Gillingham are the only league football team in Kent and yet Maidstone Utd, Ebbsfleet FC & Chatham Town all seem to building more of a following and overall buzz, especially in the last few seasons.

The days of Gillingham commanding an average attendance of 6000 are now over 5 years in the past, this season there has been an average home attendance of 4800 and even that figure is a stretch based on some of the recent turnouts and photos, it seems the ‘official’ numbers are inflated due to season ticket holders being included regardless if they attend.

Those figures could suffer a horrendous drop off come next season as many look set not to renew their season tickets for a multitude of reasons, with many casual matchday fans seeking their saturday football enjoyment elsewhere, mainly at the likes of Chatham & Maidstone. All of this will not be helped of course if the opposition becomes the likes of Harrogate, Hartlepool and Rochdale instead of say Sunderland, Ipswich and Portsmouth, the overall appeal of those games will be low and without proper incentive many will simply stay away from attending. League Two fixtures/opponents also bring with them much lower away support and therefore a reduced overall stadium attendance/revenue, the problem becomes a dominio effect and the only way to stop it is to remove a domino, change something.

Below are just three steps which should be take, some are immediate and some are in the near future but all need to be addressed in some way or the other.

Step 1: Sell now

The club currently has 2 players who are in demand and would command a fee, Dempsey and Oliver and quite possible a third in Jack Tucker. Now all three of these individuals are out of contract at the end of this season and so all but Tucker would leave the club with no financial compensation due.

Paul Scally has recently stated that as a club we are not going to give up on the relegation fight and neither should the fans. But in reality is that anything other than wishful thinking?

19th October 2021 was the last time 3 points were picked up from a game, so with us currently 9 points from safety it would take a significant improvement in form to even get 9 points ourselves let alone obtain enough points from now until the end of the season to escape the drop.

The sensible, albeit defeatist option, would be to sell both Dempsey and Oliver and look to use the funds to pay-back the loan, allowing the club to shake off the shackles of its current embargo. In regards to Tucker I feel the focus should be extending his contract now, if that is not a viable option due to lack of interest or excess demands then he too should be sold. Any excess funds from the sales should then be given to the summer transfer budget with a view to build a team for the future.

Step 2: Better Pricing

Now looking back to pre-season and the push to get fans to return to Priestfield by purchasing a season ticket the subsequent booklet was released.

Now for the end of this season, the prices and the whole model need to dramatically change, our fan base is shrinking year on year and yet as a club we still don’t think of ways to accommodate and attract more through the turnstiles.

The benefits of having a season ticket should genuinely benefit the season ticket holder, why not reward season ticket holders with 25% off the home kit, 10% of all match day food and beverages? Try and genuinely incentivise people to part with their money for more reason that loyalty. Give fans the option to add a programme subscription to their season ticket allowing them to buy all home game programmes in advance meaning they only have to present a voucher at the stadium or club shop to receive their copy.

We all know times are especially difficult right now, after being hit by and by still being in a pandemic many have either lost their jobs or have been forced to tighten their belts. £300+ up front is something many people might not have readily available to them, in the same way that season ticket refunds were offered in installments the same should be made as an option to those wishing to buy one.

And lastly the club should look to create a 5 game booklet where fans can buy 5 matchday vouchers to be used on any game they wish to attend during the season, price point at around £80 for adults (depending on stand chosen) it would allow cash upfront, relieve pressure off matchday staff and also provide flexibility for fans who are unable to attend all maches, whilst still allowing them to enjoy a discount for their ongoing support.

Step Three: Young + Permanent

This was mentioned in my previous article, the club already has within its ranks some very good young prospects, the focus on building a youthful team with raw ability and hunger to succeed should now be the focus. Of course every team needs experience within the team, the approach which Martin Allens promotion winning side took should be the model to aim towards. Youthful, ambitious, hard-working with a sprinkle of experience down the spine of the team. The current squad of contracted players are ‘experienced’ with most of the youth coming from our loan signings, now while loan signings are key, especially for EFL teams, the over reliance on multiple loanees does make long-term planning more difficult.

Now all of the above is hugely determined by whether or not we are in or out of the embargo in which we find ourselves currently. If we are out then I’d like to see some talented youngsters be given their chance to cut their cloth with us and buy into a much bigger project of building a solid team for both the now and the future. I understand that there will be mistakes and some signings won’t work, but risks need to be taken as the current scattergun approach season after season is not and has not worked for some time now.

In Summary

Above are only some of the ways that could help to improve the club and yes not all of them are fool proof or likely to be agreed upon by all. The one thing that everyone can agree on is that Gillingham is a great family club, it has lost its way in recent years but the club is bigger than any problems in which it currently faces.

Gillingham FC will rise like a phoenix, if given half a chance to.