A new look between the posts for Gillingham
- Paul Godden
- Jul 20
- 5 min read
Ollie Wright arrives with League Two minutes behind him, while local lad Lennon MacLorg adds a homegrown story to the goalkeeping rebuild.
Whilst I have been away on holiday, Gillingham have signed not one but two goalkeepers. Ollie Wright joins on a season-long loan from Southampton and Lennon MacLorg arrives having left Charlton Athletic. They join Taite Holtam, retained at the end of last season.
Valued at £250,000, Wright has just signed a new three-year contract extension with his parent club. He arrives with a full season of League Two football behind him. The 23-year-old spent last season on loan at Accrington Stanley where he won the players’ player and manager’s player of the season awards. Appreciative of that experience, he feels ready for the next step. ‘I’m very thankful to Accrington because they gave me the opportunity to play league football. I’m very fortunate to play a lot of games last year. Now I can bring it to Gillingham.’
Manager Gareth Ainsworth and goalkeeping coach Deren Ibrahim were central to Wright’s decision. ‘Speaking to the gaffer and Deren really attracted me.’ Ainsworth’s message to him was simple: come here, play and show people what you can do. ‘He’s given me a platform to come and play games. His style of play suits me to a tee.’
Wright made 43 starts in League Two for the side that finished last season one place above Gillingham on goal difference. He kept 12 clean sheets and conceded 53 League goals at 1.23 per 90 minutes from 171 shots on target with a save percentage of 69.0%.
Statistically, Wright’s performance across the League season was superior to Glenn Morris and Jake Turner - both of whom were released by Gillingham in May. Morris kept eight clean sheets in 31 League appearances for The Gills and conceded 46 goals at 1.53 per 90 minutes from 130 shots on target with a save percentage of 64.9%.
Turner kept three clean sheets in his 16 League appearances – they both featured at home to Salford after Morris was injured - and conceded 26 goals from 60 shots on target at 1.63 per 90 minutes with a save percentage of 56.7%.
Wright, who is six foot four inches, describes himself as a commanding goalkeeper ‘coming out for crosses and taking pressure off the back line.’
Having joined Southampton as an Under 10, Wright has yet to make a senior appearance for his parent club, but he progressed through their academy to become a regular for the Under 21s featuring 21 times for them in Premier League 2Division Two. He made six appearances in 2021/22 and earned a PL2 Player of the Month nomination in January of that season. The following season, he made 15 appearances and played a key role in Southampton’s 2022/23 Premier League 2 Division Two title-winning side.
Loans to National League South sides at his hometown club of Bath City and Worthing followed. A dislocated shoulder at Tonbridge Angels ended his spell at Bath although he recovered to play for Worthing in the 2024 play-off final for a place in the National League but finished on the losing side as Worthing were beaten in extra time by Braintree Town.
In any case, Wright stepped up to the National League the following season with loans at Yeovil Town and Solihull Moors before signing for Accrington last July.
He played at Priestfield on Easter Monday last season as Gillingham ended a winless run stretching back to late February beating Stanley 2-0 through Andy Smith’s header - his first goal for the club - and Garath McCleary’s brilliant second half strike. Wright recalled the game. ‘I remember playing here last year and definitely wanted to come back’, joking that, ‘Me and Ronan (Hale) have some making up to do. We had a bit of a scuffle on the pitch.’ Frustrated Accrington finished the game with nine men after Tyler Walton and David Abimbola were both dismissed late on.
Ready, fit, and already itching for the season describing himself as ‘ready to go,’ Wright said, I can’t wait to get started and help climb the table and push for that promotion.’ He has already circled Gillingham’s first round League Cup tie with Luton Town as ‘a good test’ and the League season’s opener at Priestfield against Walsall.
Wright’s first interview at the club can be viewed here.
Gillingham-born Lennon MacLorg, 20, arrives on a free transfer from Charlton Athletic with a story that needs little dressing up. This is a homecoming. ‘Gills is more than a club to me. I grew up my whole life supporting this team,’ he said, recalling watching new team-mate Bradley Dack during his first spell at the club.
That connection runs through the family. His grandfather has been a season-ticket holder for around 60 years and, understandably, the news has gone down well at home. ‘He’s over the moon and the rest of the family are buzzing for me,’ MacLorg said.
His route into the professional game initially followed a Kentish pathway. MacLorg started at Thamesmead, moved on to Hollands & Blair and then Maidstone United, before a switch to Rochdale.
Charlton brought him in from Rochdale’s Under 18s in 2024 and he made an immediate impression. He kept three clean sheets in his first four games as they went on to win the Professional Development League Two South title in 2024.
Across the past two seasons, he also made four appearances for The Addicks’ Under 21s in the Premier League Cup, keeping three clean sheets and conceding just once.
Loan football followed at Braintree Town and Whitehawk. He made two appearances for Braintree towards the end of the 2024/25 season, including in the National League Cup semi-final against Sutton United, where he played alongside former Gills striker John Akinde and faced Ryan Jackson and Ashley Nadesan. The tie finished goalless before Sutton won the penalty shootout 5-4.
In January, MacLorg joined Whitehawk on loan and made 14 appearances, debuting in a 5-3 win at St Albans City in the Isthmian Premier League.
Having played outfield until he was 15, MacLorg is comfortable with the ball at his feet, but his time in senior football has also sharpened the more physical parts of his game.
He speaks warmly about Charlton, but it is those loan spells that appear to have accelerated his development. ‘Charlton was brilliant. Got a few loans and it’s really helped me,’ he said. ‘It really improved things like my cross-taking ability. You have to be aggressive in them games. If you don’t come for a cross, they’ll put one in the back of your net. They’re bigger and good in the air.’
That exposure has given him a grounding in senior football. ‘Playing in games with players who have been around, it was good for me to get the physical side as well.’
MacLorg says he is ‘fit’ and ‘100% ready to go.’ His enthusiasm for getting started is obvious. ‘I can’t wait. I just can’t wait to be back in,’ he said.
For a young goalkeeper returning to his hometown club, the trip to Swindon Town on the final day of the season has naturally caught his eye. ‘I’m just buzzing for Swindon away, last game of the season,’ MacLorg said.
So too has the meeting with Rochdale, another club from his own journey. Gillingham travel to Rochdale on 5thSeptember and host the return fixture in February. ‘I was at Rochdale. They’ve just come up. Be good to see familiar faces,’ he said.
MacLorg’s first interview at the club can be viewed here.
David Tickner writes regularly about Gillingham Football Club on Substack. You can read, follow or subscribe for free at Gills Journal | David Tickner | Substack.
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