Gillingham began the 2005–06 season in League One under the management of Neale Cooper off the back of relegation on goal difference from the Championship the season prior. As the club went through a poor run of form from late August through September the pressure was mounting on the manager who, on multiple occasions during that period, made his frustrations with the players known to the media after particularly poor performances. These included a disappointing 0-0 draw at home against Yeovil Town[1] and the first round of the FA Cup in which Gillingham were knocked out by Burscough[2] who were competing in the Northern Premier League (part of the seventh tier of the English football league system). By mid-November, Gillingham found themselves in the relegation zone at 22nd in the league table[3] and Cooper made the decision to resign.[4] The club's assistant manager since December 2004, Ronnie Jepson, took over the role. This was initially intended to be a temporary solution until a permanent successor was found however due to an impressive turnaround of form Jepson would go on to keep the role for almost 2 years.[5]
Jepson was confident in his ability to turn the results around and keep Gillingham from a second consecutive relegation campaign with the squad that he inherited from Cooper.[6] An immediate improvement in form was noticeable with Gillingham taking 13 points from a possible 21 in the league for the remainder of the calendar year compared to just 17 of a possible 51 that Cooper had acquired since the beginning of the campaign. By the turn of the new year, Gillingham found themselves at 17th in the league,[7] comfortably out of the relegation zone. However, despite Jepson's initial confidence in the squad, a series of injuries and suspensions in Gillingham's forward lineup[8] throughout the early stages of 2006 led to difficulties in the attacking third with youngsters Gavin Grant and Akwasi Fobi-Edusei filling in for injured Paul Shields and Matt Jarvis.[9] Striker Darren Byfield, who missed two months in late 2005 with a knee injury,[10] also missed some games in early 2006 after he was hit with multiple suspensions.[11] Despite these setbacks, Byfield, who left Gillingham as a free transfer at the end of the season for local rivals Millwall despite Jepson being keen on keeping him at the club,[12] went on to be the club's top goal scorer that season, netting 14 goals in all competitions including 13 in the league.[13]
