Gillingham FC

Gillingham FC vs. Crystal Palace FC 4:1

Crystal Palace FC

26.12.2000, Priestfield Stadium, Nationwide First Division

Ticket
Attendance: 10518

The Crystal Palace Web Pages
The Crystal Palace Web Pages

In the year 2000, Gillingham Football Club was promoted to the first division (which is the second Priestfield Stadium - Eingangsbereich league overall in England) for the first time in its history. Crystal Palace are somewhat different, having some Premier League experience, but are mainly a club that bounces between the top two divisions. The visitors from London are named after a building which was constructed for the world exhibition in 1851, but which has since burned down.(Interesting story,so there might be a club called Hannover Pavillion of the Netherlands in Germany one day....)

So today we have a meeting between a newcomer and an established team. It seems Crystal Palace will not figure in the race for promotion this season, being located just a few places ahead of the Gills, who are quite satisfied with their position in the table. After the match, it is Gillingham who are the higher placed team, due to their spirit, and the actions of both goalies. The home keeper, Vince Bartram, has a red hot game, including stopping a penalty (which was hotly disputed and resulted in a mass brawl) while the visiting Eagles keeper was responsible for three of the four goals his side conceeded. The only Palace goal came from another penalty kick, which Bartram almost prevented again.

Gillingham FC has a compact ground. It's full today, or to be precise, due to construction work, sold out, and was so several days ago. Outside one finds the Gordon Road Stand emblasoned at one end with “Gillingham FC”, and from inside there are three covered stands, and at one end an uncovered terrace, almost half of which accomodates visiting fans,and is full today due to the clubs being in quite close proximity. The seats are in the clubs colours of blue and white, some forming GFC and Gills respectively. Because in the Gordon Road stand some seats are upholstered, they should be good enough for “Very Important Butts”, but those who are even more important may find a seat within some VIP areas behind glass windows in the main stand, called the Medway Stand, which is still undergoing final cosmetic building work. These glass fronted “executive boxes” are in the middle of the stand, seperating an upper and lower tier. An interesting point is the floodlights, whose stanchions are not fixed to the bottom, but to the roofs of the stands.

Priestfield Stadium - Gegentribüne Vorderansicht

Priestfield Stadium - Gegentribüne Rückansicht

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groundhopping.de wants to thank Colin who was so friendly to make some corrections to this report and to add some valuable information. Due to Colin the Gills are replacing the open end by a new stand fitting the all seater regulations in the near future. That shall be only one step of improving because at last there shall be a new ground giving room to 40000 spectators. This ground is planned to be built until 2006 and it will be equipped with a sliding roof, a hotel and a leisure complex. At the moment the position of the new ground is in discussion with the two possibilities of moving to the nearby city of Cuxton and a location in the direct neiborhood of Priestfield Stadium.

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