A Cunning look back of 30 days which have changed my life over the past 30 years
Day 4: 30th May 1999 - Gillingham's Play-off Disaster
Evening all,
If you were to ask many fans of Gillingham what will be the one game that
they will remember. The game had everything that you would expect from a game
of football; pure exhilaration, excitement, tension, disappointment and a
feeling that you have been part of something historical.
I had all of those feeling from one trip to Wembley Stadium when
Gillingham played against Manchester City in the play off final.
The date of the game was the 30th May 1999, but for me the
fun started a couple of weeks before hand.
Basically Gillingham had a fantastic season; they finished in the middle
of the playoffs after just finishing outside them the previous season.
Even i went to a few of the key games, especially Notts County away on
the final day of the season. Where we won to confirm our playoff spot and
relegated County as well.
So we got Preston North End in the playoffs, i couldn’t go to both of the
games as i was helping my mum during the first leg and i had school work to do during
the second leg.
But i listened to both games on the radio and when the final whistle
went at the end of the second leg; i could not hold my joy of going to Wembley for
the first time.
But how did we get the tickets i hear you cry, well we queued up for 3
hours in the early morning – starting at 5am – and eventually after a lot of
bickering and arguing of where we want to sit, we got them.
On the day itself, it was a carnival atmosphere on the way upto London
and again on the tube upto Wembley.
Once we got there, the atmosphere involving both the Gillingham and the
Manchester City fans was totally mesmerising and when he teams came out of the
tunnel for the start of the match, it was one of those moments where the hairs
of the back of your neck stood out.
But the game in the first half was typically cagey from both sides. Although
both sides had chances to break the dead lock, the game was starting to look
very nervy and it still could go either way.
During the second half, Gillingham had more of the possession but with
10 minutes to go Carl Asaba broke the deadlock after being put through by Paul
Smith. It was totally unbelievable, to score at Wembley against a decent side
like City, could it happen?
Gillingham could have made it 2-0 afterwards after Robert Taylor had his
saved shot hit the post. But he wasn’t denied a second time as a few minutes
later, Asaba played a ball to Taylor who coolly put the ball pass weaver into
the back of the net. I believed at this point that we could do it and cause the
biggest upset in the football league that season.
But with less than a minute left, City then jumped back into life. First Kevin Horlock got them back into the
game and then deep into a fifth minute of stoppage time – i still don’t know
how he added 5 minutes at the end of the game – Paul Dickov scored to take the
game to extra time and his goal celebration at the end is forever haunted in
the minds of Gillingham fans – including me – to this day.
I was devastated at this moment but i was hopeful that we can get away
with this and win the game on penalties. But sadly it wasn’t to be as the game
did go to penalties but City’s keeper saved 2 of our penalties including the deceive
one and then proceeded to celebrate with the City fans in what was the end one
of the most memorable games i have or will ever witness.
It was a sad journey home afterwards but i still enjoyed the experience and
i was hopeful that we can rebuild and return again the next season. Little did
i know that was to be true but there were a lot of changes in the way in order
for this to happen.
To be continued....
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