2 hours ago
23
There's one other aspect of the Football League, and football in general, that I discovered when I was sacked by Bournemouth.
There's a camaraderie that exists with people you encounter, whether they are working above you at your club like Norman was or further afield, and an effect they can have if they give you any kind of opportunity.
During the 12 months I was out of management, I got a phone call from Bruce Rioch, who at the time was at Bolton with Colin Todd. He asked me to watch games for them every weekend and midweek and I spent months travelling around the country.
To this day, I don't think Bruce realises the impact he had on my career. At the end of that season, Gillingham offered me the manager's job. They had just finished the season in 89th place out of the 92 clubs in the Premier League and Football League, avoiding relegation by seven points, but I had played a season there before taking that coaching job with Bournemouth, so I knew the club quite well.
Tony Smith and his lovely wife Val had owned the club then, and I knew it was financially sound. They were great people too, by the way. Tony passed away in 2023 but Val still comes to visit us on the south coast and we remain great friends.
I still needed to find a way of bringing the Gills success, though. I knew they were about to release a load of players but, from the scouting I'd done for Bolton, I knew exactly where I would find replacements. Taking two players from non-league and the rest mostly on free transfers, my four-year journey was about to begin.
That first season ended up with us being promoted, conceding only 20 goals - including just six at home - and with Jim Stannard, our goalkeeper, keeping 29 clean sheets to set a record that still stands today.
It was the start of us building three different teams at Priestfield, with the last group suffering a heartbreaking defeat on penalties against Manchester City in the 1999 Second Division (now League One) play-off final at Wembley, then finally reaching what is now the Championship a year later under Peter Taylor and doing a great job to stay there for five years.
I am probably best known for my time at Stoke, Crystal Palace and West Brom but those years at Gillingham were the catalyst for my future career. It was an unbelievably difficult but an extremely rewarding job and, to this day, my players from those times still hold a very special place with me.
The success I had at Gillingham was gained because of what I learned at Bournemouth as a coach and manager, and then that chance encounter with Bruce Rioch.
I'm not alone there, however. In my day, Dave Bassett, Graham Taylor, Jim Smith, Ron Atkinson, Harry Redknapp and many more would talk about how the EFL played such an enormous part in their great careers, and in the modern game I am sure David Moyes feels indebted to his experience at Preston too.
Like me, they will understand how Lincoln fans are feeling now, and will know how their team's achievement has given them as much joy as any similar feat in top flight football - or even more, I would say!
Tony Pulis was speaking to BBC Sport's Chris Bevan.
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