During the 1983–84 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 52nd season in which Gillingham competed in the Football League and the 34th since the club was voted back into the league in 1950. The team started the season poorly and were near the bottom of the league table after six games, but won five times in October to move into the top half, where they remained at the end of 1983. After only playing one league match in January, Gillingham were 10th in the 24-team table at the end of February but were in the advantageous position of having up to four games more to play than the teams above them. During March and April, however, they played 15 games and only won three times to fall out of contention for promotion to the Second Division. After winning three out of four games in May, the team finished the season 8th in the table, missing out on promotion by five places.

Gillingham also competed in three knock-out competitions. They lost in the first round of both the Football League Cup and the Associate Members' Cup but reached the fourth round of the FA Cup, at which stage they held Everton of the First Division, the highest level of English football, to two goalless draws before losing a second replay. The team played 55 competitive matches, winning 23, drawing 12, and losing 20. Dave Mehmet was the club's leading goalscorer, with 17 goals in all competitions. John Leslie made the most appearances, missing only one game. The highest attendance recorded at the club's home ground, Priestfield Stadium, was 17,817 for the second of the two replays against Everton.

Background and pre-season

The 1983–84 season was Gillingham's 52nd season playing in the Football League and the 34th since the club was elected back into the League in 1950 after being voted out in 1938. It was the club's 10th 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 nine 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 third 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. Before the new season, Gillingham signed two new players: John Leslie, a forward, arrived from Wimbledon, and David Fry, a goalkeeper, joined the club from Crystal Palace, both on free transfers. Peacock also attempted to sign another forward, Mike Barrett, but although his club, Bristol Rovers, accepted Gillingham's proposed transfer fee, the player chose to reject the move. Players leaving Gillingham included Micky Adams, who was transferred to Coventry City of the First Division for a fee of £85,000, a new record for the highest transfer fee received by the club.

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. The players prepared for the new season with several friendlies, mostly against other Football League teams but including a match against the national team of Japan, a game attended by the Japanese ambassador as well as by Sir Stanley Rous, a former president of FIFA, the sport's global governing body.

Third Division August–December

Gillingham's first match of the season was away to Sheffield United on 27 August; Leslie made his Gillingham debut, as did Andy Woodhead, a 17-year old defender from the club's youth team. Keith Edwards gave the home team the lead in the first half and then scored three more times in the second half to complete a 4–0 victory. The first league game of the season at Gillingham's ground, Priestfield Stadium, took place a week later against Hull City. Ray Daniel, a teenaged midfielder signed on loan from Luton Town, made his debut. Gillingham conceded a goal in the first half and, although Leslie equalised with his first goal for the club shortly after the interval, ultimately lost 2–1. Another loan player, Paul Garner, made his first appearance against Bolton Wanderers on 6 September in defence; Forward Tony Cascarino, the team's leading goalscorer in the previous season, made his first appearance of the campaign as a substitute for Garner. Goals from Dave Mehmet and Mark Weatherly gave Gillingham their first win of the season. Gillingham drew 1–1 with Plymouth Argyle on 10 September but then lost to both Oxford United and AFC Bournemouth. Fry made his debut against Bournemouth, replacing Ron Hillyard, who had been the team's first-choice goalkeeper since 1974. Steve Bruce, a defender who was only 22 years old but had already played nearly 200 games for Gillingham, returned to the team for the same game after missing the start of the season due to a broken leg. At the end of September, Gillingham were 22nd out of 24 teams in the Third Division league table.

Having lost their last two league games of September, Gillingham won their first five matches of October. They began the run by defeating Brentford 4–2 at Priestfield on 1 October with two goals from each of Leslie and Mehmet. A week later, Terry Cochrane, a winger newly signed on loan from Middlesbrough, made his debut and scored the first goal in a 2–0 victory at home to Preston North End. His move to Gillingham would be made permanent later in the month. Cochrane scored again in the next game away to Burnley; after taking a 2–0 lead, Gillingham conceded two goals, but Mehmet scored in the final five minutes to secure a 3–2 victory. Against Exeter City on 18 October, Gillingham scored twice in the first eight minutes and went on to win 3–1. A 2–1 victory away to Wigan Athletic four days later, in which Cochrane scored his third goal in his first four games for the team, meant that for the third consecutive season Gillingham had followed a slow start to the season by winning at least four league games in October. Draws away to Orient and at home to Millwall meant that at the end of the month Gillingham were 10th in the table.

Gillingham won 2–0 at home to Lincoln City on 5 November with goals from Jeff Johnson and Mehmet. A week later, their unbeaten run ended at eight games as they lost 3–1 away to Walsall; while travelling to the game, Clifford Grossmark, who had served as chairman of the club's board of directors for more than 20 years, suffered a heart attack and died, a fact which was not revealed to the players until after the match. In the next game, against Rotherham United, Gillingham took a 2–0 lead through goals from Weatherly and Mehmet but were reduced to ten men shortly before the end of the first half when Johnson was sent off. Although Rotherham scored twice after the interval, both Weatherly and Mehmet scored again and Gillingham won 4–2. Russell Musker, a midfielder signed from Bristol City, made his debut in the game. Gillingham began December with a 1–0 win away to Port Vale, Cochrane scoring the only goal of the game less than a minute from the start. Hillyard played his first game since September in a 2–0 defeat away to Scunthorpe United on 17 December. On Boxing Day, Gillingham achieved their biggest win of the season with a 5–1 victory at home to Southend United. It was the first time the team had scored more than four goals in a game since February 1982 and left them 9th in the league table. Gillingham ended 1983 with two defeats, losing 3–0 away to Bristol Rovers and 1–0 at home to Wimbledon on 31 December, the first time they had lost at Priestfield since mid-September. John Sharpe, a defender who had been a regular in the team since 1978, was injured against Bristol Rovers and would not play again for nearly a year. Cascarino, who had been out injured, returned to the side against Wimbledon. The result left Gillingham 11th in the table at the end of the calendar year.

January–May

Four of Gillingham's five league games originally scheduled for January were postponed, two of them because of the team's continuing involvement in the FA Cup, with the result that the team played only one Third Division match in the month, at home to Sheffield United. Bruce scored twice and Weatherly and Cochrane added a goal each as Gillingham took a 4–0 lead, but their team-mates John Sitton and Peter Shaw then both scored own goals; the game finished 4–2 to Gillingham. At the end of the month, Gillingham were 12th in the league table but had the advantage that they had between two and five more games still to play than every team above them. They secured a 3–2 win away to Brentford on 4 February and, despite conceding a goal inside the first minute, continued their unbeaten run a week later by beating AFC Bournemouth 2–1. The team's next two matches both ended in draws, 0–0 at home to Bradford City and 2–2 at home to Millwall, and they remained unbeaten in the Third Division in 1984 when two goals from Mehmet and one from Cascarino gave them a 3–0 victory at home to Wigan Athletic on 25 February. At the end of the month, Gillingham were 10th in the table, seven points below the top three places which would result in promotion, but still with the advantage of having played up to four fewer games than all the teams above them.

Gillingham began March with a match against Exeter City, who were 24th in the league table, but were held to a 0–0 draw, and their undefeated league run then came to an end as they were beaten 4–0 by Lincoln City. Gillingham fell further out of contention for the promotion places after losing 3–1 to Walsall on 10 March, a result which left them 13 points below third place. Four days later, Gillingham played away to Oxford United, who were top of the table. Phil Cavener, making his first appearance in the starting line-up, scored a goal inside the first minute and Gillingham won 1–0. It was the first time during the season that Oxford had failed to score in a home league game. Against Preston North End on 17 March, Gillingham scored two goals in the first half through Musker and Brian Sparrow, a defender making the final appearance of a loan spell from Arsenal, but conceded twice in the second half. The team's next two games both ended in 1–0 defeats, at home to Burnley and away to Newport County, meaning that they had won only once in the last seven games. Colin Clarke, a forward signed on loan from Peterborough United, made his debut against Burnley. In the last game of March, goals from Leslie and Mehmet, neither of whom had scored for over a month, and Cascarino secured a 3–1 win over Orient; despite the victory, Gillingham were again 13 points below third place.