During the 1981–82 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 50th season in which Gillingham competed in the Football League, and the 32nd since the club was voted back into the league in 1950. Keith Peacock was appointed as the club's new manager prior to the season. The team began the season in poor form and at the end of September were 17th out of 24 teams in the league table, but then won six consecutive games and in November were briefly top of the league. They could not maintain the position, however, and by January had slipped back into the bottom half of the table. Results improved, but the team failed to get back into contention for promotion and ultimately finished sixth in the division.
Gillingham also took part in three other competitions during the season. They reached the fourth round of the FA Cup for the first time in more than a decade, narrowly losing to West Bromwich Albion of the First Division, but were eliminated at the earliest stage of both the Football League Cup and the Football League Group Cup. The team played 57 competitive matches, winning 23, drawing 16, and losing 18. Ken Price and Dean White were joint top goalscorer, with 14 goals each. Steve Bruce made the most appearances, playing 54 times. The highest attendance recorded at the club's home ground, Priestfield Stadium, was 16,000 for the FA Cup match against West Bromwich Albion.
Background and pre-season
The 1981–82 season was Gillingham's 50th season playing in the Football League and the 32nd since the club was elected back into the League in 1950 after being voted out in 1938. It was the club's eighth 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 seven 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.
In July, Keith Peacock was appointed as the club's new manager; he had most recently worked as the assistant manager of Tampa Bay Rowdies in the United States. He replaced Gerry Summers, who had been dismissed from his post at the end of the previous season, partly due to controversy surrounding his decision to release several popular players, including Damien Richardson, from their contracts. Peacock appointed Paul Taylor, with whom he had recently worked in the United States, as his assistant manager; 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. Peacock signed three new players ahead of the season, all of whom he had played alongside at Charlton Athletic. Dick Tydeman, a 30-year-old midfielder, joined from Charlton as the new manager's first signing, and was appointed team captain; Tydeman had played over 300 games for Gillingham in a previous spell from 1969 to 1976. Colin Powell, a 33-year old winger, also arrived from Charlton, where he had made over 300 appearances. The club's third signing was Richie Bowman, a 26-year old midfielder who joined the club from Reading. Peacock also attempted to sign Winston DuBose, a goalkeeper whom he had coached in the United States, but the player was refused a UK work permit.
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, was all-red. The team prepared for the new season with several friendlies, including one against West Ham United of the First Division. In an attempt to incentivise teams to play in a more attacking manner, the Football League made a rule change for the new season, increasing the number of points awarded to the team winning a match from two to three; a draw still gave one point to each team. Peacock wrote in the matchday programme for the first league game of the season that he was a strong proponent of attacking football and that he considered it important that his players "go out with a positive attitude to win rather than just to stop the opposition from winning".
Third Division August–December
Gillingham's first league game of the season was at their home ground, Priestfield Stadium, against Burnley; goals from forwards Ken Price and Trevor Lee along with an own goal gave Gillingham a 3–1 win. Both players scored again a week later away to Reading, but the game ended in a 3–2 defeat and Gillingham next lost 1–0 at home to Chester. Goalkeeper Ron Hillyard, who had been with the club since 1974, made his return to the team against Chester; teenager Gary Sutton had deputised for him since the first league game of the season after Hillyard suffered a groin strain. On 19 September Gillingham drew 1–1 away to Preston North End with a goal from Danny Westwood on his first appearance in a Football League game for nine months; John Sitton, a defender newly signed from Millwall, made his Gillingham debut. Two days later, a goal from Tydeman secured a 1–0 win away to Brentford, but a defeat and a draw in their next two matches meant that at the end of September, Gillingham were 17th out of 24 teams in the Third Division league table, having won only one of their last six league games.
The team's fortunes changed dramatically in October, during which they played six games and won every one. The run began on 3 October with a 2–0 victory away to Wimbledon, who were bottom of the table; Hillyard saved a Wimbledon penalty kick and Bowman scored both goals. A week later he scored again as Gillingham beat 23rd-placed Plymouth Argyle. Against Huddersfield Town on 17 October, Gillingham took a 3–0 lead inside the first 20 minutes and, although their opponents scored twice, held on for a third consecutive victory. A 4–2 win over Portsmouth made Gillingham the division's highest goalscorers up to this point of the season and took them up to fourth place in the table, just outside the top three places which would secure promotion to the Second Division. Dean White, who scored twice against Portsmouth, repeated the feat in the next game, a 2–1 win over Millwall. The result meant that Gillingham had equalled the club record of four consecutive Football League wins away from home and had won five consecutive league games for the first time since the 1972–73 season. White then scored the only goal in a 1–0 win over Swindon Town. Gillingham ended October second in the table, behind league leaders Doncaster Rovers only on goal difference; Peacock was the recipient of the division's Manager of the Month award.
Gillingham's bid to equal the club record of seven consecutive league wins failed with a 3–0 defeat away to Southend United and they also lost their next game, a 2–0 defeat away to Bristol Rovers. On 14 November, White scored twice more as Gillingham beat Doncaster to go top of the table. Their stay in first place was short-lived, however, as they dropped to fourth after the final match of November, a 2–0 defeat away to Carlisle United during which John Sharpe was sent off. This was followed by a 4–1 defeat at home to Walsall, the first time the team had conceded four goals in a league game all season. Gillingham's final match of 1981 was at home to Newport County. Dave Kemp, a forward signed on loan from Plymouth Argyle, made his debut and scored in a 1–1 draw; he was selected in place of Lee, who had only scored two goals since September. Bowman was absent from the team after tearing his knee ligaments and would not play again during the season. The result left Gillingham in sixth place in the table at the end of the year, two points below the promotion places.
January–May
Scheduled Third Division games on 2 and 23 January were postponed due to the club's continued involvement in the FA Cup, and a game on 9 January was postponed due to blizzards. As a result, Gillingham played only two Third Division matches in January, both of which they lost, being defeated 2–0 by both Lincoln City and Preston North End. By the end of the month, they had slipped into the bottom half of the table. Injuries continued to impact the team; Micky Adams replaced Andy Ford after the latter suffered a knee injury which would ultimately end his professional career. Adams had previously played as a winger but adapted well to the left-back position, and was an ever-present in the team for the remainder of the season. Another defender, Mark Weatherly, also sustained an injury and would not return to the team line-up for two months. On 2 February, 19-year-old Tony Cascarino made his debut in a 1–0 defeat away to Burnley. The forward, signed from amateur club Crockenhill of the Kent League, reportedly in exchange for a set of tracksuits, would go on to make over 200 appearances and score over 100 goals for Gillingham before playing at the highest level of English football and in two FIFA World Cup tournaments. He scored his first goal for the club on 13 February when the team ended a winless league run stretching back to November by defeating Wimbledon 6–1, the first time Gillingham had scored six times in a game since 1973.
Peter Shaw, a defender signed from Charlton Athletic, made his debut on 20 February in a 1–1 draw with Exeter City. A week later, Kemp made his final appearance for Gillingham as his loan spell came to an end. He scored the winning goal against Plymouth, the team from which he was on loan, to leave Gillingham in 11th place at the end of February; Cascarino and Price would be the first-choice forwards for the remainder of the season. The team began March with defeats away to Huddersfield Town and Portsmouth, both without scoring a goal. Cascarino ended the goalless run against Millwall on 12 March but the match ended in a draw. Having gained only one point and scored only one goal in their first three games of March, Gillingham won their next three matches without conceding a goal; Adams scored his first professional goal in a 1–0 win away to Swindon Town on 20 March. Goals against Bristol Rovers a week later took White and Price to 14 and 12 goals for the season respectively; after the victory Gillingham were back up to ninth in the league table. Another teenager, Neil Grewcock, made his debut as a substitute against Oxford United in the final game of the month.
Gillingham extended their unbeaten run with a 1–1 draw against Doncaster Rovers on 3 April; Lee played his first game since January in place of Cascarino. Three days later, Lee was named only as the substitute against Chesterfield but came off the bench to score twice as Gillingham came back from two goals down with 20 minutes of the game remaining to win 3–2. The result took them up to seventh in the table, six points outside the promotion places with ten games still to play. The team's successful run continued with a 2–0 victory over Fulham, but Gillingham lost their next two matches to effectively end any realistic chance of promotion. They achieved a draw on 24 April away to Carlisle United, who were top of the table at the time, but this was immediately followed by a defeat to Bristol City, who were second from bottom. Gillingham produced one of their best runs of the season during the final five games, winning four and drawing the other; in their final away match they beat Chesterfield 3–1, the first time they had scored more than twice away from home all season. The last game of the campaign was at home to Reading on 18 May; Sharpe and Lee scored in a 2–1 victory which meant that their team finished the season sixth in the Third Division table, seven points below the promotion places.
League match results Key
In result column, Gillingham's score shown first H = Home match A = Away match