Gillingham manager Mark Bonner has today encouraged supporters to get out and support the under-18 side in action on Tuesday night, as the second round of the eagerly anticipated FA Youth Cup commences.
The Young Gills are second in the youth alliance Southern League Merit League Two division, having won six of their opening eight matches, with only Premier League side Brentford starting the season with a better record, and they also overcame Charlton Athletic in the first round of this competition 4-3 after extra time, with the tie ending 3-3 after 90 minutes.
First-team manager Bonner has called for fans to get behind the young squad when speaking to club media earlier today ahead of the visit of Swindon Town, highlighting the integral part supporters can play in ties like this and how important it is for these youngsters to experience playing in front of as many spectators as possible:
“Any Gills fans watching this [his interview] come and support those boys, we want a crowd and we want the boys to play in front of a few people.
“It’s a brilliant competition, everybody loves it and I am sure the boys are looking forward to it and hopefully we can get a few behind them to get the atmosphere in the ground and I think people will really enjoy watching it.
The first team’s home form at Preistfield has been very impressive this season, winning five of their eight matches in the league, scoring 12 goals. There was no game for them on the weekend though, with opponents Walsall postponing the game due to international call-ups, so the temptation for supporters to attend tomorrow’s fixture will be even higher due to the lack of football over the past week.
But Bonner wants the tie to be all about the youngsters on the pitch, indicating that with the right attitude and application, some of them could be in the first team pretty soon as we head into a very busy festive period of EFL action:
“A few of the boys train with us quite regularly. Hopefully they can learn lessons and see how we are doing things and have a little bit of an insight into the group and the team they are trying to get into, so when they go back and train with their own team they set the standard and pass that onto people.”
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Gillingham made it all the way to the fourth round of last year’s Fa Youth Cup after joining the competition in round one, and will be looking to replicate that impressive run in this year’s edition of the competition.
Matches like this mean so much to the players and staff involved in academy football, so no wonder The Gills first team boss is pleading for supporters to support the boys on Tuesday night, as victory would secure a place in the hat for the third round, and a chance to draw one of the Premier League sides.
