Gillingham FC promotion history could repeat itself with nostalgic off-field news | OneFootball

The return to Gillingham of a longtime local sponsor brings nostalgia, and memories of the club's League 2 success of more than a decade ago.

Gillingham are going back to a familiar name as they look to build for the future, with a beloved longtime sponsor set to return to the club’s shirts this season.

It may seem like just another sponsorship deal between a football club and a local company, but Gillingham’s sponsorship partnership with MEMS Power Generation carries more significance than that.

MEMS already sponsor Gillingham’s Priestfield Stadium, and was a longtime club sponsor, with the company’s logo adorning Gillingham shirts from the 2011-12 season.

And, in their second year as the club’s official front-of-shirt sponsor, the Gills had one of their best seasons in recent memory.

After two seasons that saw the club finish an agonising eighth in League Two, just one place outside of the play-offs, Gillingham made a change and replaced Andy Hessenthaler with Martin Allen.

With players and fans alike inspired by “Mad Dog”, the Gills embarked on a memorable season that has lived long in the fans’ memories at Priestfield.

Gillingham's 'Mad Dog' era brought a title to Priestfield

The Gills kicked off the season on a brilliant run of form as they won seven and drew one of their first eight league games. That fast start set the foundation for a season that saw Allen return the Gills to the sort of team that thrived first under Tony Pulis, then Peter Taylor as they were promoted up the leagues from the fourth tier to the Championship.

Those memories were over a decade old when Allen took over, but his no-nonsense approach proved to be a perfect fit, with his style a callback to the Pulis days, as Gillingham returned to being a rough, tough, nasty side that nobody looked forward to playing.

The Gills lost just nine times that season, and had comfortably the best defence in the league, having conceded just 39 goals in 46 league games. And when a 2-2 draw with AFC Wimbledon at Priestfield saw the team crowned League Two champions in the penultimate game of the season, the team hoisted the trophy with the logo of its new sponsors prominent on the shirts.

Hope for the future

Now, following the news that MEMS are returning to the front of Gillingham’s shirts once again, memories of that championship-winning season under Allen have come rushing back to the surface once again.

And, with the Gills already looking galvanised following the late-season appointment of Gareth Ainsworth last season, hopes are high at ME7 that the Gills could start to challenge again in the coming seasons.

Ainsworth is working hard to establish an identity for the Gills, and from his comments about wanting his players to “empty the tank” every time they set foot on the pitch, it seems the aggressive style that became the hallmark of the Kent club could be returning once again.

For the club, its fans, and its longtime supporters – MEMS owner Colin Jarvis’s first job was selling peanuts at Priestfield Stadium as a youngster – it feels like the time is right to move forward and start creating new memories, while using the successes of the past as inspiration.

And if Gillingham end up lifting League Two silverware at the end of the season, a familiar logo will be on the front of the shirts once again.