 Twice in the late 1980s Gillingham came close to winning promotion to the second tier of English football , but a decline then set in and in 1993 the club narrowly avoided relegation to the Football Conference . In 2000 , the " Gills " reached the second tier of the English league for the first time in the club 's history and went on to spend five seasons at this level , achieving a club record highest league finish of eleventh place in 2002 – 03 . The club has twice won the division comprising the fourth level in the football league pyramid : the Football League Fourth Division championship in 1963 – 64 and the Football League Two championship in 2012 @-@ 13 . 
