GILLINGHAM'S travelling army of supporters have been hit by a decision to bring forward the club's match at Bradford City from Saturday, September 15 to Friday, September 14.

The club agreed to Bradford's request to play the match on Friday night with a 7.45 kick off in order to give the home side more time to recover for their Yorkshire derby against Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough on Monday, September 17

Three days later, on Thursday, September 20, Bradford visit Nottingham Forest for a match that the ITV Sports Channel are broadcasting live.

It is the second time this season that the relegated Premier League club have succeeded in bringing forward a game, having persuaded the Nationwide League to do the same for their match with Coventry.

Gillingham will also benefit as it will give their players longer to recover for the Worthington Cup, second round, home tie against Millwall on Tuesday, September 11.

But the news will effect hundreds of Gillingham supporters who will need to leave work early in order to fulfil coach bookings. The Gills Supporters' Club, who had negotiated a cut-price rail excursion to the match, have been forced to cancel as there are no trains back to London at that time on a Friday evening.