Chesterfield v Gillingham: A Brief History.

As Chesterfield prepare to face the leaders Gillingham at the Proact Stadium, I'm gonna take a look at 2 meetings between the sides.

It was Saturday 5th of September 1987 and the line-up for the Spireites was: Jim Brown, Lee Rogers, Michael Henderson, Darren Bradshaw, Triston Benjamin, David Travis, Kevin Eley, Patrick McGeeney, Dave Waller, Andrew Taylor, Bob Bloomer.

Kevin Randall had taken over as the Manager because John Duncan had left to takeover at Ipswich in the summer. The attendances were low, the financial situation was dire and to top it off the board members were falling out with each other. So it wasn't a great time to takeover the reigns of the club. Although they had got off to a good start and were currently 5th in the table.

At Half-time the Spireites were 5-0 down and in the end they lost 10-0, one of most darkest days for the club. Carl Muggleton came in on loan to replace Jim Brown in the Chesterfield goal. Although Jim Brown did get his place back and was back in goal for the visit of Gillingham, they heaped more misery on him by beating the Spireites 4-1 at Saltergate.

Chesterfield needed to beat Fulham to avoid relegation, they won 1-0 and survived to face another season in Division 3 (now known as League 1), If they had lost they would have been relegated and gone down instead of Rotherham. Randall didn't last long and was sacked later that year, after a poor start to the following season.

24 years later Chesterfield played Gillingham on 7th May 2011 at the B2 NET Stadium (now known as the Proact) in front of a crowd of 10,023. The Spireites needed to win to be crowned Champions of League 2. The first half ended 0-0 it was an anxious moment surely the Spireites couldn't throw it away they had led the League most of the season.

Danny Whitaker put the Spireites in front just 9 minutes into the 2nd half, Cody McDonald equalised for Gillingham after a defensive mix up. Lester restored the lead and then Smalley scored the Spireites third 8 minutes from time.

The celebrations could begin Chesterfield in their first season at their new ground were crowned Champions of League 2. One of the most memorable moments in the history of the club.

The home record against Gillingham is Chesterfield have won 13, drawn 9, and lost 9. The overall record is Chesterfield have won 20, drawn 15 and lost 28.

Whatever happens Saturday it won't be as Forgettable or as memorable as the 2 matches above surely.

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