Thirty years ago, the Kent side gave a surprise debut to a 42-year-old Gladiator
On a dark night at Priestfield in October 1994, one name leapt out on the team-sheet. Number five, Andy Arnott. Number six, Robin Trott. Number seven, ‘The Wolf’.
Real name Michael van Wijk, the star of TV show Gladiatorswas 42 years of age, with no previous football career to speak of, but was starting for Gillingham’s reserves at home to Cambridge. Because why not?
Back then, the Gills were languishing near the bottom of the fourth tier and struggling financially. Van Wijk was a household name after becoming Gladiators’ pantomime villain since its launch in 1992, and ran a gym not far from the area, so there were suggestions his appearance was an attempt to bring in much-needed gate money. The club insisted it wasn’t a publicity stunt – of course not, a long and prosperous Football League career could have been ahead of him.
The plan worked to an extent: 561 people turned up, about 10 times the normal crowd for a reserve game, and not much less than the 963 that watched the first team against Brighton weeks earlier – the Gills’ lowest gate for a senior game in more than two decades.
Sadly, it would be Van Wijk’s only outing. He caused controversy by flying into tackles too enthusiastically – exactly as you’d expect, based on his Gladiatorscareer – then picked up an injury and went off after 69 minutes. “He was s**t,” said one fan who was there.
The Mumbai-born star never appeared for Gillingham again – he’d already agreed to appear in a Woking panto in the run-up to Christmas, in any case – and the club went into receivership less than three months later, eventually turning their fortunes around after being bought by Paul Scally.
Van Wijk wasn’t the only man to combine football and Gladiators– John Fashanu was still playing for Wimbledon when he started hosting the show, continuing his presenting role despite the 1993 controversy of breaking Gary Mabbutt’s eye socket against Spurs, then 1995 allegations of match-fixing, which he was later cleared of.
His Dons team-mate Vinnie Jones appeared as a contestant on a 1993 celebrity special, which largely consisted of him trying to wind up the Gladiators and immediately regretting it, as they repeatedly rugby-tackled him to the floor like he was a ragdoll. Jones was big, but the Gladiators were bigger.
Lee Sharpe briefly hosted kids’ spin-off show Gladiators: Train 2 Win, with Ian Wright presenting when Gladiatorsre-emerged on Sky One in 2008 ��
