided by penalty shoot-outs are counted as draws.
b. ^ Win% is rounded to two decimal places.
c. ^ Competitive football was abandoned after the 1914–15 season due to the escalation of the First World War and did not resume until 1919. Gilligan did not return to the club after the war.
d. ^ Clark's statistics include three matches (two wins and one defeat) played at the start of the 1939–40 season before competitive football was abandoned due to the outbreak of the Second World War.
e. ^ Soccerbase erroneously includes the final two games of the 2018–19 season in Lovell's statistics even though he was dismissed on 26 April 2019.
f. ^ Soccerbase erroneously includes the six games between the dismissal of Harris and the appointment of Clemence in the former's total.
References
- General
- Bradley, Andy; Roger Triggs (1994). Home of the Shouting Men: Complete History of Gillingham Football Club 1893–1993. Gillingham F.C. ISBN 0-9523361-0-3.
- Brown, Tony (2003). The Definitive Gillingham F.C.: A Complete Record. Soccerdata. ISBN 1-899468-20-X.
- Elligate, David (2009). Gillingham FC On This Day. Pitch Publishing. ISBN 978-1-905411-45-0.
- Specific
