A former Gillingham captain has agreed to join Chatham in a major coup for the Isthmian Premier club.

Experienced midfielder Stuart O’Keefe arrives at the Bauvill Stadium ahead of their 2024/25 season.

The 33-year-old left the League 2 Gills last summer after four years at ME7 before a campaign with National League Aldershot.

“I’ve kept an eye on what’s been going on here in recent years,” O’Keefe told the media team at Chatham, 2023/24 Play-off Finalists. “I thought they were very unfortunate to not get promoted this year.

“It’s something I think I can help bring my experience (to). It looks like a great place to play your football and I just thought ‘Why not?’.

“I’ve had some positive talks over the summer and it’s something that I’m pleased to finally get done.”

O’Keefe won promotion to the Premier League with Crystal Palace, having started out at Southend.

He spent three-and-a-half years at Cardiff and captained Portsmouth while on loan from the Welsh side, playing under Gills’ director of football Kenny Jackett.

His first season at Priestfield was cut short because of Covid and a leg break the following year kept him out for months.

But when fit, he played regularly to help the Gills claim back-to-back top-10 finishes in League 1.

O’Keefe was supporters’ player-of-the-year in the side which was relegated to League 2 in 2022.

The 2022/23 term was the toughest for him as the team struggled and, when new blood arrived in January, he was left out.

Chats captain Jack Evans, another ex-Gills midfielder, has also agreed to remain for their 2024/25 season.