The Green journey began in the summer of 2017. Owner Daniel Simmonds who was the club secretary for the established Madeeka Sports FC at the time decided that there was an opportunity to pull together a group of young talented players and start a project with the vision of getting to the top of the Rochester & District Leagues. As we enter the 2020/21 season Gillingham Green do so having reached the Premier Division within 4 seasons.

The journey hasn't always been an easy one, especially Christmas 2017 where Green found themselves 2nd bottom of Division 3 having won 2 league games all season. The new year brought a change and Green put together a solid run of form and ended up finishing the season 4th and reaching the Sittingbourne & Milton Cup semi finals.

Season 2, 2018/19 brought in some new faces, Ryan Sokolov signed on permanently, Robbie Summerhayes, Ashley Poppy, Tommie Mara, Ollie Speer, Ollie Millen, Bradley Briggs, Aaron Stebbeds and Phil Osborne were all brought in and made instant impacts. Green would go on to finish 2nd in Division 3 that season gaining promotion to Division 1. The season highlight saw Green crowned Kent Cup champions beating Medway Borough 3-1 at the Gallagher Stadium thanks to a record breaking 4 minute hat trick from Bradley Jeffrey. Unfortunately Green would lose 3-1 to Medway Stars a few weeks later in the Quarter Century Final but after a thrilling campaign Green had a lot to be proud of. We also saw glimpses of future Green players Luca Gorse, Callum Jeffrey and Michael Freeman all of whom not old enough to buy a beer at the time.

Season 3, 2019/20 saw the departure of Matt Smith, Kent Cup Keeper Richard Luetchford and our very own Bradley Jeffrey who was snapped up by Maidstone United. Brad left the club as the clubs all time top scorer (at the time) with 53 Strikes is 48 games. Green had to move forward as a club though. Spencer Marshall and Kurt Robinson were recruited, Callum Jeffrey, Luca Gorse and Michael Freeman rose to the challenge and showed they were well equipped to take the step from Under 18's to Men's. Ultimately the season was to be cut short due to COVID-19 but not before Green got off to a flier winning all 7 of their league games, reaching the Final of both the Sittingbourne & Milton Cup and the Quarter Century Cup (Both finals will be taking place later in 2020) whilst also reaching the semi finals of the Kent Cup. Green were in a really strong position and were looking likely to be on for an unprecedented season.

This summer, 2020/21 saw more departures with the likes of Tommie Mara, Ollie Millen and Ashley Poppy moving on but with the summer signing of Dean Hughes and the growth of the young side Green are well equipped to have a good go at the Premier Division this season. It's going to be a long hard season given the quality of the division but Green are more than looking forward to the challenge.

#UTG

Gillingham Green

Staff