# 2021–22 Gillingham F.C. season

The 2021–22 season was Gillingham's 129th year in their history and ninth consecutive season in League One. Along with the league, the club also competed in the FA Cup, the EFL Cup and the 2021–22 EFL Trophy. The season covered the period from 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022.

## Pre-season friendlies

As part of their pre-season preparations, Gillingham announced friendly matches against Chatham Town, Welling United, Dartford, Queens Park Rangers, Ebbsfleet United, Peterborough United, Colchester United, Millwall, Leyton Orient and Norwich City.
However, the scheduled friendlies against Dartford, Queens Park Rangers, Peterborough United and Ebbsfleet United were cancelled due to a number of players testing positive for COVID-19.

## Competitions
### League One
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| 17 | Lincoln City | 46 | 14 | 10 | 22 | 55 | 63 | −8 | 52 | |
| 18 | Shrewsbury Town | 46 | 12 | 14 | 20 | 47 | 51 | −4 | 50 | |
| 19 | Morecambe | 46 | 10 | 12 | 24 | 57 | 88 | −31 | 42 | |
| 20 | Fleetwood Town | 46 | 8 | 16 | 22 | 62 | 82 | −20 | 40 | |
| 21 | Gillingham (R) | 46 | 8 | 16 | 22 | 35 | 69 | −34 | 40 | Relegation to EFL League Two |
| 22 | Doncaster Rovers (R) | 46 | 10 | 8 | 28 | 37 | 82 | −45 | 38 | Relegation to EFL League Two |
| 23 | AFC Wimbledon (R) | 46 | 6 | 19 | 21 | 49 | 75 | −26 | 37 | Relegation to EFL League Two |
| 24 | Crewe Alexandra (R) | 46 | 7 | 8 | 31 | 37 | 83 | −46 | 29 | Relegation to EFL League Two |

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 30 April 2022. Source:

#### Matches

Gills' fixtures were announced on 24 June 2021.

### FA Cup

Gillingham were drawn at home to Cheltenham Town in the first round.

### EFL Cup

Gills were drawn at away to Crawley Town in the first round and at home to Cheltenham Town in the second round.

### EFL Trophy

The Gills were drawn into Group A of the Southern section, alongside Colchester United, Ipswich Town and West Ham United U21s. On July 7, the fixtures for the group stage round was confirmed.
| Pos | Div | Teamvte | Pld | W | PW | PL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | L1 | Ipswich Town | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 5 | Advance to Round 2 |
| 2 | L2 | Colchester United | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | Advance to Round 2 |
| 3 | ACA | West Ham United U21 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 3 | |
| 4 | L1 | Gillingham | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | −3 | 3 | |
* ↑ West Ham U21 deducted 3 points for fielding an ineligible player in their match with Gillingham.

## Transfers
### Transfers in

| Date | Position | Name | From | Fee |
| 18 June 2021 | LB | David Tutonda | Bristol Rovers | Free transfer |
| 1 July 2021 | CB | Max Ehmer | Bristol Rovers | Free transfer |
| 1 July 2021 | CM | Olly Lee | Heart of Midlothian | Free transfer |
| 1 July 2021 | AM | Ben Reeves | Plymouth Argyle | Free transfer |
| 6 July 2021 | LW | Danny Lloyd | Tranmere Rovers | Free transfer |
| 6 July 2021 | GK | Aaron Chapman | Motherwell | Free transfer |
| 23 July 2021 | CB | Rhys Bennett | Carlisle United | Free transfer |
| 9 August 2021 | LW | Mustapha Carayol | Unattached | Free transfer |
| 31 January 2022 | CM | Ben Thompson | Millwall | Free transfer |

### Loans in

| Date from | Position | Name | From | Date until |
| 23 July 2021 | CM | Daniel Phillips | Watford | End of season |
| 26 July 2021 | GK | Jamie Cumming | Chelsea | 13 January 2022 |
| 19 August 2021 | CM | Daniel Adshead | Norwich City | End of season |
| 31 August 2021 | CF | Charlie Kelman | Queens Park Rangers | 1 January 2022 |
| 4 January 2022 | CF | Thomas Dickson-Peters | Norwich City | End of season |
| 14 January 2022 | GK | Pontus Dahlberg | Watford | End of season |
| 14 January 2022 | CF | Charlie Kelman | Queens Park Rangers | End of season |
| 28 January 2022 | CB | Conor Masterson | Queens Park Rangers | End of season |
* ↑ On 13 January, Cumming's was recalled early by his parent club Chelsea, to facilitate a loan move to MK Dons.
* ↑ On 3 November, Charlie Kelman returned to QPR ahead of an official recall on 1 January 2022.

### Loans out

| Date from | Position | Name | To | Date until |
| 27 July 2021 | CM | Henry Woods | Dover Athletic | End of the season |
| 20 August 2021 | CB | Christian Maghoma | Eastleigh | 31 January 2022 |
| 7 February 2022 | GK | Tommy Crump | Barking | |
| 7 February 2022 | MF | Sam Gale | Lordswood | |
| 7 February 2022 | MF | Joseph Gbode | Margate | March 2022 |
| 7 February 2022 | CB | Alex Giles | Faversham Town | |
| 7 February 2022 | MF | Ethan Smith | Sittingbourne | |

### Transfers out

| Date | Position | Name | To | Fee |
| 30 June 2021 | GK | Sacha Bastien | Stevenage | Released |
| 30 June 2021 | GK | Jack Bonham | Stoke City | Released |
| 30 June 2021 | LW | Jordan Graham | Birmingham City | Released |
| 30 June 2021 | LM | Tyreke Johnson | Woking | Released |
| 30 June 2021 | LB | Connor Ogilvie | Portsmouth | Released |
| 30 June 2021 | CF | Dominic Samuel | Ross County | Released |
| 30 June 2021 | CM | Matty Willock | Salford City | Released |
| 27 January 2022 | CF | John Akinde | Colchester United | Free transfer |
| 28 January 2022 | CB | Rhys Bennett | Morecambe | Free transfer |
| 31 January 2022 | CM | Kyle Dempsey | Bolton Wanderers | Undisclosed |
* ↑ The transfer was reported to be around £150,000 by The Bolton News