GILLINGHAM chairman Paul Scally has admitted that if he could turn back the clock he probably wouldn't make the same decision again to buy the Kent club.

It was back in March 30, 1995 that then chairman Bernard Baker resigned from the Division 3 club. Rumours of a showbusiness consortium riding to Gills' rescue circulated a couple of weeks later.

But it was Paul Scally, a businessman unknown to Gills fans at the time, who saved the club from going into receivership when he bought it from former owner Tony Smith.

Since that day, new management has overseen unparalleled success for the club. It started with promotion from Division 3 as runners-up in 1995-6, followed by promotion via the Division 2 play-offs in 2000 when 50,000 Kent fans were at Wembley to see Gills beat Wigan in extra-time after the previous year's disappointment against Manchester City.

Lucrative and high-profile FA Cup and Worthington Cup (now Carling Cup) runs have seen the club further put the club in the spotlight, but, despite all this, Mr Scally admitted this week how the demands of the job have taken their toll on his life.

Speaking on talkSPORT radio station earlier this week, Mr Scally recalled those days eight years ago when he made the decision to save the club from possible extinction.

He said he lived in Kent and his children went to school in the county and he didn't want to see the club go out of business.

But when pressed by presenter Tony Cascarino, who scored 110 goals in 269 appearances for the Gills before he left for Millwall in 1986, Mr Scally admitted: "The job takes over your life and your private life is non-existent."

"I work 24 hours a day for this football club," he went on. Some chairmen are in the game for the limelight but the job is not as glamorous as it seems."

When asked by Cascarino if he would make the same decision again, Mr Scally replied: "Probably not."