It’s a quarter of a century since Robert Taylor wrote his name into the Gillingham history books after one special afternoon in Burnley.
Taylor scored all five goals at Turf Moor in a 5-0 away win on February 27, 1999 - not bad for a striker who started his career with the Gills trying to win the fans over after struggling to impress.
He had joined for a then club record £500,000 fee from Brentford. As described in Roger Triggs’ book ‘The Men Who Made Gillingham FC’ he had arrived at Gillingham “unfit, overweight and clearly lacking match fitness” and “struggled to overcome his detractors who clearly thought he was overpriced!” His wife had to leave one game early in tears after one fan was giving him so much stick.
Manager Tony Pulis had rigged one man-of-the-match award to make sure Taylor won in a bid to give his striker a confidence boost.