Former commentator & Gillingham FC book "HOTSM" contributor. Upper Medway, Block C. Views, facts & stats (sort of) are my own unless retweeted of course!
Kent
Joined June 2009
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Very proud to have contributed to this and I still don't own a copy of volume 1!
Thank you @BradGalinson and @ShannonGalinson for making this happen.
Merry Christmas everyone.
The defeat to Barrow was the 4th time the Gills had lost to non-league opposition at home in the first round of the FA Cup.
It was the first time they had lost to a side outside of Kent after previously exiting to Dover Athletic (2010), Folkestone Town (1965) and Margate (1929).
The Gills last lost at home to Barrow back in February 1970.
There have been 5 matches against Barrow at Priestfield all without defeat - 3 draws and 2 wins.
Barrow exited League 2 last season, and started their National League campaign this season, with 26 defeats in 41 league and cup matches during which time they managed just 5 wins.
Since the middle of September, they are unbeaten in 9 games winning 7 of them.
The first 16 of Barrow's away league and cup games in 2026 saw them fail to win any of them, losing 11.
Barrow have won all 4 of the most recent away games played since those.
The Gills have won 13 of the meetings with Barrow and have lost 8 of them with a further 7 ending as draws.
The Gills have won 1, drawn 1 and lost 1 of the last 3 meetings and have won 3 of the previous 5.
The Gills are facing non-league opponents in Round 1 of the FA Cup for a 7th time in 11 seasons.
At home, they have faced non-league opponents in Round 1 in 26 seasons, winning 17 of them. They have only lost 3:
Dover Athletic (2010)
Folkestone Town (1965) and
Margate (1929).
The Gills will be playing their 135th FA Cup tie in Round 1. They have won 56 of the previous 134 and have failed to progress to Round 2 in each of the previous 3 seasons (and in 4 of the previous 6 seasons).
At home, they have won 37 of the 68.
The Gills have now scored in each of the first halves of their last 6 league and cup games (8 first half goals in total).
They followed the 17 games before them that had seen just 6 games scored in before half time (6 goals in total).
The 6 fouls won against Shrewsbury was the fewest in a league or cup game this season and the fewest for 23 matches since the 6 were won at Walsall back in April.
The 18 conceded in the same Shrewsbury game was also the most this season and for 21 games.
The Gills led for 66 minutes at Shrewsbury who had previously only been behind at home for 49 minutes in total from their previous 6 home games (including just 14 minutes from the 5 before).
The Gills had led for 87 minutes in total from their previous 6 away league games.
5 of the Gills' league games saw them win just 8 fouls. Shrewsbury gave away 6 (including 0 for 40 mins), 1 fewer than the lowest in L2 this season.
Before Saturday, L2 fouls were conceded every 7.5 mins (12 p/g). The Gills conceded 1 every 6.0 mins (15 p/g) in their last 6 games
The Gills won 2-1 at Shrewsbury, a scoreline they last achieved away from home back in January 2024.
It was the Gills 165th away win by that scoreline but only their 3rd in 8 seasons after enjoying 26 away 2-1 wins in the 9 consecutive seasons before.
The Gills have not conceded 2 goals in a game so far this season but have conceded 3 in 5 league and cup matches and 4 or more in 2 games.
13 games last season saw 2 goals conceded whilst 9 had 3 or more. The 2024/5 season saw no games with more then 3 conceded in it.
Since an April win ended a sequence of 6 defeats in 8 games, Shrewsbury continued by losing 9 of the 17 league and cup games that followed them during which just 3 wins were recorded.
After those, they are unbeaten in 4 in all competitions with 3 ending as wins.
After 4 defeats from their opening 5 league matches, Shrewsbury have won 4 and lost 2 of the 8 games played since.
They are unbeaten in 3, winning 2 of them, and have scored 3 goals in each of their previous 2 matches (both away games).
The Gills only defeat vs Shrewsbury in 8 home & away games came in an away game 2 visits ago (August 2021).
It is part of a winless spell at the New Meadow of 6 games (5 draws) since the Gills last win there in Aug 2016. That defeat was also the Gills only away loss in 8 visits.
In the last 17 matches between the Gills and Shrewsbury, there have only been 3 games that have been won with a clean sheet (2 for the Gills). 4 further clean sheets occurred in 2 scoreless draws.
5 meetings saw both sides score at least twice including the 3-3 there last season
Shrewsbury conceded 188 fouls in League 2, the joint highest alongside Accrington. The 25 against Grimsby is the most in a League 2 game this season.
The Gills have won 141 fouls with 16 being the most in a league game this season, averaging just 10 over their previous 3 games.
The Gills have 21 wins against Shrewsbury who have won 26 of the matches themselves. A further 26 meetings were drawn.
The Gills are unbeaten in 3 games against Shrewsbury and have won 2 and lost 1 of the previous 8 meetings.
