New Gillingham co-chairman Paul Fisher says the club needs a reboot.

Mr Fisher officially joined as co-chairman and chief executive on Sunday - although he has been around the club for a number of weeks - after Paul Scally decided to take a break following 27 years at the helm.

“Number one, we’re a football club and I don’t think we should be too distracted from that in the short term,” Mr Fisher told the club website.

“Neil (Harris, the manager) and the coaching team are doing a great job and the last two performances have been first class, the first hour against Rochdale I couldn’t believe how well we’ve played.

“We’ve still got a couple of weeks of the transfer window to go so we need to focus on the team and supporting Neil.

“Around the club there is so much to do, the club needs rebooting if I can use that expression, post-Covid. It was difficult for Paul, difficult for the staff but we need to rejuvenate the club.

“That means recruiting people on the commercial side of the business. I know fans have often felt we focus too much on the business side and The Factory and The Great Hall, but it’s all there for one reason, to reinvest that money back into the side.

“I’m an accountant, I’m a businessman and you have to be careful sometimes being a fan that you end up making decisions from the heart rather than the head.

“I certainly always make any business decision from the head. Being a fan from the club people will realise I am one of them, I stood on the Rainham End when I was younger. I’m very much a fan but I stress again how much I believe in this club.

“In terms of the budget, Neil’s got a budget and if we need to move away from that to get the right person the club is in reasonable shape.

“I’d like to see our off the field activities make a bit more money but we need the resource to make that happen.

“In the short term if Neil wants somebody, we’ve already been talking, along with Nicky (Shorey, head of recruitment), about the people he’s been looking at and there’s scope to get people in. It’s well documented, we’re in the market for two or three people, just to bolster the squad.”

'When you see a friend who is struggling a bit that was number one motivation for me'

Mr Fisher, who started his career at Rochester council and was involved in creation of Medway council, worked for the Gills in the late 1990s and early 2000s, a time when the club reached the Championship.

It was his desire to see Gillingham back at that level, his love of the Medway Towns and his friendship with Mr Scally that drew him back to Priestfield.

“When you see a friend who is struggling a bit that was number one motivation for me,” he said.

“Second motivation is I’m a lifelong fan of the Gills, it’s in my blood and even though I’ve moved away to Surrey these days I was a season ticket holder until a couple of years ago and I’ve still got a lot of friends and family in this area.

“I’ve always believed in this football club, in my previous time when we got to the Championship I felt we were on the cusp of great things but certain circumstances went against us.

“Thirdly, I believe in the Medway Towns, I’m a man of Medway and a man of Kent. Medway deserves a Championship club and I think that’s an ambition we should all be aiming for.

“It’s great to be here. Paul and I go back a long way from my previous time at the club and we’ve stayed in touch for a number of years and I’ve always helped the club as much as I can.

“Paul rang me back in June and said I could do with a chat and I need a bit of help. I had a long meeting with Paul at his house, you could see he was pretty tired out and it’s well documented some of the reasons behind that.

“We had a good chat and Paul said I need you to come back and help. We had a number of meetings over the summer, I’ve been working at the club all over the pre-season period, very much beneath the radar just to help things for Paul.

“We then decided the best way forward was for Paul to take what I would call a sabbatical of some kind. Paul just needs a break and then we can re-assess things.”