During the 1984–85 English football season, Gillingham F.C. competed in the Football League Third Division, the third tier of the English football league system. It was the 53rd season in which Gillingham competed in the Football League, and the 35th since the club was voted back into the league in 1950. Gillingham started the Third Division season with five wins in the first seven games and were challenging for a place in the top three of the league table, which would result in promotion to the Second Division. The team's performances then declined, culminating in a 7–1 defeat to York City in November which left them in mid-table. They then won 12 out of 16 games to climb to second place, before a poor run in March meant that they again dropped out of the promotion places. Gillingham finished the season fourth in the table, missing promotion by one place.
Gillingham also competed in three knock-out competitions, reaching the fourth round of the FA Cup and the second round of the Football League Cup but losing in the first round of the Associate Members' Cup. The team played 56 competitive matches, winning 30, drawing 9, and losing 17. Tony Cascarino was the club's leading goalscorer, scoring 20 goals in all competitions. Keith Oakes made the most appearances, playing 54 times. The highest attendance recorded at the club's home ground, Priestfield Stadium, was 8,881 for a League Cup game against Leeds United in September.
Background and pre-season
The 1984–85 season was Gillingham's 53rd season playing in the Football League and the 35th since the club was elected back into the League in 1950 after being voted out in 1938. It was the club's 11th consecutive season in the Football League Third Division, the third tier of the English football league system, since the team gained promotion from the Fourth Division in 1974. In the 10 seasons since then, the team had achieved a best finish of fourth place, one position away from promotion to the Second Division, in the 1978–79 season. The club had never reached the second level of English football in its history.
Keith Peacock was the club's manager for a fourth season, having been appointed in July 1981. Paul Taylor served as assistant manager and Bill Collins, who had been with the club in a variety of roles since the early 1960s, held the posts of first-team trainer and manager of the youth team. Dave Mehmet was the team's captain.
Having attracted the attention of several First Division clubs, the highly rated young defender Steve Bruce left the club before the new season to join Norwich City for a transfer fee of £135,000. In his place, Gillingham signed two experienced defenders, Keith Oakes from Newport County and Joe Hinnigan from Preston North End. The club also signed two players who were out of contract: Tarki Micallef, a midfielder who had last played for Newport, and Dave Shearer, a forward who had most recently played for Grimsby Town. Another forward, Paul Shinners, joined Gillingham from semi-professional club Fisher Athletic. The team prepared for the new season with friendlies against Brighton & Hove Albion of the Second Division and near-neighbours Maidstone United, the previous season's champions of the Alliance Premier League, the highest level of non-League football. The club also held an open day, during which supporters could obtain players' autographs and watch a specially-arranged training session. The team's kit for the season consisted of Gillingham's usual blue shirts, white shorts and white socks. The away kit, to be worn in the event of a clash of colours with the home team, comprised red shirts, black shorts and black socks. Home appliance manufacturer Zanussi signed a three-year sponsorship agreement with the club, meaning that the company name was displayed on the players' shirts.
Third Division August–December
Gillingham's first game of the season was at home to Newport on 25 August; Oakes made his debut against his former club and Hinnigan also played his first game for Gillingham. The match ended in a 1–1 draw; Tony Cascarino scored Gillingham's first goal of the season. A week later, he scored again as the team gained their first win of the campaign, defeating Orient 4–2; Shearer made his debut as a substitute. Victories against Cambridge United and Wigan Athletic, in both of which Cascarino scored, meant that after four games Gillingham were top of the Third Division league table. On 18 September, Gillingham were defeated for the first time during the season, losing 2–0 away to Hull City, but then won their next two league games and were third in the table at the end of September.
In the first match of October, Gillingham were 3–0 down to Plymouth Argyle in the second half but scored three goals, including two in the last five minutes, to secure a draw. The team then lost three consecutive league games, culminating in a 5–2 defeat away to Brentford. Martin Robinson, a forward newly-signed from Charlton Athletic, made his debut on 13 October against Bristol City. David Fry, the club's reserve goalkeeper, replaced the injured Ron Hillyard for the Brentford game, and retained his place until late November. Gillingham defeated Reading on 23 October to record their first win for five games, and were moments away from beating Bradford City four days later but conceded a last-minute equaliser. The team's first match of November was away to York City and resulted in a 7–1 defeat; it was the first time Gillingham had conceded seven goals in a game since 1961. The poor run of results meant that the team had slipped to 11th out of 24 teams in the Third Division.
Robinson scored his first goal for the club to secure a 1–0 win away to Burnley on 6 November, which would prove to be the first of four consecutive league victories. Shearer scored the winner in a 2–1 victory at home to Rotherham United and repeated the feat as Gillingham won by the same score away to Bolton Wanderers on 24 November, the first time Bolton had lost a Third Division match at home since August. Hillyard returned to the team against Bolton and made his 450th appearance for Gillingham. Shearer extended his run of scoring in consecutive league games with two goals in a 4–0 win at home to Preston North End on 1 December, which took Gillingham back up to third in the table. The team's winning run came to an end with a 2–0 defeat away to Lincoln City on 15 December; a week later Gillingham beat Doncaster Rovers 1–0 despite having to play more than half the game with only ten players after John Leslie had to be substituted and subsequently John Sharpe also went off injured. The team's final home match of 1984 was against Derby County on 26 December; the attendance of 7,140 was the highest of the season for a Third Division match at Priestfield Stadium. Gillingham won 3–2 despite having Mehmet sent off; the midfielder angrily pulled off his shirt and threw it at the referee as he walked off the pitch. Three days later the team beat Bristol Rovers 4–1, their seventh win in eight league games, and ended 1984 second in the table.
January–May
The team's first match of 1985 was a 2–0 defeat away to AFC Bournemouth on 1 January. Gillingham finished the game with only nine players after both Terry Cochrane and Shearer were sent off; it was the first time in the club's history that two Gillingham players had been dismissed in the same game. Eleven days later, Jeff Johnson was the fourth Gillingham player to be sent off in less than three weeks when he was dismissed in a 2–0 win over Orient; Shearer was injured in the same game and would not play again until March. Robinson scored both goals in the victory, and also scored in the team's first two league games of February, a draw with Swansea City and a win over York City. Hillyard again suffered an injury against Hull City on 26 February which was expected to keep him out of the team for up to six weeks. Fry took his place and conceded only one goal in the next three games, which included a 2–0 win over Brentford on 9 March during which Mehmet scored from the first penalty kick awarded to Gillingham since the previous May. Victory over Newport County on 12 March meant that Gillingham had won 12 out of their last 16 league games and were second in the table.
Gillingham's unbeaten run came to an end with a 3–1 defeat to Bristol City on 16 March; Fry was dropped for the next game and replaced by the Republic of Ireland international goalkeeper Jim McDonagh, whom Peacock had signed on loan from Notts County. Another new signing, defender Dave Rushbury, made his debut on 23 March against Millwall, a game which Gillingham lost 2–1. A draw against Burnley, who were struggling near the bottom of the table, left Gillingham in fifth place at the end of March, two positions below the places which would result in promotion. Derek Hales, a veteran forward signed from Charlton Athletic, made his debut against Burnley in place of Shearer, who had suffered another injury in the match against Millwall. Gillingham beat Cambridge United on 2 April to end a run of four games without a win, before losing to Derby four days later, after which they were in fourth place.
Hales scored his first goal for the team in a 3–2 victory over AFC Bournemouth on 9 April. Four days later Gillingham played Rotherham United, who were in poor form having won only once in their previous eleven league games; Rotherham won 1–0 meaning that Gillingham failed to reduce the gap between themselves and third-placed Millwall, who also lost. Gillingham beat Walsall 1–0 on 16 April, but a defeat and a draw in their next two games meant that they were again in fifth place at the end of April. Hillyard returned to the team for the game at home to Lincoln City on 4 May. Gillingham were losing the match 2–1 with five minutes remaining, but then scored twice to secure a 3–2 victory, although the win did not improve their position in the table. A 3–2 defeat against Bristol Rovers on 7 May meant that, even though Gillingham beat Doncaster Rovers four days later, they were now ten points off third place with only two games left and therefore a maximum of six more points available, making promotion an impossibility. Shearer returned to the team for the penultimate game of the season, a 2–0 win away to Reading. It was Gillingham's tenth league win of the season away from home, a new club record. The team's final game of the season was at home to Wigan Athletic; Shearer, who had not scored a goal in his previous six appearances, scored Gillingham's only league hat-trick of the season in a 5–1 victory. Gillingham finished the season in fourth place and thus missed out on promotion by one place.
League match results Key
In result column, Gillingham's score shown first H = Home match A = Away match
pen. = Penalty kick o.g. = Own goal