Remeao Hutton departs Priestfield, signs for Chesterfield

A signing that delivered much on paper, but never really produced it on grass, Hutton’s summer move away from Priestfield seemed inevitable when he appeared to fall out of favour with manager Gareth Ainsworth towards the end of the 2025/26 season, and now it’s finally happened.

The news dropped via the official Gillingham FC social channels, which announced that, “The club can confirm that it has agreed, along with the player, to terminate Remeao Hutton's contract by mutual consent.” And it didn’t take long after for the announcement to follow that Hutton had signed for Chesterfield.

From a Gills standpoint, Hutton has possibly been one of the biggest examples of a recruitment failure under the Galinsons. The former Swindon man arrived at Priestfield with a much-vaunted record for delivering goalscoring chances, but Gills fans saw precious little of that during a tenure that saw him struggle to impress at either end of the pitch. After 22 goal involvements in 76 games for Swindon, Hutton managed just seven in 115 games for the Gills.

Defensively, he was often found wanting, while in attack, his apparent hesitance to take on his man and whip crosses into the box early saw countless attacks peter out. There were also suggestions that his attitude perhaps wasn’t the best, either.

Ultimately, it proved to be the wrong move for all concerned – for Gillingham as a club, and for Hutton as a player – and as a result, fans online weren't too unhappy to see the news of his departure.

Hutton’s exit heightens the club’s need to recruit at the full-back position, with no experienced senior pro at the club at either left or right back. But, with more arrivals thought to be in the pipeline before the start of the season, full-back arrivals may well be at the top of Ainsworth’s summer shopping list.