The Official Walsall Thread (Sponsored by the Unplayable Bradley Dack v Sheffield Utd "for all your first home game of the season needs")

Following a low key start to the season last Saturday, attention turns to the first home fixture at our beloved Priestfield and a visit from the most frequent of our long-standing league opponents, Walsall.

There was more than a sense of deja vu at Accrington last weekend, not a single new face in the matchday squad ultimately resulted in an outcome as uninspiring as the majority of last season as we huffed, puffed and hacked away at a similarly limited Stanley side, nicking a just about deserved point despite failing to register a shot on target. If you add in the lingering stench of PDPS, the warm welcome his attendance inevitably engendered and one of our numpty brigade being reported for "discriminatory abuse" towards the lino, you could be forgiven for thinking we were still playing in 2024/25. It didn't feel like a particularly fresh start.

Meanwhile, a hundred or so miles down the M6, 10-man Walsall were stoking my feelings of schadenfreude by stealing all three points at the death from the Swine, whose own fans weren't exactly covering themselves in glory by flinging the fixtures and fittings at the Walsall 'keeper with a dexterity their extra digits accord. It was a decent start to the new campaign for the Saddlers who had endured a thoroughly miserable 2025 to that point, blowing an apparently unassailable lead at the top of the table in 2024/25 and ending up losing in the play-off final. Since May they've added well to the squad, notably in defence, with the imposing and vastly experience Aden Flint arriving from Mansfield to provide steel at the back. A decent set of pre-season results and the retention of the majority of a side that did so well last season before the New Year collapse will provide encouragement to Walsall fans that they should again be pushing for promotion.

GA's pre-match pressers are always full of the sort of soundbites you want to hear from a manager, it's whether the players can actually deliver on the "front-foot attacking football" as promised. Given that such a plan is largely at odds with the football on offer from Gills sides of the last half decade, it's difficult to believe it might actually come to fruition until we've actually seen it. Certainly we need more in the attacking third to help in that delivery, with Sam Vokes, Aaron Rowe and Seb Palmer-Houlden possibly able to play some part in proceedings as they look to step up their returns from injury. Personally, I'd like to see Josh Andrews start, I may be completely at odds with the majority of fans but I believe there's a real player in there, he's certainly a bloody nuisance for defenders as his cameo at Accy showed and we need to get back to being a "nasty" side having been far too nice for far too long. We used to be hated, derided as "Gillyhoof" as we steamrollered teams, and I bloody loved it.

The head to head across 123 fixtures has Walsall leading by just one win, 48 to 47 with 28 draws. Even the goal difference is only two apart, Gills leading 167 to 165 in what must be the most frequently occurring fixture in our history. Incredibly, Walsall have emerged from Priestfield with at least a point from their last ten visits stretching back to September 2007 when a brace from Gary Mulligan gave us the win. Since then we've registered eight draws and two defeats. We must be due a win this time, Shirley?

For the highlights we're heading all the way back to 1991/92 and a 4-0 Gills win, a hattrick from David Crown, all four goals coming in the first half and an absolute gift of a goal in the opening minute from the oppo 'keeper. Imagine such statistics now? Back then we were an equally bang average side, almost perfectly average in fact, finishing 11th with 15 wins and 15 defeats. However, fans didn't suffer the soul-crushing tedium of recent seasons where we've played with a fear of conceding or losing and a total lack of cutting edge up top. We scored three or more goals FIFTEEN times that season across all competitions. That's what I (and doubtless others) miss, going to a game in the knowledge that yes, we might very well lose, but we could also see Gills dismantle sides as we did that season (Scunthorpe 4-0, Rotherham 5-1, Halifax 3-0 away!). When was the last time we handed another side their collective arses on a plate? It's about time we started and what better time to start than tomorrow?

At the time of posting the weather forecast looks beautiful, if a little warm, for tomorrow, there's just 38 tickets remaining for sale in the Rainham End (mostly singles) and only around 1300 available tickets in the home sections of Priestfield signaling a decent turnout for the summer holiday season. Hopefully we can start to see some of the new faces involved and some of the old faces stepping up as we look to kick-start the season with a resounding home win against tough opposition.

I'll be tuning in on the train down to Laaaaahndon on the way to Herr Junior's first proper gig, hopefully we'll be wandering towards Camden in the sunshine with three points for Gills safely on the board. There is a precedent for that, Connor Mahoney's 86th minute winner away at Morecambe two seasons ago had me leaping around Camden High Street like a goon, more of the same would be welcome, if only to mortify Herr Junior.

Enjoy the game if you're going, and...

COYG!!!