List of Gillingham F.C. managers

Gillingham Football Club 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.

Martin Allen led Gillingham to the Football League Two title in 2013, only the second time the club had won a divisional title in the English Football League.

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 29 April 2024 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.

William Ironside Groombridge was the club's secretary, but is considered to have held a role equivalent to that of a modern manager.

Former England international Steve Smith managed the club for two seasons.

Harry Curtis was appointed in 1923.

Tony Pulis took over in 1995 and led the Gills to promotion from the Third Division at the first attempt.

Under Peter Taylor the Gills reached the second tier of English football for the first time.

Andy Hessenthaler replaced Taylor as manager in 2000 and returned for a second spell in charge ten years later.

Mark Stimson managed the Gills to promotion in 2009.

Name	Nationality	From	To	P	W	D[a]	L	Win%[b]	Honours	Notes
William Groombridge (secretary)	England	18963 June 1896[2]	Late November 1906[3]	416	160	91	165	038.46		[4]
Steve Smith	England	1906Late November 1906[5]	Summer 1908[6]	71	20	18	33	028.17		[7]
William Groombridge (secretary)	England	1908Summer 1908[2]	Summer 1913[8]	212	75	45	92	035.38		[9]
Sam Gilligan	Scotland	1913Summer 1913[8]	Summer 1915[8][c]	81	22	17	42	027.16		[10]
George Collins	England	191928 July 1919[11]	12 May 1920[12]	47	11	10	26	023.40		[13]
Robert Brown	England	1920 (1)12 May 1920[12]	9 June 1920[12]	0	0	0	0	!—
Johnny McMillan	Scotland	1920 (2)2 July 1920[14]	3 August 1922[15]	135	42	28	65	031.11		[16]
William Groombridge (secretary)	England	19223 August 1922[15]	10 May 1923[17]	44	16	7	21	036.36		[18]
Harry Curtis	England	192310 May 1923[19]	30 March 1926[20]	135	45	39	51	033.33		[21]
unknown caretaker		1926 (1)30 March 1926[20]	12 April 1926[20]	4	1	2	1	025.00		[22]
Bert Hoskins	England	1926 (2)12 April 1926[23]	29 March 1929[20]	127	36	31	60	028.35		[24]
unknown caretaker		1929 (1)29 March 1929[20]	7 May 1929[25]	8	1	2	5	012.50		[26]
Dick Hendrie	Scotland	1929 (2)7 May 1929[25]	29 December 1931[27]	108	30	22	56	027.78		[28]
unknown caretaker		193129 December 1931[27]	18 January 1932[25]	3	3	0	0	100.00		[26]
Fred Maven	England	193219 January 1932[29]	25 May 1937[30]	246	80	56	110	032.52		[31]
Alan Ure	England	193726 May 1937[30]	16 June 1938[32]	45	11	6	28	024.44		[33]
Bill Harvey	England	193811 July 1938[34]	19 July 1939[35]	48	30	7	11	062.50		[36]
Archie Clark[d]	England	19392 August 1939[15]	23 November 1957[37]	577	251	128	198	043.50	Southern League champions 1946–47 and 1948–49, Southern League Cup winners 1946–47, Kent League champions 1945–46	[38]
Harry Barratt	England	195823 November 1957[37]	4 May 1962[39]	226	82	54	90	036.28		[40]
Freddie Cox	England	196213 June 1962[32]	17 December 1965[41]	172	83	42	47	048.26	Fourth Division champions 1963–64	[42]
Jimmy Boswell (caretaker)	England	196517 December 1965[43]	4 January 1966[43]	2	2	0	0	100.00		[44]
Basil Hayward	England	19664 January 1966[45]	25 May 1971[30]	282	89	80	113	031.56		[46]
Andy Nelson	England	197124 June 1971[47]	3 May 1974[48]	151	66	37	48	043.71		[49]
Len Ashurst	England	19746 May 1974[50]	15 October 1975[51]	61	23	19	19	037.70		[52]
Bill Collins (caretaker)[53]	Northern Ireland	1975 (1)15 October 1975[51]	27 October 1975[54]	3	0	1	2	000.00		[55]
Gerry Summers	England	1975 (2)27 October 1975[54]	22 May 1981[56]	292	92	106	94	031.51		[57]
Keith Peacock	England	198114 July 1981[58]	29 December 1987[59]	370	161	90	119	043.51		[60]
Paul Taylor	England	198729 December 1987[59]	26 October 1988[61]	40	11	8	21	027.50		[62]
Bill Collins Damien Richardson (caretakers)	Northern Ireland  Ireland	198826 October 1988[63]	31 October 1988	1	0	0	1	000.00
Keith Burkinshaw	England	198831 October 1988[61]	11 April 1989[64]	32	8	4	20	025.00		[65]
Keith Blunt (caretaker)	England	1989 (2)11 April 1989[66]	18 April 1989[66]	1	1	0	0	100.00		[66]
Damien Richardson	Ireland	1989 (3)18 April 1989[66]	8 October 1992[67]	173	53	49	71	030.64		[68]
Paul Clark (caretaker)	England	1992 (1)8 October 1992[67]	26 October 1992[69]	2	0	0	2	000.00		[70][71]
Glenn Roeder	England	1992 (2)26 October 1992[69]	9 July 1993[72]	37	8	12	17	021.62		[70]
Mike Flanagan	England	199312 July 1993[73]	28 February 1995[74]	90	20	27	43	022.22		[75]
Neil Smillie (caretaker)	England	1995 (1)28 February[74]	May 1995[76]	10	6	3	1	060.00		[77]
Tony Pulis	Wales	1995 (2)29 June 1995[78]	30 June 1999[79]	218	94	62	62	043.12		[80]
Peter Taylor	England	19997 July 1999[34]	12 June 2000[81]	62	34	12	16	054.84	Second Division play-off winners 1999–2000	[82]
Andy Hessenthaler	England	200029 June 2000[78]	23 November 2004[83]	228	77	54	97	033.77		[84]
John Gorman (caretaker)	Scotland	2004 (1)23 November 2004[83]	30 November 2004[85]	1	1	0	0	100.00		[86]
Darren Hare Iwan Roberts Paul Smith (caretakers)	England  Wales  England	2004 (2)4 December 2004[87]	7 December 2004[88]	1	0	0	1	000.00		[89]
Stan Ternent	England	2004 (3)7 December 2004[88]	15 May 2005[90]	25	7	11	7	028.00		[91]
Neale Cooper	Scotland	2005 (1)21 May 2005[92]	15 November 2005[93]	22	7	5	10	031.82		[94]
Ronnie Jepson	England	2005 (2)15 November 2005[93]	9 September 2007[95]	87	32	16	39	036.78		[96]
Iffy Onuora Mick Docherty (caretakers)	Scotland  England	2007 (1)9 September 2007[97]	8 October 2007[97]	5	2	1	2	040.00		[97]
Iffy Onuora (caretaker)	Scotland	2007 (2)8 October 2007[97]	1 November 2007	4	2	2	0	050.00		[98]
Mark Stimson	England	2007 (3)1 November 2007[99]	10 May 2010[100]	144	48	41	55	033.33	2009 Football League Two play-off final winners	[101]
Andy Hessenthaler	England	2010 (3)21 May 2010[102]	8 May 2012[103]	101	39	29	33	038.61		[84]
Martin Allen	England	20125 July 2012[104]	13 October 2013[105]	64	27	17	20	042.19	Football League Two champions 2012–13	[106]
Peter Taylor	England	201314 October 2013[107]	31 December 2014[108]	67	23	14	30	034.33		[109]
Andy Hessenthaler Steve Lovell Darren Hare Mark Patterson (caretakers)	England  Wales  England  England	201431 December 2014[108][110]	7 February 2015	8	3	2	3	037.50		[84]
Justin Edinburgh	England	20157 February 2015	3 January 2017	102	40	26	36	039.22		[111]
Adrian Pennock	England	20174 January 2017	25 September 2017[112]	32	6	11	15	018.75		[113]
Peter Taylor (caretaker)	England	201725 September 2017[112]	12 October 2017[114]	4	1	1	2	025.00		[109]
Steve Lovell	Wales	201712 October 2017[114][115]	26 April 2019[116]	92	32	26	34	034.78		[117][e]
Mark Patterson (caretaker)	England	201926 April 2019[116]	4 May 2019	2	1	0	1	050.00		[118]
Steve Evans	Scotland	20191 June 2019[119]	9 January 2022[120]	129	41	41	47	031.78		[121]
Steve Lovell (caretaker)	Wales	202210 January 2022[122]	31 January 2022[123]	4	0	1	3	000.00		[117]
Neil Harris	England	202231 January 2022[123]	5 October 2023[124]	90	31	25	34	034.44		[125][f]
Keith Millen (caretaker)	England	20235 October 2023[126]	1 November 2023[127]	6	2	0	4	033.33		[128]
Stephen Clemence	England	20231 November 2023[127]	29 April 2024[129]	34	12	9	13	035.29		[130]
Mark Bonner	England	20247 May 2024[131]	present	0	0	0	0	!—		[132]

Notes

a. ^ Drawn matches decided by penalty shoot-outs are counted as draws.
b. ^ Win% is rounded to two decimal places.
c. ^ 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.
d. ^ 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.
e. ^ Soccerbase erroneously includes the final two games of the 2018–19 season in Lovell's statistics even though he was dismissed on 26 April 2019.
f. ^ Soccerbase erroneously includes the six games between the dismissal of Harris and the appointment of Clemence in the former's total.

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. Archived from the original on 9 June 2009. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
2. Elligate, p.100
3. Bradley, Triggs, p.42
4. Brown, pp.14–23
5. "Grasshopper" (3 December 1906). "Southern Notes". Athletic News. Brompton's success was very sweet to their new manager Steve Smith, who was elected to that office last week.
6. "Manager History for Gillingham". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 1 December 2018. Retrieved 12 December 2008.
7. Brown, pp.24–25
8. Bradley, Triggs, p.57
9. Brown, p.26–30
10. Brown, pp.31–32
11. Elligate, p.117
12. Elligate, p.104
13. Brown, p.33
14. Elligate, p.111
15. Elligate, p.120
16. Brown, pp.34–35
17. Elligate, p.103
18. Brown, p.36
19. Elligate, p.84
20. Elligate, p.55
21. Brown, pp.37–39
22. Brown, p.39
23. Elligate, p.62
24. Brown, pp.40–42
25. Elligate, p.82
26. Brown, p.42
27. Elligate, p.203
28. Brown, pp.43–45
29. Elligate, p.21
30. Elligate, p.94
31. Brown, pp.45–50
32. Elligate, p.105
33. Brown, p.51
34. Elligate, p.112
35. Elligate, p.115
36. Brown, p.52
37. Elligate, p.180
38. Brown, pp.53–67
39. Elligate, p.78
40. Brown, pp.67–71
41. Elligate, p.195
42. Brown, pp.72–75
43. Triggs, Roger (2001). The Men Who Made Gillingham Football Club. Tempus Publishing Ltd. p. 62. ISBN 0-7524-2243-X.
44. Brown, pp.75
45. Elligate, p.11
46. Brown, pp.75–80
47. Elligate, p.107
48. Elligate, p.77
49. Brown, pp.80–83
50. Elligate, p.81
51. Elligate, p.160
52. Brown, pp.84–85
53. Bradley, Andy (12 October 1985). "10 Years Ago". Gillingham F.C. Official Matchday Magazine.
54. Elligate, p.165
55. Brown, p.85
56. Elligate, p.92
57. Brown, pp.85–90
58. Elligate, p.114
59. "Football: Gillingham dismiss Peacock as manager". The Times. 30 December 1987. Retrieved 12 December 2008.
60. Brown, pp.91–97
61. Bateson, Bill; Albert Sewell (1989). News of the World Football Annual 1989/1990. Invincible Press. p. 265. ISBN 0-85543-172-5.
62. Brown, pp.97–98
63. "The Time for Change", Gillingham vs Wolverhampton Wanderers Matchday Programme, 29 October 1988
64. Bateson, Bill; Albert Sewell. News of the World Football Annual 1989/1990. pp. 268–269.
65. Brown, p.98
66. "Board warn: No cash for new players". Chatham News. 21 April 1988. Retrieved 18 June 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
67. Elligate, p.155
68. Brown, pp.98–102
69. "Barnet players settle dispute with chairman – Football". The Times. 27 October 1992. Retrieved 12 December 2008.
70. Brown, p.102
71. Hudd, Tony (12 October 1992). "Failure to finish kills off Gills". Kent Today. p. 8.
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. "Foxes acquire new Taylor". The Guardian. 12 June 2000. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
82. Brown, p.109
83. Elligate, p.181
84. "Andy Hessenthaler's managerial career". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 20 October 2004. Retrieved 26 May 2011.
85. "Gorman appointed Wycombe manager". BBC. 30 November 2004. Archived from the original on 20 July 2022. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
86. "John Gorman's managerial career". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 19 August 2012. Retrieved 12 December 2008.
87. Roberts, Iwan (10 May 2005). "Diary of a footballing nomad". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 18 February 2016. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
88. "Gills unveil Ternent as manager". BBC. 7 December 2004. Archived from the original on 4 May 2021. 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. Archived from the original on 6 November 2012. 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. Archived from the original on 17 December 2005. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
94. "Neale Cooper's managerial career". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 17 May 2012. Retrieved 12 December 2008.
95. "Gillingham manager Jepson resigns". BBC. 9 September 2007. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
96. "Ronnie Jepson's managerial career". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 19 October 2012. Retrieved 12 December 2008.
97. "Caretaker Docherty leaves Gills". BBC. 8 October 2007. Archived from the original on 15 August 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
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99. "Gills unveil Stimson as new boss". BBC. 1 November 2007. Archived from the original on 13 July 2019. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
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111. "Justin Edinburgh's managerial career". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 31 August 2017. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
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120. "Steve Evans: Gillingham part company with manager 'by mutual consent'". BBC. 9 January 2022. Archived from the original on 9 January 2022. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
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123. "Neil Harris: Gillingham appoint former Millwall and Cardiff City boss as new manager". BBC Sport. 31 January 2022. Archived from the original on 31 January 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
124. "Neil Harris: Gillingham sack manager after three-match winless run". BBC Sport. 5 October 2023. Archived from the original on 5 October 2023. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
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127. "Stephen Clemence: Gillingham name former Birmingham & Tottenham midfielder as boss". BBC Sport. 1 November 2023. Archived from the original on 1 November 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
128. "Gillingham > Results > 2023/24". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 29 April 2024. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
129. "Gillingham sack head coach Clemence". BBC Sport. 29 April 2024. Archived from the original on 29 April 2024. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
130. "Stephen Clemence's managerial career". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 16 March 2024. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
131. "League Two Gillingham appoint Bonner as manager". BBC Sport. 7 May 2024. Archived from the original on 7 May 2024. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
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