List of Gillingham F.C. managers

William Ironside Groombridge held the post of club secretary for over 20 years and is regarded as the first man to have held a role equivalent to the modern-day position of club manager.

Gillingham F.C. is an English association football club originally formed in 1893 and known until 1913 as New Brompton F.C. The first man to hold a role equivalent to what is today referred to as a manager was William Ironside Groombridge, who was appointed as club secretary in June 1896 and quickly expanded the role to cover all aspects of team and club administration. Apart from two two-year spells when the club opted to appoint a full-time team manager to allow Groombridge to concentrate solely on club administration, he fulfilled the dual roles of secretary and manager until after the First World War. Upon being admitted to the Football League in May 1920, the club appointed Robert Brown as manager, but he resigned without ever taking charge of a match. He was replaced by Scotsman John McMillan, the club's first non-English manager.

The next significant manager of Gillingham was Archie Clark, under whose management the club returned to the Football League in 1950, having been voted out in 1938. Freddie Cox was the first manager to win a major trophy with Gillingham, taking the Football League Fourth Division championship in the 1963–64 season. Under his successor, Basil Hayward, the club was relegated back to the Fourth Division in the 1970–71 season, but Andy Nelson led the club to promotion back to Division Three three years later. After the Gills were relegated once again in the 1988–89 season, Tony Pulis managed the club to promotion seven years later. Pulis also took the team to the final of the play-offs for promotion to the second tier of English football in the 1998–99 season. Pulis was sacked immediately after this for gross misconduct,^[1] but his successor, Peter Taylor, took the club back to the play-off final the following season, in which victory over Wigan Athletic saw the club promoted to Division One for the first time in its history. Peter Taylor left to join Leicester during the close season and club captain Andy Hessenthaler took over as manager for the club's first, and to date only, stint in the second tier.

After Hessenthaler was dismissed following a poor start to the 2004–05 season, the club saw a number of managers come and go in a relatively short time before Mark Stimson's arrival in 2007. His two and a half year tenure saw the club promoted back to the third tier via the play-offs, but he was dismissed the following season. Hessenthaler then returned to the club for a period of two years before he was promoted to Director of Football to make way for Martin Allen. Allen became only the second manager to win a trophy with the club, leading the team to the League Two championship in 2013, but he was dismissed a few months into the following season after a poor start, following which another former manager, Peter Taylor, returned to the club.

Managers

Statistics are correct up to 24 October 2015 and include all senior competitive peacetime first-team matches. Minor county competitions such as the Kent Senior Cup and Kent Senior Shield are not included as the club rarely, if ever, fielded its first team.

Name	Nationality	From	To	P	W	D[2]	L	Win%[3]	Honours	Notes
Groombridge, WilliamWilliam Groombridge (secretary)	England	3 June 1896[4]	May 1906[5]	403	156	90	157	38.71		[6]
Smith, StephenStephen Smith	England	May 1906[5]	Summer 1908[7]	84	24	19	41	28.57		[8]
Groombridge, WilliamWilliam Groombridge (secretary)	England	Summer 1908[4]	Summer 1913[9]	212	75	45	92	35.38		[10]
Gilligan, SamSam Gilligan	England	Summer 1913[9]	Summer 1915[9][11]	81	22	17	42	27.16		[12]
Collins, GeorgeGeorge Collins	England	28 July 1919[13]	12 May 1920[14]	47	11	10	26	23.40		[15]
Brown, RobertRobert Brown	England	12 May 1920[14]	9 June 1920[14]	0	0	0	0	—
McMillan, JohnnyJohnny McMillan	Scotland	2 July 1920[16]	3 August 1922[17]	135	42	28	65	31.11		[18]
Groombridge, WilliamWilliam Groombridge (secretary)	England	3 August 1922[17]	10 May 1923[19]	44	16	7	21	36.36		[20]
Curtis, HarryHarry Curtis	England	10 May 1923[21]	30 March 1926[22]	135	45	39	51	33.33		[23]
unknown caretaker		30 March 1926[22]	12 April 1926[22]	4	1	2	1	25.00		[24]
Hoskins, BertBert Hoskins	England	12 April 1926[25]	29 March 1929[22]	127	36	31	60	28.35		[26]
unknown caretaker		29 March 1929[22]	7 May 1929[27]	8	1	2	5	12.50		[28]
Hendrie, DickDick Hendrie	Scotland	7 May 1929[27]	29 December 1931[29]	108	30	22	56	27.78		[30]
unknown caretaker		29 December 1931[29]	18 January 1932[27]	3	3	0	0	100.000		[28]
Maven, FredFred Maven	England	19 January 1932[31]	25 May 1937[32]	246	80	56	110	32.52		[33]
Ure, AlanAlan Ure	England	26 May 1937[32]	16 June 1938[34]	45	11	6	28	24.44		[35]
Harvey, BillBill Harvey	England	11 July 1938[36]	19 July 1939[37]	48	30	7	11	62.50		[38]
Clark, ArchieArchie Clark[39]	England	2 August 1939[17]	23 November 1957[40]	577	251	128	198	43.50	Southern League champions 1946–47 and 1948–49, Southern League Cup winners 1946–47, Kent League champions 1945–46	[41]
Barratt, HarryHarry Barratt	England	23 November 1957[40]	4 May 1962[42]	226	82	54	90	36.28		[43]
Cox, FreddieFreddie Cox	England	13 June 1962[34]	17 December 1965[44]	172	83	42	47	48.26	Fourth Division champions 1963–64	[45]
Boswell, JimmyJimmy Boswell (caretaker)	England	17 December 1965[46]	4 January 1966[46]	2	2	0	0	100.000		[47]
Hayward, BasilBasil Hayward	England	4 January 1966[48]	25 May 1971[32]	282	89	80	113	31.56		[49]
Nelson, AndyAndy Nelson	England	24 June 1971[50]	3 May 1974[51]	151	66	37	48	43.71		[52]
Ashurst, LenLen Ashurst	England	6 May 1974[53]	15 October 1975[54]	61	23	19	19	37.70		[55]
Collins, BillBill Collins (caretaker)[56]	Northern Ireland	15 October 1975[54]	27 October 1975[57]	3	0	1	2	00.00		[58]
Summers, GerryGerry Summers	England	27 October 1975[57]	22 May 1981[59]	292	92	106	94	31.51		[60]
Peacock, KeithKeith Peacock	England	14 July 1981[61]	29 December 1987[62]	370	161	90	119	43.51		[63]
Taylor, PaulPaul Taylor	England	29 December 1987[62]	26 October 1988[64]	40	11	8	21	27.50		[65]
Burkinshaw, KeithKeith Burkinshaw	England	31 October 1988[64]	11 April 1989[66]	32	8	4	20	25.00		[67]
Richardson, DamienDamien Richardson	Ireland	11 April 1989[66]	8 October 1992[68]	174	54	49	71	31.03		[69]
unknown caretaker		8 October 1992[68]	26 October 1992[70]	2	0	0	2	00.00		[71]
Roeder, GlennGlenn Roeder	England	26 October 1992[70]	9 July 1993[72]	37	8	12	17	21.62		[71]
Flanagan, MikeMike Flanagan	England	12 July 1993[73]	28 February 1995[74]	90	20	27	43	22.22		[75]
Smillie, NeilNeil Smillie (caretaker)	England	28 February[74]	May 1995[76]	10	6	3	1	60.00		[77]
Pulis, TonyTony Pulis	Wales	29 June 1995[78]	30 June 1999[79]	218	94	62	62	43.12		[80]
Taylor, PeterPeter Taylor	England	7 July 1999[36]	12 June 2000[81]	62	34	12	16	54.84	Second Division play-off winners 1999–00	[82]
Hessenthaler, AndyAndy Hessenthaler	England	29 June 2000[78]	23 November 2004[83]	228	77	54	97	33.77		[84]
Gorman, JohnJohn Gorman (caretaker)	Scotland	23 November 2004[83]	30 November 2004[85]	1	1	0	0	100.000		[86]
Hare, DarrenDarren Hare Roberts, IwanIwan Roberts Smith, PaulPaul Smith (caretakers)	England  Wales  England	4 December 2004[87]	7 December 2004[88]	1	0	0	1	00.00		[89]
Ternent, StanStan Ternent	England	7 December 2004[88]	15 May 2005[90]	25	7	11	7	28.00		[91]
Cooper, NealeNeale Cooper	Scotland	21 May 2005[92]	15 November 2005[93]	22	7	5	10	31.82		[94]
Jepson, RonnieRonnie Jepson	England	15 November 2005[93]	9 September 2007[95]	87	32	16	39	36.78		[96]
Onuora, IffyIffy Onuora Docherty, MickMick Docherty (caretakers)	Scotland  England	9 September 2007[97]	8 October 2007[97]	5	2	1	2	40.00		[97]
Onuora, IffyIffy Onuora (caretaker)	Scotland	8 October 2007[97]	1 November 2007	4	2	2	0	50.00		[98]
Stimson, MarkMark Stimson	England	1 November 2007[99]	10 May 2010[100]	144	48	41	55	33.33	2009 Football League Two play-off Final winners	[101]
Hessenthaler, AndyAndy Hessenthaler	England	21 May 2010[102]	8 May 2012[103]	101	39	29	33	38.61		[84]
Allen, MartinMartin Allen	England	5 July 2012[104]	13 October 2013[105]	64	27	17	20	42.19	Football League Two champions 2012–13	[106]
Taylor, PeterPeter Taylor	England	14 October 2013[107]	31 December 2014[108]	67	23	14	30	34.33		[109]
Hessenthaler, AndyAndy Hessenthaler Lovell, SteveSteve Lovell Hare, DarrenDarren Hare Patterson, MarkMark Patterson (caretakers)	England  Wales  England  England	31 December 2014[108][110]	7 February 2015	8	3	2	3	37.50		[84]
Edinburgh, JustinJustin Edinburgh	England	7 February 2015	Present	35	18	10	7	51.43

References

General

• Bradley, Andy; Roger Triggs (1994). Home of the Shouting Men: Complete History of Gillingham Football Club 1893–1993. Gillingham F.C. ISBN 0-9523361-0-3.
• Brown, Tony (2003). The Definitive Gillingham F.C.: A Complete Record. Soccerdata. ISBN 1-899468-20-X.
• Elligate, David (2009). Gillingham FC On This Day. Pitch Publishing. ISBN 978-1-905411-45-0.

Specific

1. Casey, Phil (12 January 2001). "Scally denies financial malpractice at Gillingham". The Independent. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
2. Drawn matches decided by penalty shoot-outs are counted as draws.
3. Win% is rounded to two decimal places.
4. Elligate, p.100
5. Bradley, Triggs, p.42
6. Brown, pp.14–23
7. "Manager History for Gillingham". Soccerbase. Retrieved 12 December 2008.
8. Brown, pp.24–25
9. Bradley, Triggs, p.57
10. Brown, p.26–30
11. Competitive football was abandoned after the 1914–15 season due to the escalation of the First World War and did not resume until 1919. Gilligan did not return to the club after the war.
12. Brown, pp.31–32
13. Elligate, p.117
14. Elligate, p.104
15. Brown, p.33
16. Elligate, p.111
17. Elligate, p.120
18. Brown, pp.34–35
19. Elligate, p.103
20. Brown, p.36
21. Elligate, p.84
22. Elligate, p.55
23. Brown, pp.37–39
24. Brown, p.39
25. Elligate, p.62
26. Brown, pp.40–42
27. Elligate, p.82
28. Brown, p.42
29. Elligate, p.203
30. Brown, pp.43–45
31. Elligate, p.21
32. Elligate, p.94
33. Brown, pp.45–50
34. Elligate, p.105
35. Brown, p.51
36. Elligate, p.112
37. Elligate, p.115
38. Brown, p.52
39. Clark's statistics include three matches (two wins and one defeat) played at the start of the 1939–40 season before competitive football was abandoned due to the outbreak of the Second World War.
40. Elligate, p.180
41. Brown, pp.53–67
42. Elligate, p.78
43. Brown, pp.67–71
44. Elligate, p.195
45. Brown, pp.72–75
46. Triggs, Roger (2001). The Men Who Made Gillingham Football Club. Tempus Publishing Ltd. p. 62. ISBN 0-7524-2243-X.
47. Brown, pp.75
48. Elligate, p.11
49. Brown, pp.75–80
50. Elligate, p.107
51. Elligate, p.77
52. Brown, pp.80–83
53. Elligate, p.81
54. Elligate, p.160
55. Brown, pp.84–85
56. Bradley, Andy (12 October 1985). "10 Years Ago". Gillingham F.C. Official Matchday Magazine.
57. Elligate, p.165
58. Brown, p.85
59. Elligate, p.92
60. Brown, pp.85–90
61. Elligate, p.114
62. "Football: Gillingham dismiss Peacock as manager". The Times. 30 December 1987. Retrieved 12 December 2008.
63. Brown, pp.91–97
64. Bateson, Bill; Albert Sewell (1989). News of the World Football Annual 1989/1990. Invincible Press. p. 265. ISBN 0-85543-172-5.
65. Brown, pp.97–98
66. Bateson, Bill; Albert Sewell. News of the World Football Annual 1989/1990. pp. 268–269.
67. Brown, p.98
68. Elligate, p.155
69. Brown, pp.98–102
70. "Barnet players settle dispute with chairman – Football". The Times. 27 October 1992. Retrieved 12 December 2008.
71. Brown, p.102
72. "Roeder appointed Watford manager – Football". The Times. 10 July 1993. Retrieved 12 December 2008.
73. Pike, Keith (13 July 1993). "Deane transfer causes split – Football". The Times. Retrieved 12 December 2008.
74. Elligate, p.43
75. Brown, pp.103–104
76. Triggs, Roger (2001). The Men Who Made Gillingham Football Club. Tempus Publishing Ltd. p. 298. ISBN 0-7524-2243-X.
77. Brown, pp.104
78. Elligate, p.109
79. Elligate, p.110
80. Brown, pp.105–108
81. Unlimited, Football (12 June 2000). "Foxes acquire new Taylor". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 23 September 2009.
82. Brown, p.109
83. Elligate, p.181
84. "Andy Hessenthaler's managerial career". Soccerbase. Retrieved 26 May 2011.
85. "Gorman appointed Wycombe manager". BBC. 30 November 2004. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
86. "John Gorman's managerial career". Soccerbase. Retrieved 12 December 2008.
87. Roberts, Iwan (10 May 2005). "Diary of a footballing nomad". The Independent (London). Retrieved 23 December 2008.
88. "Gills unveil Ternent as manager". BBC. 7 December 2004. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
89. "Cardiff 3–1 Gillingham". BBC. 4 December 2004. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
90. "Ternent quits as Gillingham boss". BBC. 15 May 2005. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
91. "Stan Ternent's managerial career". Soccerbase. Retrieved 12 December 2008.
92. "Cooper named as Gillingham boss". BBC. 21 May 2005. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
93. "Gillingham manager Cooper resigns". BBC. 15 November 2005. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
94. "Neale Cooper's managerial career". Soccerbase. Retrieved 12 December 2008.
95. "Gillingham manager Jepson resigns". BBC. 9 September 2007. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
96. "Ronnie Jepson's managerial career". Soccerbase. Retrieved 12 December 2008.
97. "Caretaker Docherty leaves Gills". BBC. 8 October 2007. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
98. "Iffy Onuora's managerial career". Soccerbase. Retrieved 12 December 2008.
99. "Gills unveil Stimson as new boss". BBC. 1 November 2007. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
100. "Stimson departs Priestfield". Gillingham F.C. 10 May 2010. Retrieved 10 May 2010.
101. "Mark Stimson's managerial career". Soccerbase. Retrieved 24 May 2009.
102. "Andy Hessenthaler named new Gillingham boss". BBC Sport. 21 May 2010. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
103. "Andy Hessenthaler pays for failing to take Gillingham to play-offs". The Guardian. 8 May 2012. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
104. "Martin Allen appointed new Gillingham manager". BBC Sport. 5 July 2012. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
105. "Martin Allen: Gillingham manager sacked after 16 months". BBC. 13 October 2013. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
106. "Martin Allen's managerial career". Soccerbase. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
107. "Gillingham: Peter Taylor named interim boss after Martin Allen exit". BBC. 14 October 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
108. "Peter Taylor: Gillingham sack manager". BBC. 31 December 2014. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
109. "Peter Taylor's managerial career". Soccerbase. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
110. Cawdell, Luke (5 January 2015). "Gillingham are being led by a team of coaches, consisting of Steve Lovell, Andy Hessenthaler, Darren Hare and Mark Patterson". Kent Online. Retrieved 20 January 2015.