by Luke Cawdell

Gillingham chairman Paul Scally admits that he still has bitter memories of his dealings with Charlton ahead of the clubs’ first league meeting in almost 30 years.

The Addicks enjoyed the high-life in the Premier League for several years and in that time they crossed swords with Mr Scally on several occasions.

Charlton’s decision to try and raise their profile in Kent is one policy that Mr Scally couldn’t abide.

"I think their behaviour has been poor over the last few years," said Mr Scally.

"As a club they’ve shown little humility and a great deal of arrogance. There is no place in football for that.

"A good club should be magnanimous in defeat and humble in victory. I’ve got no problem with the fans and the players but there have been some individuals who have made poor decisions.

"It wasn’t the buses so much, it was the way they went into the schools of Medway with their Football in the Community."

He added: "My point is that Charlton isn’t in Kent. I went to school in south east London and used to hang around near The Valley.

"I used to hang around SE7 and know where that is and it’s not in Kent.

"They were working well outside of their remit with the Football in the Community.

"When they were in administration not so long ago other clubs around them like Millwall, Crystal Palace and Gillingham didn’t go stomping in and stealing the minds and souls of the kids."

There have been a number of fall-outs over the years between the clubs, most recently after the on-off transfer saga involving striker Chris Dickson.

But Mr Scally is pragmatic when looking back at the clubs’ differences.

He said: "There always will be (issues) as they are a local team to us and what they do affects us and what we do affects them. It’s nothing personal."