The most iconic moment in the long history of Gillingham FC encapsulated in a few seconds of extra time football, as the club's most successful season culminated with the burying of ghost that had haunted the team for almost exactly twelve months, but what went through the mind of the man who created such a moment of euphoria for players, officials and fans alike?

"We were putting in loads of crosses in at that stage and getting some good balls in the box, I was caught in between two defenders and thought I could catch one of them unaware, I timed my run well and after that I don't remember anything!

"Watching it on TV brings it all back, I don't remember too much about it apart from lying in the corner and one of the players saying something along the lines of 'you lucky Scottish b*****d', but that's the only thing I remember after the goal, which is surreal."

Andy Thomson's arrival at Priestfield was anything but dramatic as he was snapped up for a mere £25,000 from Oxford United just before the 1999/2000 season kicked off, Peter Taylor eventually dubbed him "the best £25,000 I've ever spent."

"I think that's because he never spent £25,000 on anybody else!" Thomson said "He had tried a couple of other times to sign me so obviously I was one of the players he liked.

"It doesn't matter how confident you are in yourself, if you've not got the confidence and backing of the manager then there's not much chance you're going to play."

"When I arrived at the club I got a good welcome, the players were a tremendous bunch and that carried through the squad throughout the season, there was a great spirit between the players, management staff, even the supporters.

Alongside another impressive league campaign came an unprecedented run to the FA Cup quarter-finals, with the Scotsman grabbing more tabloid headlines with goals against Premiership sides Bradford City and Sheffield Wednesday.

"The cup run was really good and we got a bit of publicity through it, we played in a lot of good, big games and it was good for the club's profile."

Another injury kept the striker out of the final few games of the Division Two season, including the vital last match of the regular season, which saw the side fall from the automatic promotion places into a play-off position following defeat at Wrexham.

"It was a huge disappointment, we'd been on a really good run towards the end of the season, as a team we were confident we could do it at Wrexham, unfortunately for us they lifted their game and we maybe suffered from a few nerves.

"In the end it proved to be a good thing but obviously at the time you don't think of that, it shows the character in the team that we bounced back from that and what happened the season before, when a team can do that it speaks volumes for the characters involved."

Thomson's persistent ankle injury kept him out of both legs of the semi-final tie with Stoke City, but he still looks back on the second leg at Priestfield as a career highlight.

"It was a great atmosphere that night, it was probably one of the best I've been involved in, the game wasn't the best with the stakes being so high, but to do it in the end was brilliant, the players were going off their heads!

"I didn't really understand as I'd never played in the play-offs before, but for the players who had played in the final the year before, who knew what it was all about, it was a great occasion."

The 3-0 win after extra time took Gillingham to the Division Two play-off final for the second successive year, and gave Thomson his greatest moment of all.

"I'd been out for six weeks and can't have done much training, even to be a substitute wasn't exactly a surprise, but I certainly wasn't 100% confident, I was just delighted to get on the bench.

"You couldn't explain in terms of how amazing it is, even just to go to Wembley was a wonderful experience but to play there and ultimately score the winner was the stuff dreams are made of.

"I grew up watching Scotland play at Wembley, even now that goal is all people want to talk to me about when they ask me about my career."

The club's first season in Division One saw the man now etched into Gillingham folklore fall out of favour under the management of Andy Hessenthaler, and he eventually left for pastures new in the form of Division One rivals Queens Park Rangers.

This however, was not before scoring more landmark goals as the club picked up their first point in the second tier of English football against Tony Pulis' Portsmouth, and gained their first ever away win at that level with a 2-1 victory at Sheffield United's Bramall Lane.

"Initially it took us a while to find our feet at a higher league, but once we'd adjusted we did really well as a team, the team spirit carried us through again, it was great to play at big grounds in front of big crowds.

"'Hess' had his own ideas and people who he'd brought in who he wanted to play, which was fair enough, I was pushed further down the pecking order and at that point was fourth of fifth choice striker.

"I was offered a new deal at that stage, but I wanted a better chance of playing regularly and that was the reason I moved to QPR, simple as that."

After leaving the English game, Thomson's return to Scotland brought short stints with Partick Thistle and Falkirk before a second spell at Queen of the South, where he is also regarded as a club legend.

He recently announced his retirement from playing at Scottish Third Division club Stenhousemuir, and is keen to further a coaching career he has already been enjoying with 'The Warriors'.

"I love it; I do a bit of coaching for the local council as well with the kids which I enjoy, and also with Stenhousemuir, so it's a good combination."

Whatever his future role in or out of football may be, for that fateful day at Wembley on 28^th May 2000, there can be no doubt that Andy Thomson will forever carry the title 'Gillingham Legend'.