There is some debate over whether Gillinghams Priestfield Stadium (changed from Priestfield Road in 1947) was named after the road that runs past the Gillingham end, or the other way round. What is certain though is that football has been played there since 1893, the original hosts New Brompton changing their name to Gillingham in 1913.
They aren’t the only team to have played their home games there either, Brighton played there between 1997 and 1999 and Priestfield has also hosted the England womens national football team.
The picture below from a 1970’s Football Review magazine shows the ground as it used to look.
Unfortunately we have had to set the resolution fairly low so as not to exceed our bandwidth limits but the text on the picture reads as follows;
“Gillinghams Priestfield Stadium has a top capacity of 21,000 and a record gate of 23,00 set in January 1948 for a third round FA Cup tie against Queens Park Rangers. The playing surface measures 114 yards by 75 yards. Inset : Dick Tydeman, an ever present in Gillinghams promotion side last season.”
The picture above is available for sale (along with loads more Gillingham football memorabilia) on our main site Footybits, a link to which is available at the top of this page.