Gillingham chairman Paul Scally has made a surprise appearance on a football internet forum to hit back at a critic.

He responded to comments by an unidentified poster on the BBC 606 message board, about the official attendance for the FA Cup third round game against Aston Villa on January 4.

He gave his critic until Thursday to reveal his identity and meet face to face.

Mr Scally said: “I’m not worried but he should be worried.

“If he comes and does it the right way then he can come and tell me why he called me a crook and I’ll explain to him what I do as the chairman.

“If they want to hide behind a fictional name then I will go after him and it will be a different outcome.

“Free speech is fine but you can’t go calling people crooks.

“If they are man enough to come and see me face to face then I’m happy to live with that. They won’t be banned and hopefully they can learn something from it.”

The person who posted the message was using the name of patang57.

Mr Scally admits being chairman means he will undoubtedly receive insults but believes this time it had gone too far.

“There’s a line that shouldn’t be crossed,” he said.

“I’ve got no problem with banter because that is always going to be part of my job and something I have to accept but for someone to be calling me a crook I’m not prepared to accept.

“I don’t intend to ban them from the ground I just want to talk with them. Either they can come to me or I can go to them.”