Gillingham are a day away from finding out their football fixtures for the new season.
The EFL’s ‘fixture release day’ this Wednesday morning at 9am is an exciting one for fans as anticipation for a new season ahead builds.
By the end of the week, the Gills will know where they start and finish their regular League 2 campaign and who they will play in both the Carabao Cup and EFL Trophy – now rebranded as the Bristol Street Motors Trophy.
The opening day in League 2 is on Saturday, August 10. Gillingham started last season’s campaign with a 1-0 win at eventual champions Stockport County.
Sky Sports’ new broadcast deal gives fans the chance to watch the opening-day match from the comfort of their home. Judging by the record season-ticket sales at Priestfield, the first match of the campaign at ME7 is sure to be well attended.
And as with last year, there is sure to be heightened expectation, which new boss Mark Bonner accepts comes with the territory.
“There is an expectation but we can’t hide away from it,” said the Gills boss.
“We could put it in a drawer and never talk about it or we could say, ‘people expect us to win and be good, so let’s have the character and personality (from the players) to embrace it and try and do it.’”
It will be the second full season for chairman Brad Galinson and he can’t wait.
The Gills finished in a disappointing 12th place last season, which cost previous manager Stephen Clemence his job. He’s since joined fellow League 2 side Barrow as manager there.
Commenting on last season, Mr Galinson said: “I kind of thought ‘of course we will get promoted’ but you have to earn it. You have to get it right and when you have to do it again it feels better as you get better.
“This is a tough sport, an unbelievable exciting sport and there’s nothing like it from what I have seen, so we are back to work to make the community proud and excited to do it.”
The regular league season in League 2 will end on May 3/4, 2025. The 46 rounds of fixtures will take place across 36 weekends, six midweeks and four bank holidays.
Play-off finals will take place over the 2025 Bank Holiday weekend, May 24-26.
Those who follow the Gills home and away will be doing extra miles this season. League 2 is dominated by northern teams, including both Carlisle United and Barrow.
Within seven days of the 2024/25 Fixture Release, TV selections are due to be made in respect of all matches to be played before the end of September. Before the start of the season, selections shall be made in respect of all matches scheduled to be played prior to the end of the third round of the FA Cup (January 11).
Gillingham will enter the Carabao Cup at the first round stage, with the regionalised draw taking place on Thursday mid-morning.
The competition remains divided into north and south until the third round. First round games will be played in mid-August, on the 13/14th.
Burnley, Luton and the 13 Premier League clubs not participating in European competitions will enter in round two. The remaining seven top-flight sides enter in round three.
Games in the competition’s early rounds will be over one leg and decided on penalties if level after 90 minutes. All Carabao Cup matches are available to stream live on Sky Sports.
The Bristol Street Motors Trophy continues to include under-21 teams from the Premier League, with all games available to watch live on Sky Sports.
The Gills will be playing Peterborough United and Stevenage in Group D of the southern section.
Invited Premier League sides will be drawn into the groups on Thursday afternoon. Trophy fixtures will be confirmed once the league schedule has been released.
Group-stage fixtures remain subject to flexibility but are expected to take place in early September. October and mid-November.
Top two teams in the groups progress to the knockout stage. There will be no extra-time played in the competition until the semi-final stage.
Gillingham enter the FA Cup at the first-round stage on the weekend of Saturday, November 2.
From the 2024/25 season replays from first round proper have been scrapped, a decision that hasn’t changed despite plenty of criticism when it was announced in April.
The Gills players return to training on Monday and their first scheduled pre-season match for the first team is on Saturday, July 13 against Neil Harris’ Championship side Millwall.
