GILLINGHAM owner Paul Scally has shared how he was targeted for abuse while caring for his dying friend.
Scally, 66, was terrified as online trolling escalated to intruders vandalizing his property and car, and he even received hate calls late at night after his mobile number was posted on social media.
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The Gillingham chairman is the second longest serving owner of English football, after Middlesbrough’s Steve Gibson, after 27 years at the helm.
And he went through hell as he juggled balancing the Kent club’s finances after his loss £3MILLION due to Covid helping lifelong friend Philip Ewens, who had terminal thrombosis of the lungs.
His friend finally succumbed to the disease last June, but the ongoing attacks continued on Scally last season, with a plane even flying over Priestfield saying “Scally out”.
And after Gillingham was relegated to League Two on goal difference following their home defeat to Rotherham in April, violence erupted during a field invasion, leading to a number of arrests.
It left Scally pondering whether he wanted to stay in the game he loves – and last night announced he would be taking an extended break from football to reflect on his past and his future involvement with the League Two side.
The Gills chairman told me: “I was in a bad position because I suffered a torrent of abuse from a minority of fans. Some of it was brutal and personal. There is damage to my property and car.
“And at the time, I was also a caregiver because one of my best friends, who I went to school with from the age of five, was seriously ill.
“Everyone thought he had Covid, but it turned out to be a thrombosis of the lungs. He had no one to take care of him.
“Phil stayed in a room in Charlton and I can only describe the place as a dump!
“I said, ‘Mate, you can’t stay here, this place is terrible.’ There were hardly any windows, it had no Sky TV, no wifi. He was alone, it was very sad.
“It was during the Covid period and I was home all the time. So I said, ‘I have a spare room, I’ll equip it and you can stay with me.’
“I had a walk-in shower fitted, the NHS sent a hospital bed and oxygen machines while I became its carer.
“Every day I made his breakfast, lunch and gave him his medication.
“I built a chicken coop and eggs were laid every morning. Phil liked poached eggs, so he got them fresh.
“We were good company for each other and it gave me a sense of purpose. He was given only two months to live, but survived for 11 months.
“I wouldn’t say he had a happy time, but it was much happier than if he’d been in that horrible place.
“We had a lot of chat and didn’t talk about the fact that he was dying. The only thing that came between us was the fact that he was a fan of Charlton! Even the day before he died, I reprimanded him about football.
“He was with me to the end. His body just gave up. He was 65.”
Scally manages Gillingham within his means, but at the same time has delivered the club’s most successful era.
During his time, they have achieved three promotions, reached three Wembley play-off finals, won four FA Cup matches against Premier League clubs and achieved their highest-ever finish: 11th in the Championship.
But some fans became restless and Gills chairman said: “I was being abused on the internet and some of the language was vicious and full of hate. It was disgusting.
“I couldn’t understand why these people were so mad at me and it was like they were feeding each other and social media was not helping.
“They were putting my phone number online and I got a call at 2am. I didn’t sleep for a few nights because I woke up. I had intruders on my property one night and they caused some damage.
“It was scary. It hit me more because I didn’t know why they were doing it. It came out of nowhere.
“One minute everything seemed relatively fine and the next I was getting chaotic abuse and hatred. And this all happened while I was taking care of Phil.”
Far from the wealthy benefactor many clubs enjoy, Scally loves the Gills passionately – and the Covid situation has worried him as the lower divisions lost millions of pounds.
Gillingham’s chairman led a major clean-up of the stadium and reset the matter.
But Scally admits that the scenes he witnessed after the Rotherham defeat left him stunned.
Priestfield, which already has a school for underprivileged children, will soon open a nursery. The club also hosts concerts in their main hall and built a pizza and pasta factory while looking at other vital revenue streams.
And he believes the football world is much more aggressive after Covid.
He said: “There is no doubt that I have suffered damage. No person who has been on the other side of what I’ve been through in the past year couldn’t be affected by it – especially if you haven’t done anything wrong.
“It’s true that I haven’t invested £10 to 20 million because I don’t have that kind of funding. I’m not like ex-Derby chairman Mel Morris, who could write checks for £100 million – although that didn’t end well, still ?
‘I am not a rich benefactor. I never have been and I never will. I’m just a normal person running a football club. But it’s becoming increasingly clear in the English game that there are limited places for such owners these days!”
When asked if he still had thoughts in his head about throwing in the towel, Gillingham said: “I’m feeling a little better than I was in April, but I’m taking things day by day.”
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Kick sexists out of football
It was great to see both QPR and Middlesbrough fans greeting English lion hero Chloe Kelly on Loftus Road.
Euro 2022 match winner Kelly, 24, is a huge Rs fan and was at the club to open The Stanley Bowles Stand and cheered from all corners of the ground.
But unfortunately, there are still sexist idiots who attend matches and make women feel like second-class citizens.
Bristol City women’s coach Lauren Smith revealed how she was targeted when she saw the men’s team lose 3-2 to Sunderland at Ashton Gate.
She was told the old boring sexist cliché: ‘Women shouldn’t be in football, but in the kitchen’.
Lauren responded on her Twitter account by inviting the imbecile to the Robins’ High Performance Center to prove he was wrong.
I also have a suggestion for the man.
You’re definitely not supposed to be in football, you’re the one who isn’t welcome, you old-fashioned sexist bigot!