Past Times: Part 2 - What happened next...

Last updated : 09 August 2005 By Symon Chaplin

Delce Junior School: My old haunt

Being only 7 years old I couldn’t make my own way to the games so I only managed to see a few home games each season until the incredible 1969/70 season.

I left Delce Junior School in July 1969. My classmate Terry Whyte’s dad had a car and they were both Gills fans and the offer of a lift to Gills home matches was gratefully accepted.

What exactly was incredible about this particular season? Well, Gillingham reached the 5th round of the FA Cup and avoided relegation (on goal average*) by winning their last game of the season.

It was the FA Cup run that I remember most. It was a welcome break from the rigours of league football. The run started on Saturday November 15th 1969 with a non-descript 0-0 draw away at Southend United.

The replay (as was the norm back then) was 4 days later ,back at Priestfield, on Wednesday 19th November. A momentous occasion in my Gillingham supporting years as this was my first ever evening game!

A crowd of 6,919 saw a Brian Yeo brace give Gills a 2-1 win and a home tie with non league Tamworth in the 2nd round, the game to be played on Saturday December 6th.

It was the proverbial banana skin but by half time Gills were 4-0 up and cruising. Central defender Ray Bailey scored his one and only hat-trick for the club and additional goals from Mike Green, Ken Pound, and Andy Smillie gave us a convincing 6-0 win. The attendance was 6,798.

The Gills were through to the 3rd round and in the hat with the big boys! In those days the draw was only live on the radio at 12.30pm on the Monday. By this time I was in my first year at Rochester Math School and luckily for me, my English teacher (a Mr Saville I believe) was a Watford fan and he wanted to hear the draw as well!

There were quite a few of us Gills’ fans in my class and we waited with baited breath for those immortal words “Gillingham will play….Manchester United !” but, of course it didn’t happen. There were groans all round as we were drawn at home to 4th division Newport County. Then the realisation set in, this was going to be an easy game (especially after the way we had thrashed Tamworth).We were going to sail through to the 4th round when we simply must draw a big club.

How wrong we were…….with the game deadlocked at 0-0 and heading to injury time the Gills were awarded a free-kick just outside the Newport penalty area. Full back Mel Machin stepped up to take the kick and bent it around the wall superbly and into the goal! It was practically the last kick of the game the mighty Gills were through to the 4th round of the cup!

It seemed an age before Monday’s draw arrived. This time we had to get the big match we all wanted. Wrong again. “Gillingham will play………Peterborough United.” Oh well, at least we were at home again. The game was played on Saturday 24th January 1970 and although the previous home game (against Rotherham) had only attracted 4,792 spectators, cup fever had gripped the Medway Towns and an incredible 13,746 people poured into Priestfield to see if Gills could make it through to the 5th round. Peterborough were in division four(equivalent to today’s league two) one division below Gillingham, but this didn’t stop them from taking the lead. However, Gills fought back, inspired by new signing Ken Ronaldson and eventually won by 5 goals to 1. Mike Green (2), Brian Yeo (2) and Ronaldson himself scoring the goals.

There was one other bizarre fact about this game involving the playing strips….does anyone know what it was?

(to be continued)

Saturday 24th January 1970
FA Cup 4th Round

Gillingham 5-1 Peterborough United (Half-time 2-1)
ATT: 13,746

Scorers: Yeo (2), Green (2), Ronaldson

Gills: Simpson, Machin, Peach, Bailey, Galvin, Quirke, Woodley(Pound), Yeo, Green, Tydeman, Ronaldson

· Goal Average: In these days if two teams finished with the same number of points their positions were calculated by what was known as goal average.

· This was worked out by dividing the number of goals scored by the number of goals conceded. In this particular season Gillingham’s goal average was 0.8125 whilst Bournemouth’s was 0.6761.

· This ruling had worked to our advantage when we won the 4th division championship in 1963/64 our goal average was 1.966 whereas second placed Carlisle’s average was 1.948.

· We actually won the division by 0.018 of a goal ! The goal difference rule used today is a bit easier to calculate I think!