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Display Ground information
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Priestfield Stadium has been a League ground
for 80 seasons;
from June 1st, 1950
to
the current day
,
from June 1st, 1920
to
May 31st, 1938
,
from February 22nd, 1895
to
February 24th, 1895
.
Priestfield Stadium was the 144th
ground
to be used for a League game.
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| New Brompton FC was founded in 1893 and a suitable plot of land in the east of the town purchased for Ł600. On opening it was known as the New Brompton Football & Athletic Ground and the facilities included a pavilion and a 400 seat covered stand on the north side. Although the venue hosted its first Football League match two years later when Woolwich Arsenal was banned from using its’ Manor Ground and played one game here, Priestfield Road, as it was now known, had to be used for sheep grazing and a variety of events in order to make ends meet.
A stand was constructed on the south side in 1899 and, upon the change of name to Gillingham FC in 1913, a new main stand (badly damaged within one month by a gale!) opened on the north side. Following their entry into the Football League in 1920 the terracing was expanded and improved and when, in 1927, a cover was built over the east end this was the last major improvement made prior to the record attendance of 23,002 being set at the FA Cup 3rd Round tie v. Queens Park Rangers (1-1) on January 10th, 1948.
In post-war years the name of the ground was altered again, this time to Priestfield Stadium. New terracing was constructed in 1955, the main stand refurbished in 1965 and seats installed in the main stand paddock in 1975 before the venue was radically altered during the 1990s when new stands were built on the south side and at the east end.
In 2001, a new two-tier main stand was opened on the north side and the west end was demolished and replaced with a temporary open seated stand giving an all-seater capacity of 11,582 at the start of the 2007/8 season. The pitch size was 114 x 75 yards.
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