Scally to see how season starts as he ponders future
Gillingham
Chairman Paul Scally has yet to make up his mind whether he’s going to quit Gillingham.
Mr Scally has been considering his position since the end of last season after receiving a growing amount of abuse.
“I think I am on the fence at the minute,” he said, speaking ahead of his 25th season at the helm.
“I need to see how things pan out over the next couple of months, maybe. “I took a fairly heavy battering last year and even the most hardened of thickskinned people would have found that tough to take.
“The manager knows my views, knows where I am and we talk quite frequently. He’s encouraging me to stay for the long term, give him the support for the next year and years ahead. We will just take it one step at a time and see how the season starts.
“Right now I am happy and I am in a good place, relaxed, and looking forward to the season.”
Mr Scally is continuing to look for financial backers to help take the club on to the next level. This week he had guests over from the United Arab Emirates.
Despite the continued interest no major investors have been found, but Mr Scally is keen to shake things up at board level regardless.
“We need to restructure,” he said. “We need to deal with a few issues that have been dragging us back all the time and we will deal with that.
“I am talking to various people, stakeholders and fans and people who care about the club.
“I had a lot of discussions about where I should go, what I should do and how it could pan out. I need to make decisions. “It is not a one-man job any more. It has been for too long.
“I do have Mike Quarrington, who is a very lovely man, a good director, but he is retired and he lives in Guernsey and he is non-executive so he doesn’t have a day-to-day or week-to-week role. He helps when he can.
“For us to take the club where it needs to go, we either need to get investment in or a group of individuals in who are able to contribute, either financially or from a business perspective, because it isn’t a one-man role any more. It is getting too big.”
Asked if he has a successor in mind should he quit, he said: “I haven’t come across them yet.
“If they are out there they need to come forward.
“I wouldn’t just walk out and leave the club in a mess.
“What worries me also, God forbid, what would happen if I keeled over tomorrow, or got hit by a bus?
“The club shouldn’t be reliant on one person.
“That is a concern for me and one I have to rectify.”
Gillingham start their Division 1 campaign at Doncaster on Saturday.