After the Gills were relegated once again in the 1988–89 season, Tony Pulis managed the club to promotion seven years later. Pulis also took the team to the final of the play-offs for promotion to the second tier of English football in the 1998–99 season. Pulis was sacked immediately after this for gross misconduct, but his successor, Peter Taylor, took the club back to the play-off final the following season, in which victory over Wigan Athletic saw the club promoted to Division One for the first time in its history.
This sequence of events saw the Gills relegated again in the 1988–89 season under Tony Pulis' management, but he later guided the team to promotion seven years later. The team then reached the championship playoff final in the 1998–99 season, only to be dismissed immediately after for misconduct by Pulis. However, his successor, Peter Taylor, took the club back to the playoff final the following year, ultimately securing a historic promotion to Division One.