Gills legend "Les Riggs" has sadly passed away. | Vital Football

Gills legend "Les Riggs" has sadly passed away.

I only remember him as manager of Ramsgate & Margate when I used to watch Dartford & Gravesend & Northfleet. How delighted did he look that afternoon he came back as a legend, a good memory.
 
Debuted in the 1953/54 season. Am interested to know if any player debuted earlier and are still with us?

Have to assume all pre-war players have departed now.

Who is the oldest Gills player alive?
 
Had a good build which enabled that long throw. I was at Palace when we played them & Palace supporters were howling at the referee "foul throw" every time.
OSK, your dad is younger than you think, you cheeky b#####.
 
Debuted in the 1953/54 season. Am interested to know if any player debuted earlier and are still with us?

Have to assume all pre-war players have departed now.

Who is the oldest Gills player alive?

He might be the oldest but Ron Bacon is 85 (86 in March) whilst Gordon Pulley isn't far behind at 84.
 
Had a good build which enabled that long throw. I was at Palace when we played them & Palace supporters were howling at the referee "foul throw" every time.
OSK, your dad is younger than you think, you cheeky b#####.

Mate, my old dad has long since passed. He’d be in his late 90’s if still with us. But if Les debuted in the 50’s, that was pretty much the team my dad occasionally saw. He was never an avid football fan. He mainly played (local). But him and his pals would sometimes take a trip to Gills or Charlton or Millwall or local non-league sides.

Btw, my dads name was Arthur 👍
 
Roger Triggs informs me that we have no players still living, who made their debuts earlier than 1953/4. Our oldest living player is Mike Burgess, who is 88 and living in Poole.
 
Update from Roger. Ronnie Bacon died 25/09/2020 in Kings Lynn.
Thanks for that Jogills. I would have "liked" your post but that didn't seem appropriate. I still remember Ronnie and Gordon Pulley tearing Bury (then Div.2 i.e. championship) apart the night the new floodlightrs were first switched on.