It is time for Brad Galinson to repeat genius Gillingham FC summer plan | OneFootball

Owner Brad Galinson built a strong bond between Gillingham and its fans with a pre-season trip to Como in 2023. Could now be the time for a return?

After two and a half seasons of overpromising and underdelivering, Gillingham FC look like they might finally be ready to turn a corner in 2025-26.

The arrival of Florida businessman Brad Galinson in December 2022 gave the ailing club the shot in the arm it desperately needed, as the affable American immediately won over the Gills’ fanbase and gave them something they hadn’t had in a long time – hope.

But, with the club languishing in the basement of League Two, it needed more than hope to get Gillingham out of danger, and a gung-ho January transfer window had the desired effect as the Gills steadied the ship and offered optimism for the following season.

The 2023-24 campaign ultimately turned into a frustrating one, with managerial changes and a lack of stability putting the Gills behind the eight-ball, despite an initially encouraging start to the season.

Much has been said about the decision to sack Neil Harris and eventually replace him with Stephen Clemence that season, but before things went off the rails at Priestfield, Galinson made a decision that proved to be a masterstroke early on in the campaign, and it’s one that would prove a hugely popular one if he repeated it again this summer.

Pre-season trip to Como was a home-run success for Gillingham’s American owner

In his first pre-season as the club's owner, Galinson announced that Gillingham would be going on a pre-season trip to take on then-Italian second-tier side Como 1907.

It was the chance for the Gills fans to go on tour for the first time in years, and with the Galinsons mixing with the fans and even leading the fans through the town en route to the game, it built a feel-good factor and sense of togetherness that had been missing from the club for so long under the at-times divisive stewardship of the club’s prior owner Paul Scally.

Gillingham defeated Como 1-0, but the real victory came off the pitch, as the club, its new owners, and the fans, as well as the players, all seemed in lock-step heading into the 2023-24 campaign.

As it turned out, things on the pitch still weren’t quite as then needed to be as the club eventually dropped away from the promotion places after a fast start to the season and eventually finished 12th in League Two.

Another pre-season tour could help Gillingham get off to a flying start in 2025-26

Now, after another frustrating campaign, the optimism is back at Priestfield. The late-season appointment of Gareth Ainsworth seems to have galvanised both the fanbase and the players as the Gills finished the 2024-25 season on a 13-game unbeaten streak.

A busy summer awaits, with retained lists, released players and a host of summer signings set to punctuate the off-season at ME7, and the club has already started to lock in pre-season dates with local opposition.

Thanks to Ainsworth’s instant impact at the club, the feel-good factor is certainly back at Gillingham. But Galinson might look at how things are trending and weigh up whether another pre-season tour might take things up to an even higher level of positivity.

It worked once, and with the Gills’ fanbase always more than happy to travel to watch their team – no awayday fanbase had to cover more miles in League Two than Gillingham’s faithful – another pre-season jaunt in Europe would be well-received, and could help the Gills get off to a fast start next August.