Gillingham add Southend United trip to summer schedule that includes a visit from Portsmouth

Gillingham will visit Southend United as part of their summer pre-season.

Manager Neil Harris played for his local club Southend at the end of his playing career and takes the Gills there for a match on Saturday, July 23 - the week before the Football League season gets under way.

The Gills had been regular visitors to Roots Hall before the Essex side lost their way and dropped into non-league. United finished the 2021/22 season sitting 13th in the National League.

They are managed by former Gills player Kevin Maher, who took them from 20th to mid-table safety and will now be looking to push on again next season as the club looks to win back their Football League status.

Another ex Gillingham player Mark Bentley is also on the coaching staff at the club while chief exec Tom Lawrence made the switch from Priestfield.

Gillingham have now completed their weekend fixtures for the pre-season, playing Folkestone Invicta (July 2), Dover Athletic (July 9), Portsmouth at Priestfield (July 16) and now at Southend on July 23.

The League 2 season starts on Saturday, July 30.

Harris is likely to play a few training ground matches behind closed doors while there are Gillingham XI’s heading to Deal Town (Tuesday, July 5), Ramsgate (Saturday, July 16) and Chatham Town (Friday, July 22).