On This Day – 5th September
Gillingham recorded their highest ever win on this day back in 1987, thrashing Chesterfield 10-0 at their Priestfield home.
The Gills previous record victory was a 10-1 victory over non-league Gorleston in the FA Cup back in 1957. The clean sheet against Chesterfield thirty years later took the record.
What made the score all the more surprising was Chesterfield had made a great start to the season. They had won three and drawn one of their first four games and hadn’t conceded a single goal!
Gillingham fans were being treated to goals galore at Priestfield as they demolished Southend United 8-1 in their previous home game!
The eight goals scored against The Shrimpers didn’t bring in any extra fans through the turnstiles for the Chesterfield. In fact, there were 55 fewer people in the crowd, with 4099 there for the record-breaking match.
Howard Pritchard, Dave Shearer, George Shipley and Karl Elsey all scored a brace. David Smith and Colin Greenall completed the scoring for The Gills.
After the ten goals scored against Chesterfield, The Gills next highest score at Priestfield was a 4-0 victory over Preston North End in their penultimate home game of the season.
Gillingham ended the season in 13th position. Chesterfield finished in 18th place, narrowly missing relegation to the Fourth Division by three points.
Below is the report of the game on the following week’s Saint & Greavsie:
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