Gillingham chairman Brad Galison has urged supporters to stick with them as they work on turning the club around.
It’s taken longer than expected for the Galinsons to create a team capable of challenging for promotion from League 2 – with another season set to end without success.
The Galinsons enjoyed a quick turnaround in form when husband and wife, Brad and Shannon, first took over as majority owners midway through the 2022/23 season, pumping money in and signing players to save the Gills from relegation into non-league.
Since then, they’ve seen managers Neil Harris, Stephen Clemence, Mark Bonner and John Coleman all depart ahead of Gareth Ainsworth’s appointment almost a year ago.
Ainsworth had a few games at the end of last season to settle in before getting going on a two-year plan.
Despite a positive start to this season, the Gills have drifted away and find themselves down in 16th ahead of their weekend clash against a Cambridge side going for promotion under head coach Harris and director of football Bonner – two former managers under the Galinsons.
Ahead of that game, Mr Galinson went on social media and wrote: “We knew it would take a few seasons to right what was inherited and to get our bearings. Injuries also huge issue.
“[Shannon] and I (and Joe [Comper, managing director] and Gaz and Dobbo [assistant manager] and everyone else) still love and support this team and the fanbase. Stick with us.
“All we can do is survive the battles until we reinforce the foundation. It hurts. But can you imagine, some day, how it will feel when we finish our work?”
Mr Galinson has also highlighted the losses that most EFL clubs are working with.
The Gills themselves have been propped up by money invested by the American owners, in the way of loans and cash injections. The club have recorded losses of £13m.
Mr Galinson wrote: “While I wholeheartedly support the Gills and English football, I, along with nine other L1 and L2 owners, are taking a stand on the state of the EFL.
“It loses £500M per season, and nearly all its clubs are within one month of being Sheffield Wednesday.
“No business owner on the planet, myself included, would affiliate with that sort of incompetence. And it is far too much heartbreak for communities to bear.
“[It] cannot continue for even a single season.”
His comments come after a 5-1 defeat to MK Dons, losing badly to a club that has a vast budget in League 2 compared to the rest, including the Gills, who are among the highest in terms of wages.
Speaking generally, Mr Galinson told The Guardian: “If the owner just decides that they’re sick of it, immediate administration. It’s actually quite irresponsible.
“No one is worrying about sustainability. So everyone has to be unsustainable unless you throw in the towel and just get relegated.
“These football clubs in the UK mean everything to their communities.
“What you’re doing is you’re literally bankrupting these community assets.”
