Jerry Gill

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Struway2 (talk | contribs) at 13:02, 10 October 2008 (→‎Northampton Town: exp/ref). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Jerry Gill
Personal information
Full name Jeremy Morley Gill
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Position(s) Defender
Team information
Current team
 Forest Green Rovers
(on loan from Cheltenham Town)
Number 6
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 10:17, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

Jeremy Morley "Jerry" Gill (born 8 September 1970) is an English footballer, who plays as a defender. In October 2008 he joined Forest Green Rovers as player-coach, initially on loan from Cheltenham Town until the transfer window opens in January 2009. He usually plays at right-back, but can play anywhere across the defence or in midfield. His strengths are his professional approach to the game and the enthusiasm and whole-hearted determination he shows on the field.

Club career

Early days

Gill was born in Clevedon, Somerset, and attended Backwell School. As a schoolboy he played football for Parkway Youth Club, alongside fellow future professional player Marcus Stewart,[1] and for Backwell United,[2] and was invited to join the Bristol Rovers youth team for a tournament in Germany. After losing in the final, the youngsters indulged in the local beer to the extent that they were arrested and kept in police cells overnight.[2][3] At the age of 16 he joined Trowbridge Town, then playing in the regional divisions of the Southern League under the management of ex-Leyton Orient manager Ken Knighton. Knighton drew the attention of his former club to the young Gill, and after a one-game trial manager Frank Clark signed him on an 18-month contract in 1988. However, he found it difficult to settle in London, and returned to the West Country at the end of his contract without featuring for the Orient first team.[4][5]

Bath City

In December 1990, after a brief stint with Weston-super-Mare, Gill joined Bath City, newly promoted to the Conference.[6][7] In his first 18 months with the club he appeared only infrequently for the first team, but in the 1992–93 season he established himself as a first-team player and remained so for the duration of his Bath City career.[6] In all he spent six seasons with the club on a semi-professional basis, playing part-time while working as a representative for a supplier of pitch care products,[8] and made 218 appearances for the club in all competitions, scoring 14 goals.[6] In the 1993–94 season, he helped the club reach the third round of the FA Cup, where they held First Division club Stoke City to a goalless draw at Stoke before losing the replay 4–1.[9]

Since 1986, Bath City had drawn a significant amount of income from allowing Football League club Bristol Rovers to share their Twerton Park ground; Rovers' return to Bristol at the end of the 1995–96 season meant that savings needed to be made, including cuts in the playing budget.[10] Together with team-mate Rob Cousins, Gill joined local rivals Yeovil Town for the 1996–97 season for a fee of £9,500.[1][11]

Yeovil Town

Though Yeovil were at the time in the Isthmian League Premier Division, the level below the Conference, they were an ambitious club, and under player-manager Graham Roberts were playing good football and expected to challenge for promotion.[12] Gill scored 16 goals in all competitions[13] playing in central midfield,[14] and was capped for the England National Game XI, England's representative team for semi-professional footballers, against an Ireland B team in Dublin.[15][16] In 2002, the Football Association selected an "all-time" team of players capped at semi-professional level, "representing the very best of this level over the years". Gill occupied the right-back spot in this team, which included players such as Alan Smith and Steve Guppy who had gone on to represent England at full international level.[15]

International selection attracted scouts from Football League clubs, and Gill was invited to Birmingham City to take part in trial matches. Halfway through the season, Roberts had brought striker Howard Forinton to Yeovil from Oxford City; his 23 goals in 21 games[13] did much to secure the Isthmian League title and promotion to the Conference, and also caught the eye of Birmingham manager Trevor Francis. A deal was struck which saw Gill and Forinton join the First Division side in August 1997 for a combined fee of £100,000, with Gill valued at £30,000 plus an additional £10,000 payable as and when he played ten first-team matches.[17][18]

Birmingham City

Gill struggled to get into the first team at St Andrew's. He finally made his debut in the Football League at the age of 27 on 18 April 1998. Then in the summer of 1998 the club brought in Gary Rowett from Leicester as first choice right back; in his two seasons at the club Rowett missed only five League games. During this period Gill captained the reserve side to victories in the Birmingham Senior Cup.[17]

He played in well over half Birmingham's games the next season, 2000–01, despite competition from new arrival Nicky Eaden from Barnsley, Northern Ireland international winger Jon McCarthy often used at right wing-back, and a variety of loan signings. In particular, he took part in most of the games in Birmingham's run to the final of the League Cup, including an excellent performance[19] in the second leg of the semi-final against Premier League Ipswich. With the score still goalless, he made a goal-line clearance from a header which – had it gone in – would have left Birmingham needing to win by three clear goals in normal time.[20] Yet when it came to the final, manager Francis was unable to find a place for Gill even amongst the substitutes, preferring McCarthy and Eaden in the starting eleven and David Holdsworth, a defender who had been unavailable since the previous November due to serious illness, on the bench. Unsurprisingly Gill was devastated by this decision, describing it as "the biggest disappointment of [his] whole life".[21]

Gill played in virtually every game after the League Cup Final until Francis left the club the following October, but was then dropped by caretaker managers Mick Mills and Jim Barron. Though he did then receive a League Cup runners-up medal; club secretary Alan Jones had kept a spare one back, which he presented to Gill after Francis left.[21] Under new manager Steve Bruce he played only one game, and when the team won promotion to the Premier League that season, it became clear that his future lay elsewhere.

Northampton Town

At the start of the 2002–03 season Gill joined Second Division club Northampton Town on a month's loan. Northampton's manager, the former Birmingham player Kevan Broadhurst, praised his qualities of leadership and determination:

Jerry will lead at the back by example. He does not pull out of anything and if there is a tackle to be won he will win it.[22]

The loan was twice extended for a further month,[23] and on 11 November 2002 Gill left Birmingham permanently, signing for Northampton until the end of the season.[24] His season proceeded successfully – a new two-year contract had been discussed, and he finished as runner-up for the club's Player of the Year award – until with two games remaining he damaged his anterior cruciate ligament and was expected to be out for several months. Northampton were prepared to give him a six-month contract, albeit on reduced wages, to allow him time to recover and prove his fitness.[25] Birmingham City allowed him to use their facilities for his rehabilitation, and he recovered sufficiently to play a couple of reserve games for Northampton, but by that time new manager Colin Calderwood had other players in Gill's position and he was not offered another contract.[26]

Cheltenham Town

Following a trial at the club, Gill signed for Cheltenham Town on 25 February 2004 on a non-contract basis until the end of the season.[27] He was given a one-year contract for the 2004–05 season, and at the age of 34 played in all 46 League games; he believed all the fitness work he did during rehabilitation from his knee injury had given him a new lease of life.[28] For the following season, Gill was given another one-year contract, with an option for 2006–07 if he managed 20 games during the season. Not only did he start twice that number, his starting place and winners' medal in the League Two playoff final at the Millennium Stadium went some way to alleviate the disappointment of missing the 2001 League Cup final.[29] In 2006–07 Cheltenham flirted for a time with relegation but finished in mid-table. Gill needed to play 25 games to trigger the offer of another year's contract; he achieved this before Christmas,[5] and chose to take up the offer.[30]

Forest Green Rovers

Gill joined Forest Green Rovers as player-coach on 1 October 2008, initially on loan, expecting to make the move permanent when the transfer window opens in January 2009.[31][32]

On and off the field

Gill has been popular wherever he has played. At Birmingham he used to be greeted with a Jerry Springer-style chant of "Jerry! Jerry!",[1] support which was much appreciated by the player,[19] and at the end of the 2000–01 season he was chosen Clubman of the Year.[21] Cheltenham manager John Ward told the Western Daily Press:[33]

"We played Birmingham City in pre-season and he got a lovely ovation from their supporters and it was the same at Yeovil last year. He got a lovely clap at Northampton a few weeks ago when he was taken off. I don't think that happened by coincidence. And I've got a feeling that if he leaves Cheltenham he will get a similar reception if he comes back with another club. Supporters recognise him and they see the whole-heartedness and the commitment and the ability that he has got."

Gill is a director of a company which helps sportspeople prepare themselves for life and work after their sporting career comes to an end. He is also director of the sports marketing and retail company, Protech Sport,[5][28] which manages the club shop at Cheltenham Town F.C.[31]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Jerry's got 'em singing the blues!". Bristol Evening Post. 23 February 2001. Retrieved 2008-10-08.
  2. ^ a b "Gill's adventure as a young pirate abroad". Western Daily Press. 5 December 2007. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
  3. ^ "Spotlight: Jerry Gill". BBC Gloucestershire. 25 October 2007. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
  4. ^ Kaufman, Neil (5 August 2003). "Where are they now? German-Griffiths". LOFCOnline.com (a Leyton Orient fansite). Retrieved 2007-05-20.
  5. ^ a b c "Jerry Gill official PFA interview". The Professional Footballers' Association (PFA). 30 March 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-20.
  6. ^ a b c "Past players: G". bathcityfc.com (an unofficial website). Retrieved 2008-10-08.
  7. ^ "Bath City". Football Club History Database (FCHD). Richard Rundle. Retrieved 2008-10-08.
  8. ^ "Profile". Jerry Gill personal website. Archived from the original on 2007-05-05.
  9. ^ Pike, Keith (19 January 1994). "Stoke bring end to dismal away record in Cup - Football". The Times. Retrieved 2008-10-08.
  10. ^ "Randall's goals give City a reminder of glory days". bathcityfc.com (an unofficial website). Retrieved 2008-10-08.
  11. ^ "Yeovil Town's Mr Consistency chalks up 900th game". Yeovil Express. Newsquest. 5 February 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-08.
  12. ^ "A tribute to Graham Roberts". Ciderspace (an independent Yeovil Town FC website). 8 April 1999. Retrieved 2007-05-20.
  13. ^ a b "Season 1996-97 Goals". Ciderspace. Retrieved 2008-10-08.
  14. ^ "Ageless Gill to shrug off years". Western Daily Press. 24 December 2004. Retrieved 2008-10-08.
  15. ^ a b "England's finest semi-professionals". The Football Association (The FA). 16 May 2002. Retrieved 2007-05-20.
  16. ^ "Gill aiming to give Baggies star the". Daily Express. 17 February 2001. Retrieved 2008-10-08.
  17. ^ a b Birmingham City F.C. match programme (23 December 2000), pp. 22–23.
  18. ^ "Yeovil's £10,000 windfall". Western Daily Press. 20 August 1999. Retrieved 2008-10-08.
  19. ^ a b Brian Halford (2002-11-14). "Cup final regret as Gill bids farewell". Birmingham Post. Retrieved 2007-05-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  20. ^ "Birmingham storm into final". BBC. 2001-01-31. Retrieved 2007-05-20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  21. ^ a b c Colin Tattum (2002-11-13). "Gill - I'll never forgive Francis". Birmingham Evening Mail. Retrieved 2007-05-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  22. ^ "Cobblers seal Gill deal". BBC Sport. 8 August 2002. Retrieved 2007-05-20.
  23. ^ Seery, Philip (9 October 2002). "Cobblers extend Gill stay". Sky Sports. Retrieved 2008-10-09.
  24. ^ "Gill seals Cobblers deal". BBC Sport. 11 November 2002. Retrieved 2008-10-09.
  25. ^ Clarkson, Ian (4 December 2003). "Jerry Gill - Northampton Town". The PFA. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27.
  26. ^ Fudge, Simon (5 January 2004). "Cobblers release Gill". Sky Sports. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
  27. ^ "Cheltenham sign Gill". BBC. 2004-02-27. Retrieved 2007-05-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  28. ^ a b "Interview". The PFA. 2005-06-27. Archived from the original on 2006-10-20. Retrieved 2007-05-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  29. ^ Stuart James (2006-05-27). "Gill out to end Millennium blues with Cheltenham". The Guardian. Retrieved 2007-05-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  30. ^ "Trio extend Cheltenham contracts". BBC. 2007-05-30. Retrieved 2007-06-05. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  31. ^ a b "Jerry makes Rovers switch". Cheltenham Town F.C. 2008-10-01. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
  32. ^ "Gill accepts Rovers coaching role". BBC Sport. 2008-10-01. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
  33. ^ "O come all ye faithful ..." Ciderspace. 2004-12-24. Retrieved 2007-05-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

External links


Template:Persondata

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jerry_Gill&oldid=244362708"