Football Season Review

Gillingham avoided relegation by a single point in the 2016/17 season and hardly had any reasons to feel optimistic about their chances of staying up this time around, having lost two of their best players over the summer in Bradley Dack and Josh Wright. They duly got off to a very poor start and their boss Adrian Pennock lost his job in late September after leading the Gills to a single win in their opening nine games. Peter Taylor was named their temporary manager but lasted only three weeks before being replaced by coach Steve Lovell in mid October, with the club continuing their search for a new permanent boss. It was an appointment that was never made, as Lovell shored things up at the back, made the Gills incredibly tough to beat and went on to lose only two of his first seventeen games in charge, therefore moving the Gills well away from danger and even getting them to dream of a play-off place. A top six finish would have certainly been possible had the Gills managed to maintain their early form under Lovell, but they declined late in the season, having won only two of their last fourteen games, with one of these victories coming in their season finale versus Plymouth, which was little more than a friendly for both sides. Lovell was rewarded for his achievements with a new two-year contract that was signed late in the season. However, the first half of his reign so far was far better than the second and the Gills' fans will certainly enter the new season with a sense of dread after seeing their side stutter so badly in the late stages of this campaign.

Player of the Season: Mark Byrne