Gillingham shareholders have voted to end former chairman Paul Scally’s long involvement with the club.
Mr Scally was chairman and owner of the club for 27 years before selling a majority shareholding to Florida-based businessman Brad Galinson, who took over the club in December 2022.
He initially helped the new US owners navigate their way into life as football club owners, retaining a place on the club’s football board, but it was Mr Galinson who invited shareholders to vote for Mr Scally’s removal as club director.
The resolution to remove Mr Scally as a director of the company with immediate effect was passed by shareholders on Thursday night during a meeting inside Priestfield. The former chairman has, however, already said he will challenge any such action. It’s believed the vote went 311-11 in favour of him being removed.
Mr Galinson spoke to about 400 fans at a forum on Thursday night, saying: “We are very frustrated in what little we can say. Mr Scally was removed as director of Gillingham Football Club and GFC Holdings.”
Fans have been reacting to the news here.
Mr Scally, who was at the club for the earlier vote, believes that he is legally entitled to remain on the board. Prior to the meeting, he held the position of non-executive director at the club.
Mr Scally, 69, took charge of the Gills in 1995, quickly transforming the club’s fortunes, overseeing promotion from Division 4 in the first season and eventually into Division 1 after back-to-back Wembley visits in the play-off finals.
The Gills rose to their highest-ever position, 11th in the second-tier in 2003, but finances took a hit when money expected to finance building works at Priestfield never materialised after the collapse of ITV Digital.
It meant a long-drawn-out negotiation with the club’s bankers to restructure their multi-million-pound debts while, in the meantime, the club dropped out of the Championship in 2005 and back into the bottom tiers of the English Football League, which is where they’ve been ever since.
Under Mr Scally, the Gills enjoyed four promotions, and as many relegations, three Wembley trips and an FA Cup quarter-final, along with a best-ever league finish.
Sadly, the downturn in fortunes led to conflict with fans, many of whom grew frustrated as they saw the club on the slide. When the Galinsons took over the Gills were bottom of League 2 and looking odds-on for relegation out of the Football League.
Mr Scally’s decision to bring in Medway businessman Paul Fisher as co-chairman in August 2022 helped speed up a takeover that had long been talked about. By December, a deal had been agreed to sell a majority stake in the club to Mr Galinson, who had made his money through real estate.
Investment from the Galinsons saved the Gills from relegation and back onto a firm footing. The Gills now sit joint top of League 2, with fans once again optimistic over the future of the club.
