More on KentOnline
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The FA Cup is generating unexpected income for the Gills and boss Steve Evans will be hoping some of it ends up in his January transfer kitty.
Gillingham’s FA Cup earnings have already surpassed £100,000, without including matchday income from the games against Sunderland and Doncaster Rovers.
Prize money from their win over Sunderland in round one was £36,000 and they also claimed £54,000 as one of 20 winners from the second round of the competition.
Their game against Doncaster was moved to the Sunday for extended BBC coverage and that netted the club a further £12,500.
That takes the total so far to £102,500 with a big home game against Premier League West Ham in round three to come.
Evans has made no secret of the fact that he is keen to bring a goalscorer to the club and believes chairman Paul Scally will do all he can to help.
“The chairman will support me in every way he can,” Evans said. “People see the negative side of Paul Scally but they don’t see the plus side. He will support us and make available to us what he can, without jeopardising the club.
“You look at the sad case of Bolton, which is where I started my professional career, and what they went through until they got the new owners in, you look at Bury’s demise and Macclesfield not paying. Gillingham have been there before Paul Scally arrived and it never wants to go back.
“I don’t want to be associated with it. You want it to be a club that pays its way within a community. We need to make sure we spend what we can afford.
“I have always said to the chairman we will spend every penny as if it’s our last and with real care. We don’t always get that right, as a management team nobody does, but you can try.”
Prize money for third round winners climbs to £135,000 with additional money for clubs picked for TV coverage.
