During the 1906–07 English football season, New Brompton F.C. (named Gillingham F.C. since 1912) competed in the Southern League Division One. It was the 13th season in which the club competed in the Southern League and the 12th in Division One. The team started the season poorly, with only one win in the first four games, but then won three consecutive games to climb to 9th out of 20 teams in the league table. After another poor run between mid-October and the end of November, during which the team lost five out of six games and dropped to 19th, the directors appointed Steve Smith as player-manager. Although the team won their first game following his appointment, their results in the second half of the season remained inconsistent, with another six-game winless run in February and March. In April, however, New Brompton won four out of six games to finish the season 16th in the table.
New Brompton also competed in the FA Cup, reaching the second round. The team played a total of 42 league and cup matches, winning 13, drawing 11 and losing 18. Dan Cunliffe was the club's top goalscorer with 15 goals. Smith and John Martin made the most appearances; both played in all 42 of the team's competitive games. The highest attendance recorded at the club's home ground, Priestfield Road, was 7,000 for a game against Portsmouth on 1 April 1907.
Background and pre-season
New Brompton, founded in 1893, had played in the Southern League since the competition's formation in 1894. The 1906–07 season was the club's 12th season in Division One, the league's top division, following promotion from Division Two at the first attempt in 1895. In the preceding seven seasons, the team had only finished in the top half of the league table twice, reaching a low point in the 1905–06 season when New Brompton had finished 17th out of 18 teams in the division but were re-elected to Division One after the Southern League opted to increase the number of clubs in the division. At the time, only a handful of teams from the south of England had been elected into the ostensibly national Football League, with most of the south's leading teams playing in the Southern League.
Following a season in which New Brompton had scored only 20 goals in 34 games, by far the lowest in the division, the club signed four players, all forwards, from division rivals Portsmouth: Joe Warrington, Billy Lee, and the former England internationals Dan Cunliffe and Steve Smith. A fifth forward, Jimmy Hartley, arrived from Brentford. Billy Morgan, a half-back who had last played for Leicester Fosse, joined the club, as did former Crystal Palace player George Walker, who was expected to replace Joe Walton, a full-back who had been transferred to Chelsea. The Athletic News reviewed the club's new-look squad and wrote that "[w]ith such a list of players, the "Hoppers" should be able to hold their own against most comers". New Brompton did not employ a team manager at the start of the season and all team matters fell within the remit of William Ironside Groombridge, the club's secretary. The team also had a trainer called F. Craddock. The players wore New Brompton's usual kit of black and white striped shirts, white shorts, and black socks.
Southern League
September–December
New Brompton's first game of the season was at their own ground, Priestfield Road, against Bristol Rovers; Cunliffe, Lee, Warrington, Smith, Walker and Morgan all made their debuts in a game which ended in a 1–0 defeat for the home team. A week later, Cunliffe scored the team's first goal of the season in a 2–1 defeat away to Plymouth Argyle; the Athletic News praised John Martin, New Brompton's goalkeeper, for keeping the score down. Cunliffe added two more goals in New Brompton's first victory of the campaign, a 4–3 win at home to Brighton & Hove Albion on 15 September. After New Brompton lost 3–0 to last-placed Reading, Cunliffe took his total to four goals in five games with the first in a 2–0 win over Watford in New Brompton's final match of September. Enoch Lunn, a forward signed from Chesterfield Town, made his debut against Watford in place of Warrington. In both of the first two games of October, away to Northampton Town and at home to Queens Park Rangers (QPR), New Brompton conceded a goal, equalised, and went on to win 2–1 after Cunliffe scored a second goal. Following the win over QPR, New Brompton had moved into the top half of the league table.