Gillingham are still benefitting from transformative £235k deal to this day: View | OneFootball

Gillingham couldn’t have expected that signing Andy Hessenthaler would have given the club so much, and he’s still impacting the club to this day.

The summer transfer window has closed and Gillingham have given their squad a major overhaul, with a host of summer signings arriving at ME7. Nobody knows which of the new arrivals will have the biggest, longest-lasting impact on the club, and few over the years have had a bigger impact than one of the men currently tasked with identifying talent for the club.

Andy Hessenthaler signed for Gillingham from Watford in 1996 for a then-club record of £235,000 and the scrappy midfielder quickly became a terrace hero at Priestfield Stadium. By the time he’d transitioned from the pitch to the dugout as the club’s player-manager, he was a bonafide club legend.

Hessenthaler’s leadership skills helped Gillingham consolidate after promotion

In the summer of 1996, Gillingham were celebrating promotion to League One but manager Tony Pulis knew he needed to upgrade his team in order to compete in English football’s third tier.

The team’s promotion-winning skipper, midfielder Dave Martin, departed for Leyton Orient, and Hessenthaler came in and took over the captain’s armband in his first season at the club.

With Hessenthaler running the engine room in the Gillingham midfield, the team established themselves in the division and finished in 11th, one place ahead of Hessenthaler’s former club Watford, on goal difference.

Andy Hessenthaler powered the Gills to Wembley

After the Gills agonisingly lost out on the playoffs on goals scored in 1997-98, a Hessenthaler-inspired Gillingham went all-out for promotion in 1998-99 and, in a strong division that contained the likes of well-funded sides Fulham and Manchester City, Gillingham put themselves in the mix all the way through the campaign.

In one of his best seasons for the club, Hessenthaler hit seven goals from midfield to help the club reach the play-offs, where his finish in front of a packed Town End fired the Gills into the play-off final at the old Wembley Stadium, and an epic match with Manchester City that has gone down in history as one of the great playoff finals to ever grace the famous old ground. Unfortunately for Hessenthaler and his Gills teammates, a dramatic stoppage-time comeback from City denied the Gills, who suffered the agony of defeat on penalties.

Hessenthaler-inspired Gills made amends at Wembley in 2000

In 1999-2000, it felt like Gillingham were on a revenge mission against the football gods, and nobody embodied that determination more than Hessenthaler, who was the driving force in Gillingham’s midfield throughout the campaign under manager Peter Taylor.

And, after the Gills made it through to the playoffs, they found themselves facing an uphill task as they were 3-1 down heading into stoppage time in the first leg at Stoke City.

But Hessenthaler wouldn’t lie down and allow the Potters to enjoy a two-goal cushion for the return leg. With the final seconds ticking down, he took possession, jinked inside, and let fly with a 25-yard rocket that flew into the top corner of the net.

It may not have won the first leg, but it was celebrated like a stoppage-time winner. It showed that Gillingham were far from done, and in the return leg, they took the tie into extra time before eventually running out emphatic 3-0 winners.

The Gills had made it to Wembley for the second successive season and there was no way Hessenthaler was going to allow a repeat of the previous year’s heartbreak. The veteran midfielder played like a man possessed, showing almost inhuman levels of fitness as the game against Wigan Athletic went into extra time.

This time, it was Gillingham’s turn to produce a late comeback, as two dramatic goals in the closing minutes of extra time saw the club promoted to the Championship on the biggest day in the club’s history.

Hessenthaler handed the reins after promotion

Gillingham were on a high but had to make a big change when promotion-winning manager Peter Taylor departed to take over Premier League Leicester City.

Club chairman Paul Scally handed the job to Hessenthaler, who took the helm as Gillingham’s player-manager, and made 23 league appearances as he led the club to a 13th-place finish in the club’s first-ever season in the second tier, which earned him a spot in the Football League’s team of the Season, despite missing the closing months of the season through injury.

Hessenthaler fared even better in the following two seasons, taking the club to 12th in 2001/02, and 11th in 2002/03, the highest finish in the club’s history.

But, with an aging squad that was desperately in need of regeneration, and with a lack of investment forthcoming, Gillingham started to struggle in subsequent seasons and, even though the fans eventually voiced their desire for a change of management, their love and respect for Hessenthaler remained.

Rather than the standard “Hessy out!” chants you’d expect to hear from disillusioned fans, the refrain from the Rainham End was more reluctant and sympathetic, as the fans pleaded for a change with choruses of “Hessy, time to go...”

Hessenthaler’s influence at Gillingham continues

Despite resigning in November 2004, it wasn’t the end of Hessenthaler’s association with Gillingham Football Club. He returned to the team for a second run as manager between 2010 and 2012, and even had a third stint in charge, as joint-caretaker boss at the start of 2015.

And, after stints managing Leyton Orient, Eastleigh and Dover Athletic, “Hess” returned to Priestfield once again, this time as the club’s Head of Recruitment, working under Gillingham’s Director of Football, and his former coach at Watford, Kenny Jackett.

It means that Hessenthaler’s influence is still present at Priestfield Stadium. One of the most beloved players to ever pull on a blue shirt and lead the team at Priestfield is now helping to shape the future of the club he has served for 10 years as a player, six years as a manager, and two years as part of the backroom staff.

Hessenthaler has been the heartbeat of Gillingham FC for almost two decades. His personality and approach have become the standard by which all Gillingham players, particularly midfielders, are now judged. That’s because no player ran harder, for longer. None gave more to the cause. And none in recent memory have been as beloved by the Gills fanbase.

The £235,000 fee Gillingham paid Watford for Hessenthaler’s services may have been a club record at the time, but it turned out to be an absolute steal.