| < 1910's | The 1920's | 1930's > |
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1920-21 Div 3 South
Position 22nd (out of 22)
Robert Brown had been appointed manager during the summer of 1920. However he resigned just before the start of the season to take over at 2nd Division Sheffield Wednesday. The club moved quickly to appoint John McMillan who was the Birmingham City trainer. Unfortunately his first taste of football league management didn’t begin too well as the Gills became the first team to finish bottom of the newly formed football league Division Three.
John McMillan
1921-22 Div 3 South
Position 18th (out of 22)
Despite one or two heavy defeats the team just managed to stay out of the bottom 2 and thus avoided having to apply for re-election for a second successive season. One highlight was the 5-2 defeat of Norwich in February which saw Tom Hall score the club's first ever football league hat-trick.
Tom Hall
1922-23 Div 3 South
Position 16th (out of 22)
After the sacking of manager John McMillan just before the start of the season it was left to club secretary William Groombridge to take over the reigns for the rest of the campaign. And he did a fairly good job as the team finished 2 places higher than the previous season in 16th position. It may have all been too much for him though as he tendered his resignation at the end of the season after 27 years loyal service to the club.
William Groombridge
1923-24 Div 3 South
Position 15th (out of 22)
Under new manager Harry Curtis the club continued the gradual improvement finishing in 15th place - one higher than the previous season. The main highlight of the season however came in the FA Cup. In the 1st round proper they were drawn away to Cardiff City who at the time were top of Division One. The Gills pulled off the shock of the round drawing 0-0 at Ninian Park. However they lost the replay 2-0 in front of a then record crowd of over 19,000.
Harry Curtis
1924-25 Div 3 South
Position 13th (out of 22)
Another steady season but scoring goals was a problem though as they only managed 35 all season - the joint lowest in the division. The defence was another matter - just 44 goals conceded was the best since joining the league and one of the main reasons for that was goalkeeper Fred Fox. This didn’t go unnoticed and he became the first Gillingham player ever to be selected for England against France in May 1925.
Fred Fox
1925-26 Div 3 South
Position 10th (out of 22)
The club’s best season so far saw the Gills finish in the top half of the table for the first time. However any celebrations were short lived as manager Harry Curtis decided to leave the club at the end of the season to join Brentford. A very popular figure in his time at Priestfield he went on to spend 23 successful years at Griffin Park leading them to a top 5 finish in Division 1 in 1935-36. Local born winger Dick Edmed was transferred to Liverpool during the season for the sizable fee of £1800.
Dick Edmed
1926-27 Div 3 South
Position 20th (out of 22)
Albert Hoskins the former Wolves manager was unveiled as the successor to Harry Curtis but his first season in charge was not a successful one. In fact they suffered their worst defeat to-date - a 4-9 reverse at Bristol City. They had to win the last game of the season at home to Northampton to be sure of avoiding re-election. They lost 2-1 but results elsewhere meant they were safe, finishing above Watford on goal average.
Albert Hoskins
1927-28 Div 3 South
Position 16th (out of 22)
A slight improvement from the previous season was largely due to the goal scoring exploits of Jonah Wilcox whose 25 goals set a new club record. The club also reached the 3rd round of the FA Cup for the first time but lost 6-1 at First Division side Stoke City.
Jonah Wilcox
1928-29 Div 3 South
Position 22nd (out of 22)
A thoroughly disappointing season saw the team finish bottom of the league. Arthur Dominy was top scorer with 14 goals but the team could only manage 43 in total. A bad end to the season which included an 8-0 drubbing at Luton meant they had to apply for re-election and although they were comfortably voted back in it was not enough to save manager Albert Hoskins job. He was replaced by former Gillingham player Glaswegian Dick Hendrie.
Art Dominy
1929-30 Div 3 South
Position 21st (out of 22)
Dick Hendrie’s first season in charge saw a slight improvement - but not by much. A good end to the season where they won 10 points from the last 6 games was not enough as they finished 2nd from bottom by 1 point and had to apply for re-election for the 2nd season running. To make things worse they suffered a 2-0 home defeat to Margate in the FA Cup. One bright spot though was Fred Cheesmur scoring all 6 goals in the home win over Merthyr Town.
Fred Cheesmur
