During the 1996–97 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 65th season in which Gillingham competed in the Football League, and the 47th since the club was voted back into the league in 1950. In the previous season, the team had gained promotion from the Third Division. Prior to the new season, Gillingham signed seven new players, paying a new club record transfer fee for Watford's Andy Hessenthaler. The team's form was poor in the first half of the season and at the end of 1996, Gillingham were in 21st position in the 24-team league table, putting them in danger of relegation back to the fourth tier. The club signed Ade Akinbiyi from Norwich City for another record fee in early January. In the second half of the season the team's performances improved and they finished the season in 11th position in the table.
Gillingham also competed in three knock-out competitions. The team reached the fourth round of the Football League Cup; in the third round they held Coventry City of the FA Premier League to a draw at home and won the replay. It was the first time Gillingham had beaten a team from the top division of English football since 1908. They also reached the third round of the FA Cup but were eliminated from the Football League Trophy in the first round. The team played 57 competitive matches, winning 25, drawing 12 and losing 20. Simon Ratcliffe made the most appearances during the season, playing 52 times. Iffy Onuora, who joined the club at the start of the season, was top goalscorer, with 21 goals in the Second Division and a total of 23 across all competitions. The highest attendance recorded at the club's home ground, Priestfield Stadium, was 10,603, for the League Cup match against Coventry City.
Background and pre-season
The 1996–97 season was Gillingham's 65th playing in the Football League and the 47th since the club was elected back into the League in 1950 after being voted out in 1938. In the previous season, Gillingham had finished second in the Third Division. The team had thus been promoted to the Second Division, returning to the third tier of the English football league system for the first time since 1989.
Tony Pulis was the club's manager for a second season, having been appointed in 1995 after chairman Paul Scally purchased the club. Following the club's promotion, there was a significant turnover in the playing squad. A number of players who had been regulars at the lower level departed, including Dave Martin, captain of the promotion-winning team. He was replaced as captain by Andy Hessenthaler, who joined from Watford; the transfer fee for the midfielder was , a new record for the highest fee paid by Gillingham to sign a player. Hessenthaler would go on to have a lengthy career at the club, both as a player and a manager, and in 2014 was voted Gillingham's greatest ever player by supporters.
Six other players joined the club prior to the start of the new season, four of whom incurred a transfer fee. The highest fee other than that paid for Hessenthaler was for Lenny Piper, a teenaged midfielder who joined the club from Wimbledon. Matt Bryant and Jon Ford, both defenders, arrived from Bristol City for and Bradford City for respectively, and Iffy Onuora, a forward, joined from Mansfield Town for . Two further players, both defenders, arrived on free transfers: Ian Chapman from Brighton & Hove Albion and John Humphrey from Charlton Athletic. The club adopted a new kit, replacing the previous season's blue and black striped shirts with plain blue. The away kit, to be worn in the event of a clash of colours with the home team, was red. The team prepared for the new season with a number of friendly matches; most were against semi-professional non-League clubs, but the team also played Nottingham Forest of the FA Premier League.
Second Division August–December
Gillingham began the season with a home game at Priestfield Stadium against Bristol City. New signings Bryant, Ford, Humphrey, Hessenthaler, Chapman and Onuora were all in the starting line-up, and Piper came on as a substitute to score the winning goal in the final minute to give his team a 3–2 victory. In the next three matches the team only managed to score a single goal, and the month of August ended with two consecutive defeats. Gillingham beat Burnley on 7 September but then again lost twice in a row. In the second of these defeats, a 1–0 away defeat against Walsall, Leo Fortune-West, the previous season's top goalscorer, suffered a broken ankle and was unable to play again for seven months. In the next game, Onuora achieved the team's only hat-trick of the season, scoring all three goals in a 3–1 victory at home to Rotherham United. The forward also scored Gillingham's only goal in each of the next three matches, which produced one win, one draw, and one defeat; after this run Gillingham were 14th in the 24-team league table.
On 15 October, Gillingham defeated Shrewsbury Town 2–1, but then began a run of five league games without a win. With Fortune-West missing, Pulis paired Onuora with various different players in the forward positions. One of these, Steve Butler, scored two penalty kicks against Millwall on 19 October, making him only the fourth player to score from more than one penalty for Gillingham in a Football League match, but Gillingham lost 3–2. Defender Guy Butters, a signing from Portsmouth, made his debut in the draw with Preston North End on 26 October, and Pulis further bolstered his defensive options by signing Adrian Pennock from AFC Bournemouth for .
Gillingham ended the winless run with a victory over Peterborough United on 19 November, despite goalkeeper Jim Stannard suffering an injury and defender Mark Harris having to take over in goal. Pulis quickly signed goalkeeper Andy Marshall on loan from Norwich City and he saved a penalty on his debut against York City, but Gillingham lost both that game and the next one, after which they had dropped to 20th in the table. The team began December with a win over Crewe Alexandra and followed the victory with draws against two teams who were in the top six of the league table, Bury and Watford. It was the first time that the team had gone three consecutive league games without losing during the season. This short unbeaten run was followed, however, by a defeat at home to Luton Town on Boxing Day. Gillingham's final match of 1996 was away to Burnley, who won 5–1; Onuora was sent off after receiving a second yellow card for angrily throwing the ball at the assistant referee. The defeat left Gillingham 21st in the table, putting them in the relegation places.
January–May Due to the postponement of a number of scheduled matches, the first league game of 1997 did not take place until 18 January and resulted in a 1–1 draw with Notts County. Forward Ade Akinbiyi made his debut, having joined the club days earlier from Norwich City for another new club record fee of . He scored his first goal for the club seven days later in a 4–1 victory over Plymouth Argyle, the team's biggest win of the season. Gillingham remained undefeated in the league in 1997 until the end of February, a run of six games. The team followed a win over Bristol Rovers on 8 February with victory over York City, the first time they had won two consecutive league games all season, and then gained a third consecutive win by defeating Peterborough United. After this run, Gillingham had climbed to 15th in the table.
In March, Fortune-West was fit again after his injury but could not regain a place in the team due to the form of Onuora and Akinbiyi and was sent on loan to Leyton Orient of the Third Division. Gillingham began the month with a 3–2 defeat to Crewe Alexandra, the first time the team had lost in the league in 1997, but followed it up by defeating sixth-placed Watford, Butler scoring the winning goal against his former club in the final minute. Beginning with the game against Wycombe Wanderers on 22 March, Onuora scored in five consecutive matches, making him only the seventh player to achieve this feat for Gillingham in the Football League. The first three games of this run resulted in victories over Wycombe, Rotherham and Bristol City. In the next game, against promotion-chasing Brentford, Onuora gave Gillingham the lead but their opponents scored twice to win; Gillingham ended March 15th in the table.
Gillingham's first match of April resulted in a 2–2 draw against Chesterfield; Gillingham were winning until the final minute but then conceded an equalising goal. Seven days later, Gillingham drew 2–2 against AFC Bournemouth in identical circumstances, conceding an equaliser in the 90th minute. Butler scored in both games and also scored in the next two, a victory over Stockport County and a defeat to Blackpool. Gillingham ended the season with three consecutive 2–0 victories, defeating Millwall, Walsall and Shrewsbury. Onuora scored two goals and Akinbiyi three during this run. Gillingham finished the season in 11th place in the table, six points below the promotion play-off places.
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 DateOpponentsResultGoalscorersAttendance 17 August 1996 Bristol City (H)3–2Fortune-West, Harris, Piper7,217 24 August 1996 Wycombe Wanderers (A)1–1Ratcliffe4,582 27 August 1996 Brentford (A)0–25,384 31 August 1996 Chesterfield (H)0–15,934 7 September 1996 Burnley (H)1–0Fortune-West6,116 10 September 1996 Luton Town (A)1–2Chapman4,604 14 September 1996 Walsall (A)0–13,419 21 September 1996 Rotherham United (H)3–1Onuora (3)4,920 28 September 1996 Stockport County (A)1–2Onuora6,049 1 October 1996 Notts County (H)1–0Onuora5,482 5 October 1996 AFC Bournemouth (H)1–1Onuora6,162 12 October 1996 Blackpool (A)0–24,320 15 October 1996 Shrewsbury Town (A)2–1Onuora, Bailey2,042 19 October 1996 Millwall (H)2–3Butler (2 pens.)9,305 26 October 1996 Preston North End (H)1–1Onuora6,256 29 October 1996 Plymouth Argyle (A)0–24,787 2 November 1996 Bristol Rovers (A)0–05,530 9 November 1996 Wrexham (H)1–2Ratcliffe5,094 19 November 1996 Peterborough United (A)1–0Onuora4,136 23 November 1996 York City (H)0–15,048 30 November 1996 Preston North End (A)0–19,616 3 December 1996 Crewe Alexandra (H)2–1Pennock, Smith3,575 14 December 1996 Bury (H)2–2Butler, Ratcliffe5,542 21 December 1996 Watford (A)0–07,809 26 December 1996 Luton Town (H)1–2Onuora8,598 28 December 1996 Burnley (A)1–5Bailey10,004 18 January 1997 Notts County (A)1–1Puttnam5,008 25 January 1997 Plymouth Argyle (H)4–1Curran (o.g.), Green, Ratcliffe, Akinbiyi5,465 1 February 1997 Wrexham (A)1–1Akinbiyi3,193 8 February 1997 Bristol Rovers (H)1–0Hessenthaler6,900 15 February 1997 York City (A)3–2Onuora, Ratcliffe, Akinbiyi2,748 22 February 1997 Peterborough United (H)2–1Onuora (2)6,552 1 March 1997 Crewe Alexandra (A)2–3Green, Akinbiyi3,555 8 March 1997 Watford (H)3–1Hessenthaler, Onuora (pen.), Butler7,385 15 March 1997 Bury (A)0–33,492 22 March 1997 Wycombe Wanderers (H)1–0Onuora5,932 25 March 1997 Rotherham United (A)2–1Onuora, Ratcliffe2,664 29 March 1997 Bristol City (A)1–0Onuora (pen.)11,276 31 March 1997 Brentford (H)1–2Onuora7,361 5 April 1997 Chesterfield (A)2–2Butler, Onuora3,926 12 April 1997 AFC Bournemouth (A)2–2Butler, Pennock5,008 16 April 1997 Stockport County (H)1–0Butler4,485 19 April 1997 Blackpool (H)2–3Galloway, Butler5,151 26 April 1997 Millwall (A)2–0Akinbiyi, Onuora8,946 29 April 1997 Walsall (H)2–0Onuora, Butler4,095 3 May 1997 Shrewsbury Town (H)2–0Akinbiyi (2)6,183
Partial league table
Cup matches FA Cup