During the 1963–64 English football season, Gillingham F.C. competed in the Football League Fourth Division, the fourth tier of the English football league system. It was the 32nd season in which Gillingham competed in the Football League, and the 14th since the club was voted back into the league in 1950. Gillingham were undefeated in their first 13 games, the longest such run from the start of the season by any team in the Football League, and by the end of September were top of the league table, where they remained for much of the season, although some fans were unhappy with the team's defensive style of play.
In April, the postponement of several games allowed other teams to overtake Gillingham and push them out of the promotion places, but they moved back up the table as they played the re-scheduled games. Going into of the final match of the season, Gillingham were two points behind first-placed Carlisle United, who had already played their last game, meaning that a Gillingham victory would leave the two teams on the same points and the championship would be decided on goal average. Gillingham won their final game and won the Fourth Division championship as their goal average was fractionally better than Carlisle's. It was the club's first Football League divisional championship; Gillingham would not win another until 2013.
Gillingham also competed in two knock-out competitions. The team were eliminated in the first round of the FA Cup but reached the fourth round of the Football League Cup, a feat which the club would not repeat until the 1990s. The team played 52 competitive matches, winning 26, drawing 15 and losing 11. Brian Gibbs was the club's top goalscorer with 17 goals in Fourth Division matches and 18 in all competitions. Mike Burgess and John Simpson made the most appearances; both played in every game of the season. The highest attendance recorded at the club's home ground, Priestfield Stadium, was 17,421 for a game against Carlisle on 9 October 1963.
Background and pre-season
The 1963–64 season was Gillingham's 32nd season playing in the Football League and the 14th since the club was elected back into the League in 1950 after being voted out in 1938. It was the club's sixth consecutive season in the Football League Fourth Division, which had been created in 1958 when the parallel Third Division South and Third Division North were merged and reorganised into two national divisions at the third and fourth tiers of the English football league system.
Freddie Cox was the team's manager, a position he had held since June 1962; in his first season in charge, Gillingham had finished 5th in the Fourth Division, a huge improvement over their 20th-place finish in the 1961–62 season. Prior to the new season, the club signed Geoff Hudson, a 31-year-old full-back with well over a decade of Football League experience, from Crewe Alexandra. Cox also signed three young players from Portsmouth, all of whom he knew from his time managing that club until 1961: Rod Taylor, a half-back aged 19, 21-year-old full-back Jimmy White, and Brian Yeo, a forward also aged 19. Jimmy Boswell assisted Cox in the role of team trainer.
The team wore Gillingham's traditional blue shirts and white shorts, the only change in design from the previous season being the style of collar and the placement of the club badge on the shirt. Redevelopment work took place at the club's home ground, Priestfield Stadium, between seasons as floodlights were installed for the first time, at a cost of . The club had been one of the few in the Football League yet to install lights, which had become prevalent in English professional football since the mid-1950s, and when they were switched on for a game for the first time (September 1963) it made Gillingham the 89th out of 92 Football League clubs to play a home match under lights.
