 Although Gillingham missed out on the Southern League title the following season , finishing as runners @-@ up , the team again captured the Kent Senior Cup , as well as setting a club record attendance of 23 @,@ 002 for a cup match against Queens Park Rangers . Gillingham applied for re @-@ election to the Football League in the summer of 1948 but , despite producing a glossy brochure detailing the team 's achievements , the club saw its application rejected , with only one vote cast in its favour . Despite this disappointment , the team continued to perform strongly in the Southern League and successfully regained the league title in 1948 – 49 . In 1950 plans were announced to expand the Third Division South from 22 to 24 teams and , based on the team 's local success in the interim , Gillingham gained re @-@ election to the Football League , receiving the highest number of votes amongst the candidate clubs . 
