Supporters are flooding back to Gillingham as the club closes in on their best-ever season ticket sales.

Around 3,000 fans have already snapped up their seats for a highly-anticipated 2023/24 campaign where the Gills hope to be challenging at the top end of League 2.

They have already sold more tickets than in any other season during the past decade.

With new faces in the team since January, the club banished relegation fears in some style to become one of the leading sides in the division over the second half of the season.

With a fresh recruitment drive in the summer window, targeting a handful of quality additions, the Gills should be set up to give promotion a real shot.

New director of operations at Priestfield, Joe Comper, is thrilled at the interest levels from supporters - and is hoping to drive those season-ticket sales to record levels.

“They are the highest in 10 years which is great,” he said. “They are 34% up on last year’s figures, which is fantastic, and internally we are striving for the record. The level we are at (around 3,000) was where we were at in some of the Championships years, which is great.

“We are a few hundred off that top figure and that is what we are aiming for. It is definitely achievable if we go at the same rate we are going day-to- day at the moment.

“If that continues right up to August we can surpass it, there are good signs.”

With a base figure of around 3,500 fans for home games, Priestfield could be rocking. Ticket sales could get another nudge upwards when some of the new signings are announced.

“That is what gives us a bit of confidence,” said Mr Comper.

“They are trickling in at the moment and if we can keep that momentum throughout the summer we will exceed that record figure. That is what we are all aiming for.

“I think we would be happy with where we are at, highest in 10 years, but we don’t want to sit there and say ‘job done, let’s put our feet up’.

“We are now pushing for the next target. Hopefully we can go beyond the 10-year record.”

Chairman Brad Galinson is keen to see record numbers sold, writing on Twitter: “[Hopefully we’re] going to break all-time record sales by start of season. Let’s keep pushing. I think we need about 500 more to break that record. UTG.”

Better performances and an upturn in results since the new year saw fans return to Priestfield in big numbers, adding an average of just under 2,000 on the gate for home games in 2023.

Improving the experience for families is something the club are working on. Season ticket sales for under-14s - which are priced at £55 - are up by 40%.

Mr Comper said: “We obviously did something right last year, to see that level of engagement improving, but we still have a way to go and we have (marketing executive) Hannah Southall here who is tasked with trying to improve the matchday experience, particularly for children.

“It is difficult with the space we have got, we don’t have a huge concourse area or big space around the ground.

“We have got what we have got, we can’t change that, we have to make sure we can deliver with what we have.”