Gillingham 1 Port Vale 2

Match 36/07/653 - Saturday, 8th December 2007 - League One

Gillingham (1) 1 Dickson 32
Port Vale (2) 2 Willock 34 King o.g. 45
Att. 7,001

Entrance: Season ticket
Programme: £3
Mileage: 45/3,148

Match Report

In atrocious conditions, a surprising defeat to end a week where time is going to be the arbiter on how momentous these few days have been in the history of Gillingham Football Club.

On the field, at Crewe on Tuesday, a first away win of the season after seven defeats out of eight, raised spirits and expectation to new heights, only for them to be dampened in the driving rain at Priestfield by bottom of the table Port Vale. In fairness to Gillingham, it wasn’t a game they deserved to lose, they had the majority of the possession throughout the whole game, created several half-chances, but could not conjure up the equaliser.

The scoring was condensed into a 13 minute spell. Gills went one up when Chris Dickson finished after a superb through ball from Adam Miller, who was heart and soul all afternoon. But lack of concentration (and rank poor defending) let Vale back almost immediately and when Simon King turned a half-hit shot into his own net, a comfortable afternoon had turned into an uphill struggle.

To their credit, the home side drove on during the second half as relentlessly as the rain fell, and whilst there were a few boos at the final whistle, the majority probably appreciated and to a certain extent were reassured by the endeavour that had been shown in awful conditions. A disappointing end to a 10 game run unbeaten at home.

Off the field, shareholders and supporters alike were finally privy to the restructuring of the Club's debt that has supposedly met with the Bank's approval. The bare bones of a complex financial document are that Priestfield Stadium is to be sold to Priestfield Developments for £9.8 million, thereby reducing the Club's debt to a more manageable £3 million and interest payments from £800K to £200K per annum. That is the easy bit. Where the issue becomes clouded is the 100 per cent ownership of Priestfield Developments by the chairman of Gillingham Football Club, Mr Paul Scally.

The modern day equivalent of the letters page in the local paper, the internet message board is full to the rafters with differing viewpoints from Scally the Saviour to Scally the Swagman. So diverse are the opinions it is impossible to form any consensus, there is the obvious anti-Scally faction, over the years the chairman has managed to piss off enough people that whatever he did on this issue was going to be wrong. At the other end of the scale he has supporters that are going to take him and his plan at face value and run with it. I find this difficult to do because there are more than a few unanswered questions.

Firstly, where has PDPS found the £9.8 million to "buy" Priestfield. Of course, I and any other person with an interest, have no idea as to the state of his bank account, but I very much doubt that an amount of that magnitude is coming out of his personal wealth. So, if we assume that the majority of the money is borrowed, who is going to be paying the interest on that particular loan in the coming years whilst football continues to be played at our home ground?

The published terms see the Club given a 10 year lease, with the first three years rent-free, and thereafter for a fee to be negotiated in relation to the club’s divisional status. So far so good, but what if somebody comes in with a silly money offer for the site? Ultimately, Mr Scally is a businessman and would sentimentality overcome a hard-headed business decision, I fear not.

There is an easy logic that shows that the deal is a good one for Mr Scally. It may not be worth it now, but valuations have been put on the ground as high as £14 million. Whilst the housing market might be a little slow right now, that is not going to last for ever and it is reasonable to assume that within the tenure of the lease the £14m figure will be equalled if not surpassed. Just using those figures available, a £4.2 million (or virtually 50%) return on his investment would appear to be fairly healthy, even if it went to the full term, and who is to say what the value might be in 2017.

We need to see a new ground firmly in our sights with all the planning permissions and finance in place for the spectre of Gillingham Football Club following in the footsteps of Brighton & Hove Albion and their nemesis, Bill Archer, to be dispelled.

The chairman explains.