Mark informed me that back in 1987 he had a disagreement with the Gills Chairman, Roy Wood, and was subsequently banned from the ground for two matches and therefore missed the visits of Southend and Chesterfield.

Gills won the first game 8-1 and then the second 10-0!

Mark was, to coin the phrase “sick as the proverbial parrot”. He had missed the two successive home games that went into the League’s and Gills record books.

The season 1986/87 had finished with a heart breaking play-off defeat at Crystal Palace against Swindon. With that loss came the departure of Tony Cascarino (left) to Millwall for a then record sum of £225,000.

The new season started with the Gills without a recognised striker as a replacement for Big Cas and a home draw followed by a defeat at Grimsby, in the first two games, deepened the gloom.

However, for the next two successive Saturdays the name Gillingham was on the lips of football followers throughout the country.

Two remarkable goal sprees that had everyone talking.

The Gills fans who were lucky enough to be at Priestfield watched two extraordinary matches and have possibly never seen anything like it since.

To win any match 8-1 must be seen as an achievement. To follow that with up with an even more emphatic score line is the sort of stuff fairy tales are made of. Despite the previous seasons near success there were only 4,154 witnesses to the empathic beating of Southend on that Saturday in August.

They presumably went home thinking it was a one-off freakish result and, in true Gills fans style, possibly resigned themselves to a defeat or boring goalless draw the following Saturday. Gills manager Keith Peacock was warning supporters and team alike not to expect a repeat as Chesterfield were the visitors and they hadn’t conceded a goal in the league up to that point.

Even so it was surprising that the attendance was actually down by 155 fans seven days later. The absentees must have been kicking themselves when they watched that old BBC teleprinter machine’s familiar stutter snapping out the now immortal score line of Gillingham 10 (TEN) Chesterfield 0.

A fantastic result. Ten goals without reply. Ten shots that found their way past visiting goalkeeper Jim Brown and ten shots that rewrote the record books that had only been rewritten only a week before.

It’s worth mentioning Jim Brown (right) at this point. He is apparently a Chesterfield legend as his performances were not restricted to stopping goals.

Jim actually scored from 97 yards to help his team beat Stockport a few years earlier and it was his second career goal, having found the net two years earlier when playing in a North American Soccer League game.

At his “day job” Jim Brown endured perhaps the most humiliating game of his long career as Gills crashed ten goals past him. Chesterfield fans though attached no blame to Jim for this as they claim he was badly injured in trying to keep out the first goal and should really have been substituted. It is entirely typical of Jim, so Chesterfield fans tell me, that he continued in such a resolute fashion as the goals piled up.

It should also be noted that Gills had scored only once in four games before the Southend visit and had been anything but effective in front of goal. The loss of Tony Cascarino was attributed as the main factor but looking at the squad it should have been the least of their worries.

Former Welsh international and top scorer Steve Lovell (left) led the line with the prolific Dave Shearer. Surprisingly Steve, who scored four goals in the Southend game, didn’t manage one of the 10 versus Chesterfield!

Gills also had the mercurial talents of wingers Dave Smith on the left and Howard Pritchard on the right.

George Shipley and Karl Elsey were also known for shooting on sight as their previous season’s efforts showed. The “Elsey Rocket” at Swindon comes to mind.

The excellent central defenders Colin Greenall and Gary West both had superb ability to make their mark in opposition area.

Gills might have not been effective in front of goal up to the Southend game but that changed and within 30 minutes of the start Gills were four up!

Steve Lovell beat the offside trap, ran onto a Graham Pearce through ball, and calmly beat Southend goalkeeper Eric Nixon.

Three minutes later Dave Shearer let a high ball fall over his left shoulder before thumping a superb volley into the top corner.

On the very next Gills attack Steve Lovell calmly fired in his second from close range after both Dave Smith and Howard Pritchard missed a Dave Shearer cross into the box.

Half-an-hour gone and Dave Smith ran onto a Karl Elsey through ball, quickly turned his defender, crossed a low centre that Howard Pritchard converted at close range.

Southend did manage to score early in the second half. Striker West’s header being turned in by McDonough.

Gills four goal advantage was restored in just 90 seconds. Steve Lovell nearly got his hat trick as his shot hit a post but Dave Smith reacted the quickest to hit rebound into the opposite corner.

Just on the hour Dave Smith crossed from the right and the ball ran along the top of the Southend crossbar dropping invitingly for Steve Lovell to complete his hat trick with an easy header.

Both Gills substitutes, Trevor Quow and Jason Lillis had been brought on by manager Keith Peacock and the game was drifting towards the final whistle when Gills quickly added two more goals during the last four minutes.

The first of these was when Dave Smith crashed in an angled drive after good creative work from Steve Lovell and Trever Quow.

The final goal in this rout was scored by an unmarked Steve Lovell with a firm header from a Jason Lillis cross in the last minute.

A 1-1 draw at Wigan on the Monday was considered a good result, with another goal from Dave Shearer, but as Keith Peacock was emphasizing, Chesterfield’s visit on the Saturday was going to be altogether different.

Chesterfield were the only team in the whole league to have a zero in their goals against column but this proud record lasted just one minute 52 seconds before rampant Gills took the lead.

The Gills were quick out of the starting blocks and from that moment the fans knew, and probably expected, they were about to see something even more special then the previous week.

     Dave Shearer                     Dave Smith                        George Shipley

   Howard Pritchard                    Karl Elsey                          Colin Greenall

Jim Brown in the Chesterfield goal hardly had time to take in his surroundings before Howard Pritchard shrugged off a challenge, strode onto a Paul Haylock pass, and scored from 12 yards.

The diminutive George Shipley had a goal ruled out for offside but minutes later, from one of his corners to the far post, Howard Pritchard headed Gills and his second.

Jim Brown made a brilliant save to stop Graham Pearce adding to the score but with 30 minutes gone George Shipley put a defence splitting pass that Steve Lovell controlled and put perfectly into Dave Shearer’s path. He switched to his left foot before giving Jim Brown no chance with a tremendous powerful drive.

George Shipley finally got on the score sheet with his first goal for Gills and a screamer it was too.  A fully 25 yard strike that fairly whistled past Jim Brown’s flailing arms.

Still not yet half-time and Graham Pearce, moving forward on the left chipped into space, Karl Elsey moved onto the ball bringing it under control, before letting loose a wonderful curling shot around the diving Jim Brown.

Nine minutes into the second half and Howard Pritchard, commending in midfield, switched play to find Dave Smith on the right who delivered a peach of a cross for Karl Elsey to head powerfully into the net.

Three minutes after the sixth Dave Smith and Graham Pearce combined down the left and as Graham Pearce tormented the full back before finally crossing the ball, Dave Smith was in the box to complete the move from close range.

With an hour gone Dave Smith passed to Howard Pritchard who in turn produced a reverse pass for Graham Pearce. Graham ran close to the line before crossing the ball accurately and there was Dave Shearer swooping to score.

At this point there were still 20 minutes or so left in the game when George Shipley neatly controlled a Dave Smith centre, dragged it back and committed Jim Brown to save a possible shot only for George to cleverly lift it over the keeper’s diving body.

A record score was very much on everyone’s minds but the Priestfield faithfull had to wait until five minutes from full time to see the record books rewritten. Gills right back Paul Haylock sent over an inviting free-kick and Colin Greenall was on hand to find the net and score the tenth with a glancing header off the inside of the far post.

So there we have it, eighteen goals in two matches. Funny old game this football.

The full Gills team on that historical day was Philip Kite; Paul Haylock; Graham Pearce; George Shipley; Gary West; Colin Greenall; Howard Pritchard; Dave Shearer; Steve Lovell; Karl Elsey and David Smith.

Sadly the Gills didn’t live up to this standard for the remainder of the season as the team failed to score in nine home games that is probably still an unwanted club record.

During Christmas 1987 the Gills suffered a 6-0 hammering at Aldershot that saw the sacking of manager Keith Peacock after a successful seven-year run in charge.

The Gills team slid slowly down the league but finally managed to rally enough to finish mid-table under new manager Paul Taylor.

The talented centre half, Colin Greenhall, was transferred to Oxford United for £285,000 and the decline continued. The Gills went into the tunnel of basement football and near oblivion until the arrival of the Scally years.

Look out for exclusive videos in the Gills Archive Movie page on this site in the coming months of both these games showing all eighteen Gills goals. 

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