Gillingham manager Gareth Ainsworth will reveal his captain for the 2026/27 season ahead of League 2 opener against Walsall on Saturday, with Liam Gordon and Omar Beckles among the options

Gillingham fans will have to wait until Saturday to find out who their captain is this season.

Manager Gareth Ainsworth has told his players but he remained tight-lipped about who will wear the armband against Walsall in League 2 during his pre-match press conference.

Omar Beckles was named captain against Luton in the Carabao Cup with Armani Little ruled out through injury. Summer signing Liam Gordon is also a candidate for the role, but he missed out last weekend due to a one-match ban carried over from last season.

“The decision's made now, but I want everyone to have that moment at 1.45pm on Saturday, where they'll all know who's going to lead the team out this season,” stated Ainsworth.

“The captaincy is a thing that there's a lot of emphasis put on it but I also think we've got a lot of leaders out there.

“So, whoever leads them out, I'm sure we'll have support by the rest of them. I’ll respectfully just leave that until the hour and a quarter before the game.”

Ainsworth disclosed there is a five-man leadership group at the club.

It’s a common theme at clubs nowadays, although Ainsworth claimed a Generals group he introduced at Wycombe was among the first.

“We have a leadership group,” stated the Gills boss. “There's five players in the leadership group and we meet regularly.

“We're not unique on that. I think we were back in the day, we started this Generals group which was brilliant, and we’ve kept that with us.

“I've got my Generals who are keeping that dressing room in order. But the actual captain on the pitch, people put a big thing on it, I think I've known it for a while now.”

Ainsworth is keen to keep the identity of his skipper in-house until teamsheets are exchanged at the weekend.

“The players know,” he