Gillingham director Paul Scally has told fans how he had fallen out of love with football - before an email from Brad Galinson changed everything.

Mr Scally appointed a co-chairman in August to oversee operations and stopped going to games. The pressure had become too much and he wanted out. But when Mr Galinson contacted him about possibly investing in the club, the buzz came back. He’s now busy working behind the scenes as both he and the Gills have a new lease of life.

Former owner Mr Scally has been out of the limelight since the Galinsons took over - which has helped re-energise him - but he’s never been far away. He got the chance to tell supporters at Sunday’s end-of-season presentation evening his side of the takeover, as his long era as head of the club came to an end.

He said: “A lot of people have actually said to me, ‘what are you doing at the club at the moment?’ because they weren’t quite sure.

“I had a difficult period last year, between August and December, I didn’t think I would be coming back to Gillingham, didn’t think I would watch football again, I fell out of love with it.

“I was under a lot of pressure, a lot of strain, it was a difficult time for all of us, supporters, staff, management, sponsors, but I was fully intending that I would find someone who would come in to give us the investment we needed to take this great club forward.

“I had four or five different potential investors, all pretty good, one that I didn’t think would get through the Football League’s fit and proper test. We didn’t try that.

“Pretty late in the day I had an email from Brad Galinson, around September/October, asking if it was too late to get involved. He’s a guy that had been looking at lots of clubs around the country and had obviously done a lot of work on Gillingham because he knew a lot more about the club, in some instances than I knew.

“I called him back, we had a Zoom call, and three days later he flew to London.”

Mr Scally recalled how the property tycoon from Tampa, Florida came over to his house in Kent and they dined in London. Mr Galinson was his guest at the home game against Stevenage in mid-October.

The two met again in America.

“I went out to Tampa twice, secretly,” said Mr Scally. “We just walked and talked, literally that. He was a guy on his own, not part of a corporation, him and his wife, really nice people. We walked around Tampa and went to see the Bucs (the Tampa Bay Buccaneers).”

Not that Mr Scally was particularly keen on American football.

He recalled: “I got off the plane at five o’clock, was having burgers at seven and I was exhausted. He then took me to see the Bucs and if anyone’s knows anything abut American Football they’ll know it lasts about two hours and it’s quite boring to be frank!

“We sat there and we just got on. He’s a lovely man, I took to him straight away. He wanted to be involved in an English football club. He watched what we had been doing and really knew a lot about the club.

“We walked, stopped at cafes, sat out in the sunshine and we agreed a deal.”

Mr Galinson would exchange his investment in the Gills for a majority share in the club but Mr Scally would retain a minority stake, staying on as a director. The formalities were completed in December 23.

Mr Scally has been delighted with how things have worked out.

The initial investment in the playing team ensured there was enough quality to get the side out of trouble. They had been bottom of League 2 with situation worsening by the week.

“I would like to thank them for coming on board,” said Mr Scally. “Everything that we talked about, in the many talks we had, it has come to fruition, everything we agreed has come to fruition.

“Both he and Shannon are very enthusiastic, a fantastic help to me and the club.

“We can see a future for the football club, which is kind of what I wanted all along.”

Mr Galinson was keen to use his predecessor’s unrivalled lower-league knowledge and Mr Scally already had a plan.

“The first thing he asked me to do was to focus on football,” said Mr Scally. “The most important thing was to stay in the Football League, obviously. Dropping into the National League would have been a disaster.

“Before we finalised a deal I had met with Kenny (Jackett) a few times. I have always liked Kenny. I (had previously) interviewed him for the manager’s job but he decided to go to Portsmouth instead, which I haven’t held against him!

“I have always liked and respected him, he is a very honourable man, and I had meetings with Kenny and said ‘if we can pull this deal off with Brad will you come onboard?’ We needed to set up a proper recruitment department, and to have a professional approach to recruitment at the football club.”

The Gills previously had Nicky Shorey in as head of recruitment but he left in early December.

“Kenny agreed that if we got Brad onboard he would come in,” said the former owner. “It is a role I knew he could do really well, he is a man I trust totally with the future of this football club in terms of recruitment. I asked Hessy if he would come back, it was good to have him back as head of recruitment.”

Jackett was appointed director of football with Hessenthaler taking on the head of recruitment role, working alongside former agent James King, as a recruitment consultant. Another member of the department has recently been appointed.

Mr Scally said: “We have got four very capable people who spend all their time out there looking at teams, looking at games, and indeed looking at players.

“I am very proud to work alongside the recruitment team, we have two or three meetings a week.

“We managed to bring in 10 players during January, one of which I brought in just before Brad came in, which was a little ballsy because we didn’t really have the money to do the deal but I did the deal. Fortunately Brad came in and Tom Nichols came in very shortly after.”

Manager Neil Harris and his team quickly got the new team to gel and from being adrift at the foot of the table, they’ve reached the final weeks of the season in relative comfort, having put their fears of relegation firmly to bed.

“It has been very much a season of two halves,” said Mr Scally. “Very difficult for everyone first half, but I would like to thank all of the staff, supporters, sponsors, Neil, the management team and backroom staff and staff at the club.

“I came back for my first game on Boxing Day, I knew the deal was done on December 23 and Christmas was better than I thought it was going to be. Brad came over the rest is history.

“We managed to get the players in, the form has changed, we are in a very good position and we are working hard with everyone around the club to make sure life going forwards is a lot better than it was in the last six to 12 months.

“I thank everyone who has supported us, we have come through it and we have got a journey to go on now. We don’t want to settle for where we are.

“We have had a fantastic four months from January and we intend to make it better going forward.

“Things are going to change in the club. It is nice to be working with a team of people who are committed to taking this club on a journey to make life better for everyone.”