During the 1980–81 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 49th season in which Gillingham competed in the Football League, and the 31st since the club was voted back into the league in 1950. The team won only twice in their first 12 games of the season and their form remained poor; by the end of 1980, they were in 21st place in the Third Division league table, a position which, if maintained at the end of the season, would have resulted in relegation to the Fourth Division. Trevor Lee, signed for a new club record transfer fee, made his debut in January and was the team's highest-scoring player in the second half of the season. With two games remaining, Gillingham could still have potentially been relegated, but victory in their final home match of the season secured another season in the Third Division. The team's manager, Gerry Summers, was dismissed from his post shortly after the season ended.
Gillingham also took part in two knockout competitions during the season. They were eliminated in the second round of the FA Cup after two replays by another Kent-based team, Maidstone United of the fifth-tier Alliance Premier League, in what was seen as a shock result. They also reached the second round of the Football League Cup. The team played 54 competitive matches, winning 15, drawing 21, and losing 18. Ken Price was the team's top goalscorer, with 13 goals. Andy Ford and Mark Weatherly made the most appearances, each playing 50 times. The highest attendance recorded at the club's home ground, Priestfield Stadium, was 9,099 for the initial FA Cup match against Maidstone United.
Background and pre-season The 1980–81 season was Gillingham's 49th season playing in the Football League and the 31st since the club was re-elected to the League in 1950 after being voted out in 1938. It was the club's seventh 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 six seasons since then, Gillingham 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.
Gerry Summers was the team's manager, a position he had held since 1975; Alan Hodgkinson was assistant manager. Summers signed three new players prior to the new season: Peter Henderson, a winger, joined the club from Chester and Andy Ford, a defender, arrived from Swindon Town, both for transfer fees of . Ford was appointed team captain. Kevin Lloyd, a forward, joined Gillingham on a free transfer from Cardiff City. The players' 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, consisted of red and white halved shirts with red shorts and socks. Speaking to the press before the start of the season, Summers said that it was "now or never" in terms of the club gaining promotion, but Gillingham were seen as outsiders by bookmakers. With regard to his plans for the season, the manager said "I want only battlers and I don't care if they're lacking in technical aspects. So long as they've got guts and character, then we've all got a chance."
Third Division August–December Gillingham's first league game of the season was away to Exeter City on 16 August; Ford scored Gillingham's goal in a 2–1 defeat. Three days later, Gillingham played their first league match of the campaign at their home ground, Priestfield Stadium. Henderson scored his first goal for the club and Damien Richardson added a second to give Gillingham a 2–0 victory over Reading. Henderson scored again four days later as his team drew 1–1 with Barnsley, who had to play almost the entire game with only ten men after one of their players was sent off just three minutes after kick-off. Gillingham's inconsistent form continued as they lost 2–0 away to Chesterfield, but started September with a 3–2 victory at home to Newport County. Summers said after the Newport game that in the first half his players looked as tired as if they "had played five matches in four days", but he praised their improved performance in the second half. Newport's manager Len Ashurst, who had been Summers's predecessor as manager of Gillingham, criticised the referee, saying that Gillingham's first goal had been awarded despite a player being in what he considered to be a clearly offside position.
Following the victory over Newport, Gillingham did not win in their next seven league games. On 13 September, they drew 0–0 away to Carlisle United; John Sharpe had a chance to score for Gillingham from a penalty kick in the second half, but he missed. The result was the same three days later at home to Huddersfield Town; after the game, Summers told the press his team's performance had been "terrible, just awful". Due to injury, this was the final match which Henderson, who had only joined the club at the start of the season, played during the campaign. The team's next game resulted in a 4–1 defeat away to Plymouth Argyle, who were top of the division and had yet to lose during the season; despite the scoreline, Tony Smith of the Kent Evening Post wrote that it was Gillingham's best performance away from home of the campaign so far. A week later, it took an equalising goal in the final five minutes from Richardson to secure a 1–1 draw against an Oxford United side that Smith deemed the worst team Gillingham had played up to that point in the campaign. Gillingham's poor form continued as they failed to score any goals in their next three games. They lost 1–0 away to Huddersfield Town on 30 September despite their opponents having to play more than half of the game with only ten men, and were then beaten 4–0 by Blackpool, a result which left Gillingham in the bottom four of the league table. Following a goalless draw at home to fellow strugglers Swindon Town, Gillingham ended their winless run with a 1–0 victory over Fulham on 11 October; Ron Hillyard, Gillingham's goalkeeper, saved a penalty kick in the closing minutes of the game to preserve his team's lead. The next game resulted in the team's sixth defeat in seven league games away from home, as they were beaten 2–0 by Rotherham United.
Having only scored three goals in the preceding nine games, Gillingham scored ten in four games beginning on 20 October. The run began with a 3–3 draw away to Brentford; Ken Price scored two goals, and with less than five minutes remaining, Gillingham were leading 3–2 and on the verge of their first away Third Division win of the season, but Brentford scored again to secure a draw. Goals from Steve Bruce and Danny Westwood secured a 2–0 victory over what Smith called a "very poor" Hull City team on 25 October; three days later, the same two players scored early goals to give their team a 2–0 lead over Sheffield United, but United scored twice before half-time and the game finished 2–2.
The first two games of November ended in draws away from home. On 1 November, Gillingham drew 3–3 away to Walsall, Price scoring the final goal after the home team were 3–2 up at half-time, and three days later, the match against Swindon Town ended goalless. After 19 Third Division games, Gillingham had yet to lose in the league at Priestfield; in contrast, they had not won a league game away from home; both runs ended in their next two games. On 8 November, they lost 1–0 at home to Portsmouth, who scored the only goal of the game in the 89th minute. Four days later, Gillingham won a Third Division match away from home for the first time during the season; a second-half goal from Billy Hughes secured a 1–0 victory away to Reading.
Five of Gillingham's final six Third Division games of 1980 ended in defeat. On 15 November, they lost 5–1 at home to Exeter City; it was the first time that a visiting team had scored five goals at Priestfield since 1969. Summers told the press that his team had been "annihilated" and said that "every team gets a drubbing at least once a season and we hope that this has been our first and last". The team's final game of November was a 3–2 defeat away to Burnley and December began with a 1–0 loss to Charlton Athletic, who were top of the league table. The run of league defeats ended on 20 December when Price scored in the final five minutes to give the team a 2–1 victory over Chester. Gillingham ended 1980 with two games on consecutive days and were beaten in both. On Boxing Day, they played Millwall at Priestfield. After falling a goal behind, Gillingham equalised through Mark Weatherly, but then conceded for a second time in the final ten minutes of the game; it was the first time that Millwall had won an away game in the Football League for over a year. The next day, Gillingham played away to Colchester United; once again they fell a goal behind, equalised, but then conceded a late winner, this time in the final minute of the match. Gary Sutton, an eighteen-year-old goalkeeper, made his debut against Colchester in place of Hillyard, who missed a game for the first time since April 1978. At the end of the calendar year, Gillingham were in 21st place in the Third Division league table, a position which, if maintained at the end of the season, would have resulted in relegation to the Fourth Division.
January–May
Gillingham's first match of 1981 was a goalless draw at Priestfield against Rotherham United. On 8 January, Gillingham signed the forward Trevor Lee from Colchester United for a transfer fee of , a new club record. He was expected to make his debut on 10 January at home to Burnley, but the match was postponed due to a viral outbreak among the Burnley players, and he instead made his debut a week later in an away game against Sheffield United. Gillingham won 1–0, Ford scoring the only goal from a penalty kick; earlier in the game, Sutton had saved a Sheffield United penalty. A week later, Gillingham defeated Chesterfield by the same score at Priestfield with a second-half goal from Bruce; it was the first time during the season that they had won two consecutive Third Division games. The unbeaten run continued on 31 January against Barnsley, who had not lost a Third Division match since September and were in second place in the league table. Lee scored his first goal for Gillingham as they took a 2–0 lead, but Barnsley brought the scores level. Price gave Gillingham the lead again, but after Gillingham were reduced to ten men when Dean White was sent off, Barnsley scored a third goal and the match ended in a 3–3 draw. At the end of the month, Gillingham's league table position had improved to 17th.