Redfern Avenue · Gillingham · Kent ME7 4DD · Capacity 11,582
Priestfield: Kent's only Football League club
Gillingham are the county's sole professional club, playing in a ground wedged into the terraced streets of Medway since 1893. For a great many of our customers this is not an away day or a trip to London. It is the local team, ten minutes from the house.
The only Football League club in a county of nearly two million people. That makes Priestfield the shortest matchday journey most of our Medway and Maidstone customers will ever make, and the one we run most often on a Saturday.
A matchday on our own doorstep
Everything about this booking is different from a London ground, and mostly because of how short it is.
From most of Medway
Chatham, Rochester and Rainham are all inside fifteen minutes. Maidstone under half an hour.
On every side
Redfern Avenue and the roads around it are residential, with matchday controls.
Around 11,500 capacity
Which clears quickly. The exit here is one of the easiest we deal with anywhere.
Usually the reason
Nobody books a fifteen-minute journey to save time. They book it so nobody has to drive.
From across Kent
These are short local runs, and for Medway customers they are barely journeys at all.
| Pick-up area | Distance | Journey |
|---|---|---|
| Gillingham & Rainham | 1 mile | 5–12 min |
| Chatham & Brompton | 2 miles | 8–15 min |
| Rochester & Strood | 4 miles | 10–20 min |
| Sittingbourne & Bredgar | 10 miles | 18–28 min |
| Maidstone & Aylesford | 10 miles | 20–30 min |
| Faversham & Teynham | 18 miles | 25–35 min |
| Gravesend & Northfleet | 14 miles | 25–35 min |
| Dartford & Bluewater | 22 miles | 30–45 min |
| Ashford & Charing | 25 miles | 35–50 min |
| Canterbury & Whitstable | 30 miles | 40–55 min |
Who we take to Priestfield
Mostly the same faces, most Saturdays, which is a different kind of booking from a one-off London trip.
| Booking | Note |
|---|---|
| Two or three friends | A saloon, a short run, and a drink at either end. |
| A family group | Grandparents and children, dropped at the ground rather than parked streets away. |
| A pub group | Collected from the pub, dropped at the ground, back to the pub afterwards. |
| Season-long arrangements | Regular home fixtures booked as a block at agreed rates. |
| Away travel | A completely different job, usually a coach. See our sports team page. |
A Gills matchday
The parking is why people book
Redfern Avenue and the streets around it are Medway terraces with matchday controls, and the spaces that exist go early. For a journey of ten or fifteen minutes nobody is booking a vehicle to save time; they are booking it to avoid circling residential streets and to have a drink at either end of the afternoon.
The exit is genuinely easy
Eleven and a half thousand capacity and a typical crowd below that means Priestfield empties in a few minutes. We hold on a wider road a short walk from the ground and are usually moving almost immediately. Compared with anything in London, this is the least complicated matchday we run.
Book the season, not the Saturday
A good number of our Priestfield customers go to most home fixtures. Arranging the season as a block at agreed rates is cheaper than booking each Saturday separately, and it means the vehicle is held for your dates rather than competing with weddings and airport runs. Send us the fixture list when it comes out.
Away travel is a different service
We run a good deal of Gillingham away travel across the country, which is a coach job rather than a car and needs planning around driver hours for the longer trips. That sits on our sports team travel page rather than here, and it is worth arranging a season at a time.
Priestfield questions
Short journeys, small fares.
How close is Priestfield to Medway?
Five to twelve minutes from Gillingham and Rainham, under fifteen from Chatham, twenty from Rochester. It is the shortest matchday journey most of our customers will ever make.
Why book a car for such a short trip?
Parking and drinking, in that order. The streets around the ground are Medway terraces with matchday controls, and the spaces go early. Nobody wants to circle them or nominate a driver.
Where do you collect afterwards?
On a wider road a short walk from the ground where the vehicle can wait legally. Priestfield empties in minutes, so you are usually moving almost immediately.
Can you collect several households?
Yes, and over these distances it costs very little. Two or three families in one vehicle arriving together is a common booking here.
Can we book the whole season?
Yes, and it is cheaper. Send us the home fixture list and we will price it as a block at agreed rates, which also holds the vehicle for your dates.
Do you do Gillingham away travel?
Yes, though that is a coach job rather than a car and needs more planning, particularly for the longer trips. It sits under our sports team travel service.
Can you take a family with children?
Yes. Tell us about child seats or pushchairs when you book and we will size the vehicle and drop as close as the controls allow.
Is the fare fixed?
Yes, agreed at booking, and it does not change for added time or a slow exit.
Kent venues and guides
The county's own fixtures.