Joe Comper's Off-Season Update Summary

Managing Director Joe Comper sat down yesterday (30th May 2025), and provided the fans with an update from many areas of the club in preparation for the new season. We have broken down Joe's interview into bullet points so what he said can be easily understood.

Retained List:

• Contract talks with Bradley Dack were "straightforward." It was the admin side of teh deal that prolonged the process.

• Dack is "desperate to do well" at Gillingham, and had no views to sign elsewhere, the plan from Dack was to always stay on at Gillingham regardless of the terms.

• Hopeful on providing updates regarding at least one of the contract situations with Max Clark, Conor Masterson and Euan Williams "very soon." Decisions are now firmly in the hands of the players.

New Signing - Seb Palmer-Houlden:

• Tried to sign in January, but deal fell through due to being on loan at Dundee at the time.

• Decision to join Gillingham was purely footballing reasons, not for money reasons.

• 3 Year deal given, as club believe he has lots of potential.

Behind The Scenes:

• New faces in the medical team.

• Players' changing rooms getting a makeover, making the environment "more professional." Other minor infrastructure work also ongoing.

• Pitch renovations ongoing.

Pre-Season Schedule:

• Pre-Season tour was something the club would have liked to have done, but money has been put elsewhere in the club. (ie. Renovations)

• 2 scheduled games against higher opposition behind closed doors along with one further home game to be announced alongside the already confirmed fixture with Reading. These will accompany "the usual local away games," perhaps suggesting no friendlies to take place outside of Kent, which some fans were hoping for.

Season Ticket Sales:

• Over 90% of existing season ticket holders renewed. Number currently stands at over 3,100+.

• Expected to hit the same number, if not beat last years number of season ticket holders, which was a record last summer.

• "Pleased and grateful" with the numbers already sold.

New Kits:

• Kits are expected to be revealed in the 2 weeks time!

• Awaiting full order of stock to come through before reveal and before sales can begin.

• Kits are expected, if all goes to plan, to go on sale on Friday 13th June following the reveal.

Matchday Programmes:

• Sales to be discontinued.

• Sales numbers have been down over the last couple of seasons, ways to try and up sales haven't worked which has led to the difficult decision to cut their production.

• Compared to other clubs, our programme is good but lack of sales are ultimately the deciding factor behind the discontinuation of the programme.

• Plans to produce other ways of getting the same content out to fans, however nothing planned as of yet. Hints of sporadically printed content, but a weekly edition is no longer a viable option.

New Fan Zone:

• New fan zone to be opened, situated in the car park behind the Rainham End.

• Pre-match, it will be open to all fans.

• Rainham End and Gordon Road Stand spectators will be able to access the fan zone during half-time. This will allow for improved infrastructure for those in the Gordon Road Stand.

• Food and drink outlets to be present, along with toilets. Talks of hopefully having a stage put in to host live music pre-match. Big television screens also a want from the club, useful for hosting big tournament screenings (ie. World Cup and Euros).

• Planning permission granted. Finalising details before work begins.

• Won't be open for the start of the new season, hopeful it will be open before the end of the season but won't be open until at least after the new year.

Other Points:

• Pleased at the success of the 'Community Cup' the club hosted for local youth teams.

• Local 'Soccer Schools' ran by the club have been a huge success and received positive reviews.

This concludes Joe's interview, which ran for just shy of 16 minutes. Big thank you to Joe and Phill for putting out a well-needed update on the on-goings at the club, in the build up to the new season. What is your takeaway from this? What do you like? What do you dislike? Get in touch and let us know your thoughts...