30 years ago today... | Vital Football

30 years ago today...

Tony Pulis in the team along with Hagar causing mayhem up front.

For them, a twenty year old future Homes under the Hammer presenter drawing a black and being substituted by a shinpadless replacement.

Winner scored by Postman Pat.

Eccentric days and great memories. What's not to love?
 
I might have this wrong, if I have I'm sure someone will correct me!

If I recall correctly Pat Gavin had joined the club towards the end of the previous season when we were well on our way to relegation. Glenn Roeder (spit) was manager and Postman Pat joined and scored a few goals. He gave us the faintest hope that maybe we might do the impossible and stay up.

It wasn't to be though. And then, during the summer, David Pleat and Leicester managed to steal him from us because we had been so inept and incompetent to not properly register him. I think it went to the FA to resolve the issue and we ended having him back on loan for the following season.

He was absolutely shit! The only goal he scored all season was that game against Cambridge.
 
Buddha is basically correct - we plucked Gavin out of non-league and he got into the side and scored a few in the 88/89 relegation season masterminded by the great Keith Burkinshaw. At the start of 89/90 he was stolen from us because of the ineptness of GFC to register his contract with the Football League - a certain Harold Rumsey was to blame IIRC. Slimy kerb crawler David Pleat got him to sign for Leicester but he was loaned back to us for 89/90. As it happened in the end he turned out to be another dud.
 
Can't comment on the details regarding Pat Gavin, as that was just a little before my time of going to watch the Gills regularly, but Glenn Roeder wasn't the manager. He was the manager that kept us up the year we beat Halifax at home in the relegation battle in the penultimate game of the season.
 
88/89 - Paul Taylor, then Burkinshaw, then Damien Richardson.
89/90 - Damien.
90/91 - Damien.
91/92 - Damien.
92/93 - Damien, then Roeder.
 
Remember that game well! Loved Pat Gavin when he came to us the previous season and scored 8 goals in 9 games that nearly kept us up- then got a red card on the last day of the season before his dream move to Leicester - didn’t we beat notts county 2-1?

We loaned the postman back the following season and I was well happy. But he couldn’t hit a barn door and was absolutely diabolical on the ball. He finally got that goal V Cambridge! Great days!

UTG!
 
88/89 - Paul Taylor, then Burkinshaw, then Damien Richardson.
89/90 - Damien.
90/91 - Damien.
91/92 - Damien.
92/93 - Damien, then Roeder.

I think Keith Burkenshaw was the manager of the last Gills team I saw before emigrating. Saw my last game around Feb/March of 1989. Was he still here then?

I remember us all being very excited when he was appointed -

“THE Keith Burkenshaw? Spurs manager? Winner of European trophies? Whey hey! Promotion here we come!”.

In my time of watching (early 70’s to 89) he had to be the one piss-poor manager I remember.

Andy Nelson was the first. A legend in my eyes. Then Len Ashurst(?) who was pretty decent but left us in the lurch and effed off. Gerry Summers was excellent for 2 years. Then my personal hero and namesake for the next 7 years.

I can’t remember much of Paul Taylor’s short reign. But I think I was pretty lucky in my time with the managers we had.
 
When they put Paul Taylor in charge they replaced the machine with the oily rag.

The one quote I remember from him was "we played well at Mansfield" around the time of our 10 match losing run.
 
When they put Paul Taylor in charge they replaced the machine with the oily rag.

The one quote I remember from him was "we played well at Mansfield" around the time of our 10 match losing run.
Indeed - Paul Taylor was a disaster. Does anyone recall when he was sacked and TVS (not Meridian in those days) had cameras outside the ground and filmed him leaving the ground in a rage. He got in his car and drove off across the pavement narrowly missing the camera crew. I believe the tv footage was handed to the Old Bill and he was prosecuted for dangerous driving or something similar?
 
Indeed - Paul Taylor was a disaster.

Yes, it says something that Damien was our best manager between 1989 and 1993/4 and wasn't exactly great.

Taylor, Burkinshaw, Roeder, Flanagan and Smillie were all diabolical even though Roeder thought finishing above one team at the bottom of the old 3rd division was managerial genius.
 
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Broadly correct iirc, but wasn't it Spurs rather than Leicester?

No, it was definitely Leicester. He made a total of 3 appearances for the Foxes with no goals. Postman Pats record as follows;

1988–1989Gillingham 13 (7)
1989–1991Leicester City 3 (0)
1989–1990Gillingham (loan) 34 (1)
1991–1993Peterborough United 23 (5)
1993–1993Northampton Town 14 (4)
1993–1995Wigan Athletic 42 (8)
1995–1997Farnborough Town
1997–2003Harrow Borough
2003–2004Hendon 22 (1)
2005–2007Hanwell Town
 
No, it was definitely Leicester. He made a total of 3 appearances for the Foxes with no goals. Postman Pats record as follows;

1988–1989Gillingham 13 (7)
1989–1991Leicester City 3 (0)
1989–1990Gillingham (loan) 34 (1)
1991–1993Peterborough United 23 (5)
1993–1993Northampton Town 14 (4)
1993–1995Wigan Athletic 42 (8)
1995–1997Farnborough Town
1997–2003Harrow Borough
2003–2004Hendon 22 (1)
2005–2007Hanwell Town
Yes, you are of course correct. I got confused with Pleat moving on to Spurs.