In estate agent terms Gillingham, the EFL’s bottom club, five points adrift of safety with a “temporary stand” dating back to 2004, are a “fixer-upper with potential”.
Which might explain why Florida-based real estate mogul Brad Galinson bought majority ownership just before Christmas.
Saturday offers a chance to witness that potential as Leicester City, the 2021 FA Cup winners, come to Medway for a televised third round tie that is the very essence of the competition.
Before a sell-out crowd Galinson, his wife Shannon and sons will be introduced on the pitch with the pony-tailed American set to get a rapturous reception from fans desperate for a change.
A win for Neil Harris’ Gills would be a minor miracle, even a goal would be a shock after managing one in their last nine league games. But the tie is only a pleasant diversion from the grim slog of avoiding relegation.
Proud of their status as Kent’s only Football League club, the dreaded prospect of dropping into non-league now looms. Not only will county rivals Maidstone and Bromley, and potentially Dartford and Ebbsfleet, eagerly await but, as many have found, it is a tough league to escape.
Gills’ plight is a far cry from the turn of the century when Tony Pulis’ side led Manchester City 2-0 after 89 minutes of the 1999 third tier play-off at Wembley.
But for City’s famous comeback recent Premier League history could have been very different, but often forgotten is that Gillingham survived the trauma to gain promotion under Peter Taylor a year later in an equally dramatic play-off against Wigan.
There followed five seasons in the second tier, the first at that level in the club’s history, peaking at 11th under Andy Hessenthaler. The likes of Leeds, West Ham and Leicester were defeated while FA Cup runs took the Gills to Highbury and Stamford Bridge.
But relegation prompted a long decline. In the subsequent 17 seasons there have been three more relegations, two promotions, and 11 managers. The Gills now find themselves where they were when previous owner Paul Scally arrived in 1995, fighting relegation to non-League.
After buying the club out of administration Scally proved an energetic, but divisive figure. He rebuilt the ground and oversaw Gills’ greatest era, but took on fans, local media, the council, the police, the league, even Pulis.
Now based in Dubai, the news that Scally remains as a minority shareholder and influential voice has been greeted with mixed feelings. Some fans still swear by him, plenty will only swear about him.
There were several attempts in his tenure to move Gills away from the 129-year-old Priestfield Stadium, squeezed amid terraced streets, to a new ground, none of which got far. In the meantime he sought to expand daily use with a banqueting hall, function suites, a bar, even a small school for troubled students.
Galinson said this diversification, along with the club’s “rich heritage, terrific catchment area, huge fanbase and huge corporate sponsor base” are what attracted him.
But for what motive? Can Gills really be a money-spinner? Is a League Two club a trophy asset? Manchester United’s experience might suggest clubs beware of Tampa businessmen, and a background in property rather than sports ownership worries some fans, aware Priestfield is ripe for development.
But the former Home Shopping Network executive has started well, even if his video messages make English eyes cringe.
He announced his first signing this way – Crawley Town’s Tom Nichols. Gills had not paid for a player in three years but the reported £60,000 outlay is the start of what Galinson promises will be “a lucrative transfer window”.
To aid the process Hessenthaler returned yesterday as head of recruitment, joined by Kenny Jackett as director of football.
Both are shrewd appointments, but also potential successors to Harris who said this week, “it is either change me [or] change the players”. He has only survived this long as he has credit in the bank after nearly conjuring survival last May, and there is recognition he has had no cash to invest in a weak squad.
That has changed. If Gillingham are to avoid sliding out of the league Galinson’s cash must be spent quickly, and wisely.
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