During the 1999–2000 English football season, Gillingham F.C. competed in the Football League Second Division, the third tier of the English football league system. It was the 68th season in which Gillingham competed in the Football League, and the 50th since the club was voted back into the league in 1950. The team started the season in poor form, failing to win any of the first five league games, but then went on a much-improved run and began challenging for promotion to the Football League First Division. Robert Taylor scored 18 goals in 19 games by November, after which he was signed by Manchester City for £1.5 million, a new record fee for Gillingham. On the last day of the regular season, the team had a chance to gain automatic promotion, but lost and instead had to enter the play-offs. After defeating Stoke City in the semi-finals, Gillingham beat Wigan Athletic in the final to gain promotion to the second tier of the English football league system for the first time in the club's history.
Gillingham also had their best run to date in the FA Cup, beating two Premier League teams before being knocked out by a third, Chelsea, at the quarter-final stage. The team reached the second round of the Football League Cup but were eliminated in the first round of the Football League Trophy. The team played 62 competitive matches, winning 34, drawing 12, and losing 16. Despite leaving the club before the mid-point of the season, Taylor was the team's top goalscorer with 18 goals. Nicky Southall made the most appearances, playing 59 times. The highest attendance recorded at the club's home ground, Priestfield Stadium, was 10,386, for the home leg of the play-off semi-final against Stoke City. Having led the team to promotion, manager Peter Taylor left the club after a single season to become manager of Leicester City of the Premier League.
Background and pre-season
The 1999–2000 season was Gillingham's 68th season playing in the Football League and the 50th since the club was elected back into the League in 1950 after being voted out in 1938. It was the club's fourth consecutive season in the Football League Second Division, the third tier of the English football league system. In the 1998–99 season, Gillingham had reached the Second Division play-off final but lost to Manchester City following a penalty shoot-out and thus missed out on promotion to the First Division. One month after the play-off final, Tony Pulis was dismissed from his job as the club's manager, amid accusations of gross misconduct on his part, a decision which led to a lengthy and acrimonious court case between Pulis and club owner Paul Scally. In early July, Scally appointed Peter Taylor as the club's new manager; Taylor had left his post as head coach of the England under-21 team the previous month. The new manager appointed Andy Hessenthaler, who had played for the club since 1996, to a player-coach role; Steve Butler, who had left the club a year earlier, returned from Peterborough United to take up a similar position.
The club signed several other new players before the start of the season. Taylor's first signing was Junior Lewis, a midfielder who joined from non-League club Hendon; he had previously played under Taylor's management at Dover Athletic. Barry Miller, a defender, also stepped up from non-League football, having last played for Farnborough, and former Port Vale defender Brian McGlinchey also joined the club; both players had been released by their previous clubs at the end of the preceding season but played for Gillingham on a trial basis during pre-season and performed well enough to be offered contracts. Andy Thomson and Christian Lee, both forwards, were signed from Oxford United and Northampton Town respectively; Gillingham paid transfer fees of £25,000 for Thomson and £35,000 for Lee. The club also signed Anthony Williams on loan from Blackburn Rovers to act as back-up for Vince Bartram, the club's first-choice goalkeeper. The team prepared for the upcoming season with a number of friendly matches against non-League teams. Writing in The Times, Nick Szczepanik did not tip Gillingham for a top-six finish, stating that the team had "missed their chance" following the previous season's play-off final defeat.
Significant redevelopment work took place at the club's Priestfield Stadium in the close season. The Rainham End terracing was demolished and a new stand of the same name built in its place over the summer. The main stand was also demolished, but the work to build its replacement encountered various delays. The new Medway Stand did not open to spectators until the latter stages of the season, and some of the facilities would not be completed until more than a year after work began. The project also caused financial problems for the club, as the work eventually cost significantly more than had been originally estimated. The team's first-choice kit, featuring blue and black striped shirts, was unchanged from the previous season with the exception of local newspaper the Medway News replacing dairy brand Kool as the shirt sponsor. A new away kit, to be worn in the event of a clash of colours with the home team, was adopted, with yellow shirts replacing the previous season's black and red stripes.
Second Division August–December
Gillingham began the season with an away game against Bury; Thomson scored on his debut but Gillingham lost 2–1. The first home game a week later against Bristol Rovers also resulted in a defeat. The team then gained three consecutive draws, and after five games were in 22nd position in the 24-team division. The match against Blackpool on 21 August included a controversial incident after Gillingham goalkeeper Bartram intentionally kicked the ball out of play so that an injured Blackpool player could receive medical treatment; when Blackpool took the throw-in they retained possession of the ball and scored the equalising goal. Manager Taylor was ejected from the technical area by the referee for entering the field of play and arguing with him over an unwritten rule that in such circumstances the player taking the throw-in returns the ball to the opposition.
Gillingham gained their first league win of the season at the sixth attempt on 4 September, defeating Oldham Athletic 2–1 after scoring two goals in the first six minutes of the match. The second was scored by Emmanuel Omoyinmi on his debut after joining on loan from West Ham United; the following week he scored again as Gillingham beat Oxford United 2–1 to move into the top half of the league table. The team then suffered another setback, losing to Preston North End. September ended with Gillingham in 15th place in the division.
On 9 October, Gillingham achieved their biggest win of the season, defeating Wrexham 5–1 at Priestfield; Robert Taylor scored a hat-trick inside the last half-hour of the game. Four games later, he repeated the feat, scoring all three goals in a 3–0 victory over Bristol City. That match marked Pulis's first appearance at Priestfield since his dismissal from the role of Gillingham manager, as he was now in charge of Bristol City; he received a standing ovation from the home fans. Taylor scored for the fifth consecutive game in a 4–1 win over Scunthorpe United on 23 November, taking his total to 15 goals in 15 Second Division games; two days later, he was signed by Manchester City for a transfer fee of £1.5 million, a new record for the highest fee received by Gillingham for a player. His initial replacement in the starting line-up was Rodney Rowe, a recent signing from York City. Despite losing their most prolific goalscorer, the team won their first three games without Taylor and were in fifth position in the league table after a 2–1 victory over Colchester United on 26 December. Gillingham's final match of 1999 resulted in a 2–0 defeat away to Wigan Athletic.
January–May Gillingham signed two new players on 2 January, making them the first club in English professional football to conclude transfer business in the year 2000. Striker Iffy Onuora and midfielder Ty Gooden both joined from Swindon Town for a combined transfer fee of £200,000. It marked the start of a second spell at the club for Onuora, who had played for Gillingham between 1996 and 1998; he was a regular starter for the remainder of the season, with Rowe largely used only as a substitute. The team's first match of 2000 resulted in a 2–2 draw at home to Reading; Thomson gave Gillingham the lead in the 90th minute, but their opponents then equalised in injury time. The next two games both ended in defeat, and a goalless draw away to Chesterfield in the first match of February meant that the team had gone five games without a win. This left the team in seventh position in the table, albeit having played fewer games than all the teams above them.
On 5 February, Gillingham won a Second Division match for the first time in 2000, defeating Stoke City 3–0. It was the start of a run of four consecutive victories, which also included a win away to Preston North End, who had been top of the division going into the match. In the match against Preston, striker Carl Asaba, the team's top goalscorer in the previous season, made his first Football League appearance for nine months following a lengthy absence due to a hernia which required three operations. In March, Gillingham inflicted Bristol City's first home league defeat of the season. Gillingham lost consecutive away games against Colchester United and Wycombe Wanderers over the Easter weekend, but then beat Chesterfield 1–0, beginning an eight-game unbeaten run. This run included victories within four days over two of the other teams chasing promotion, Wigan Athletic and Burnley; following the latter win, Stephen Wood of The Times noted that Gillingham were "entering their best form at the perfect moment".
In the penultimate game of the season, Asaba scored Gillingham's third hat-trick of the season as the team beat Cardiff City 4–1. The result left Gillingham second in the table going into the final game, ahead of Burnley on goal difference; Gillingham would finish in that position and gain automatic promotion to the First Division if their result away to Wrexham matched or bettered that achieved by Burnley away to Scunthorpe United. Gillingham, however, lost 1–0, while Burnley won and thus moved above Gillingham into second place. Finishing third meant that Gillingham entered the play-offs for the final promotion place along with the three teams that finished below them. After the match, manager Taylor told the press "We are a bit sore, but we will be fine. It's up to me to earn my money and lift them. But I've got no doubts; I've always said that the spirit is first-class. Now it's going to be tested".
Match details Key
In result column, Gillingham's score shown first H = Home match A = Away match
pen. = Penalty kick o.g. = Own goal
Results