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Gillingham attracted a season’s best crowd on Monday after slashing ticket prices and are planning more of the same next season.
Adult tickets were reduced from around £24 to £15 in a bid to swell the attendance at Priestfield for their crunch relegation battle with Fleetwood Town. Gills drew the match 0-0 infront of over 8,000 home fans - double the season average.
Chairman Paul Scally said prior to the match that it’s something they will be looking at more often next season, although acknowledged they had to consider their loyal fans too.
Ahead of the game, he wrote: “Immediately following the (Wycombe) game (last week) we agreed in house to run a ticketing offer.
“We were always very keen to run one for the Fleetwood game in the event we were still battling for survival and I am pleased to say the uptake has been tremendous.
“I appreciate some supporters have wanted other offers in previous games; this isn’t quite as easy as it sounds as we like to ensure that season ticket holders are looked after, so we have to carefully consider the offers we put in place.
“However, next season, we’ll look to carry out more of them so Priestfield is bouncing on a more regular basis.”
Unfortunately the bigger crowd couldn’t get the win Gillingham so badly needed, with manager Neil Harris admitting some of his players failed to rise to the occasion.
Harris said: “I have a lot of inexperienced players and for half an hour a lot of players didn’t handle the magnitude of the game or the fanbase, which for me, it’s only 8,000.
“If the players want to go on to bigger and better things then they are going to have to handle that much better.”
Gillingham’s official attendance was 8,436, which included 90 away fans.
A little over 4,000 home fans regularly attend Gillingham games, the best attendance being just over 5,000 against Charlton Athletic in September.
Gate figures have dropped over recent seasons. Prices for next season are expected to be announced soon, including details of 2022/23 season tickets, although it’s still to be determined which division the team will be playing in next season.
Manager Neil Harris has dragged them from a seemingly impossible position - 10 points adrift of safety - to be one point clear of the bottom four with two weeks of the season remaining.
Mr Scally, meanwhile, has assured fans that his promised open letter will be revealed soon, albeit a little later than planned. He had hoped to address fans in early February, shortly after Harris’ appointment.
Writing in his programme notes before Monday’s game, he said: “I changed the format of what I was putting together at the last moment, hence the delay. If it hasn’t come out before kick off today (Monday) then it will be (out) very soon.. This will give an overview on different areas of the business.”
