Gillingham are aiming to smash the club season ticket record before kicking off their home campaign this Saturday.
Since the Galinson family took charge of the club, there’s been an upsurge in sales of season tickets, with a record high of 3,477 for the 2023/24 season being broken again last summer.
The club are on course to beat it once more, with around 3,500 sales ahead of the weekend. On Tuesday, the club were just 50 short of their record. A crowd of around 7,000 is expected for the game against Walsall this weekend.
“If it gets down to one or two (to beat the record), I might have to buy them myself,” joked Gills boss Gareth Ainsworth.
“I’m sure a win (on Saturday) would cement a few more season tickets.
“I stay in the area often, a couple of nights a week, and go around Gillingham when we go to the training ground. There’s always fans well-wishing and saying ‘good luck’.
“The shop’s always quite busy with people coming in and trying to get things ready for the new season.
“The fans are definitely excited. I think there’s a little bit of a buzz around the place.
“Obviously, the bookmakers have put us in a decent finishing position. How they’ve come to that is amazing, because of where this club has been. I think that’s part of that buzz that everyone can feel around the place.
“I intend to bring another signing in to add to that, but also the boys I’ve got, they’re good enough to achieve. We proved that last year.”
Ainsworth knows the club has big potential, but said: “You’ve got to realise it. They have to become the players that they’re threatening to become and the team that they’re threatening to become.
“All the tools are there. There’s no bad things here. There’s no major problems here. I’ll tell you that definitely.
“I think it’s a few tweaks just before we can get going and unleash ourselves on other teams.”
Ainsworth added: “I’m really, really proud of being the manager of this club because I know what it means to a lot of people.
“The more the merrier, so please get down here, get behind your local side, and join this journey that we’re going to start together because it’s a pretty special place and I’m enjoying it.
“People turning up in League 2 on a brilliant sunny afternoon when the Championship’s kicking off and there’s other things to do. I take my hat off to them, I really do.
“I can’t wait to see them all on Saturday and then hopefully we can put on a decent performance and get the right result.”
