Paul Scally

Career

Scally had become wealthy through the sale of a photocopier business before he bought Gillingham F.C. for the sum of £1 in 1995, taking the club out of administration shortly before they would have been placed in liquidation. His tenure has witnessed the most successful period in the club's history, with three promotions, three Wembley play-off finals and four FA Cup victories over top division opponents, and their highest league finish of 11th in the Championship.

He has also overseen the radical redevelopment of the club's Priestfield Stadium, with three new permanent stands and one temporary one transforming it into an all-seater arena, together with other non-footballing facilities such as a banqueting suite. The club's fortunes both on and off the pitch took a downhill turn from about 2004, arising mainly from an overspend on the new stands and facilities and the loss of anticipated income following the collapse of ITV Digital.

Scally is the sole owner of Priestfield Developments Ltd., a company formed in 2007 with the sole purpose of purchasing Gillingham's Priestfield Stadium for £9.8m as part of the restructuring of the club's debts.

Controversy

Scally has often shown himself to be unafraid of taking controversial positions. For example, he has made no secret of his desire to relocate the club, possibly to a location away from the Medway Towns (though still within Kent), saying "The future of this football club is not at this stadium and everyone accepts that is a fundamental point." He dismissed manager Tony Pulis immediately after he led the team to a Wembley play-off final in 1999, which brought about a protracted court dispute. He has also become involved in a number of disputes, most notably with several other Football League clubs over player-transfer disputes, the Kent Messenger Group of newspapers (whose reporters he banned from the ground for several years, but who now sponsor the 'Medway Stand'); and Alan Liptrott, ex-chairman of the Gills Independent Supporters Club, with whom he had several very public disagreements, the largest over the ownership of an internet domain name, which led to Scally imposing a lifetime ban from Priestfield on Liptrott. However, on 8 February 2007, Scally unexpectedly lifted the ban after approximately six years.

Personal life

As of 2009, Scally lived in Dubai. He has been married four times and has had seven children. One of his sons died after a fall at the age of one, and another of a heart defect in 2003 at the age of 16 weeks. His surviving children comprise two daughters and three sons. His son Max (born 29 January 1991) was jailed for two years for causing grievous bodily harm in January 2009, however, this was later shortened by London's Court of Appeal as it was seen as "too severe". His other sons are Jay and Adam, who has worked as editor of Gillingham's matchday programme.