Gillingham will face either Dagenham & Redbridge or Leyton Orient in the FA Cup first round
Published: 19:00, 16 October 2017
Gillingham will play at home against a National League side in the first round of the FA Cup.
The Gills have been drawn to face either Dagenham & Redbridge of Leyton Orient.
Those two sides face a replay tomorrow (Tuesday) after playing out a goalless draw on Saturday.
Five other Kent teams were in the draw - see who they got
Gills interim boss Steve Lovell said: "We wanted a home draw and it’s a local one too which is a plus for the supporters.
"It won’t be an easy tie, non-league clubs go looking for an upset. so it will be tough. We need to work hard to get through."
The Dagger are sixth in the National League table while Orient have struggled this season, currently sitting 17.
Gillingham suffered the embarrassment of an FA Cup exit at non-league Brackley Town last season, live on BT Sport.
The 4-3 defeat followed a 2-2 draw at Priestfield.
This year Brackley will be at Leatherhead at leatherhead, only if they can get past money-bags Billericay in their replay.
The Gills lost to lower-division opposition the season before that, going down to a 3-0 defeat at League 2 Stevenage.
Justin Edinburgh was at the helm during both defeats.
Back in 2014 the Gills lost 2-1 to Bristol City and it was Jay Emmanuel-Thomas who scored the second for the visitors, smashing home from 25 yards out against Peter Taylor’s side.
Prior to that it was another first round exit, losing 1-0 in a replay to Brackley Town. Nobody at the time expected the feat to be repeated just three years later.
They reached the second round in the 2012/13 season, losing out to Preston North End, and had gone one better the year before that, losing at home to Stoke in round three.
First round ties are due to be played on the weekend of November 4.
Read more
Football Gills News Isle of Sheppey Sport Maidstone Sport Malling Sport Medway Sport Sevenoaks Sport Sittingbourne Sport Tonbridge Sport Tunbridge Wells Sport Weald SportMore by this author
Luke Cawdell