A letter from Chairman Paul Scally

[PuB]

Here’s an excerpt: ‘These people will be ‘red carded’ and removed from any standing or data base within the Club. Based on my definition of supporters, these people are simply not supporters and our fans should be aware of this point, and who these people are.

We will make their names known to our supporters and sponsors so they will know who to avoid when engaging in normal banter on forums or other places.’

Talking about supporters who happen to disagree with him or his lovely manager, him and Evans deserve each other.

Edit: I can’t link the original 14 page letter (to god knows who) as its in PDF format

Double edit: A letter from the Chairman

 

[Indian Dan]

So what, specifically, have your fans been ‘bantering’ about that has got Scally’s knickers in a twist? Anything much different to what would be found on most fans forums? I mean, you’re doing quite well on the pitch. So what’s the beef?

 

[THE LAST WALTZ]

Unfortunately we seem to have more than our fair share of trolls who like to accuse Scally of everything from raping the club to being the devil incarnate.
Most want us to spend millions we don’t have abs they will then be the first to blame him when we go the way of Bury.
A lot of the ‘banter’ he is talking about is just vile, personal abuse.
All clubs have fans that embarrass us and fans that we wish we didn’t have.
Having said all that he would still be better served to just ignore the thick wankers and not give them the sad infamy they crave.

 

[Indian Dan]

Well, Power has been described as a crook, gangster, thief, fraud, a self-confessed player of the pink oboe, a loathsome spotted reptile. Isn’t all this just par for the course for the majority of club owners.

 

[PuB]

Unfortunately we seem to have more than our fair share of trolls who like to accuse Scally of everything from raping the club to being the devil incarnate.
Most want us to spend millions we don’t have abs they will then be the first to blame him when we go the way of Bury.
A lot of the ‘banter’ he is talking about is just vile, personal abuse.
All clubs have fans that embarrass us and fans that we wish we didn’t have.
Having said all that he would still be better served to just ignore the thick wankers and not give them the sad infamy they crave.

I don’t really agree at all, I’ve not seen anything that goes beyond the pale (although I’m also not sure what he’s referring to).

But for a chairman to openly state he’s going to start ‘red carding’ people based on whether they agree with him or not, is a little much.

Threatening to spread peoples names around to sponsors and amongst the fan base for disagreeing with him?

Can you imagine any other business owner behaving like that and thinking it’s ok to state it in public?

 

[Indian Dan]

Adolf Hitler?

 

[Luke Imp]

Not done Steve Evans any favours by telling everyone what your budget is.

 

[PuB]

Not done Steve Evans any favours by telling everyone what your budget is.

Tiniest, tinest, err wage, in the football league no doubt.

 

[Gills4years]

We do have trolls. If you run any size of business in the modern world you will encounter trolls.

Scally saved the club back in the mid 90s and plotted our way to the Championship for a few seasons. Something we had never achieved before, so we have a lot to thank him for historically.

However, his PR is absolutely shite. Owner of a major persecution complex, he publishes the most abbreviated accounts he can, as late as he can, maybe as they show he takes over £200k out of club each year for his services. When he took over the club, it was based on providing a set of guarantees but only £1 in cash. All those facts are documented, as is the £1.2 million share issue that was taken up by supporters to build the Medway stand. As far as I can tell those shares are not tradeable.

His response? Go to war with supporters to satisfy his ego.

Every so often he threatens to quit but most people suspect he is only willing to sell 49% and he also claims that everyone who has shown any interest have indicated that they would want him to stay in control. Make of that what you will, but he does seem to do his best to portray himself as a control freak.

 

[THE LAST WALTZ]

We do have trolls. If you run any size of business in the modern world you will encounter trolls.

Scally saved the club back in the mid 90s and plotted our way to the Championship for a few seasons. Something we had never achieved before, so we have a lot to thank him for historically.

However, his PR is absolutely shite. Owner of a major persecution complex, he publishes the most abbreviated accounts he can, as late as he can, maybe as they show he takes over £200k out of club each year for his services. When he took over the club, it was based on providing a set of guarantees but only £1 in cash. All those facts are documented, as is the £1.2 million share issue that was taken up by supporters to build the Medway stand. As far as I can tell those shares are not tradeable.

His response? Go to war with supporters to satisfy his ego.

Every so often he threatens to quit but most people suspect he is only willing to sell 49% and he also claims that everyone who has shown any interest have indicated that they would want him to stay in control. Make of that what you will, but he does seem to do his best to portray himself as a control freak.

He files abridged accounts at Companies House. The same as 95% of companies that are entitled to do so. Why is that an issue? Why would he file anything else? The accountants file the accounts by the way.
He takes a remuneration from the club. It is his income. He doesn’t have other businesses like some chairmen for whom the football club is just a hobby. It is actually a pretty normal amount for someone running a business of this size. Again, why are people so up in arms?
I agree that PR is not his strong point but I don’t believe that he throws his toys out of the pram over people disagreeing with him. Rather he gets angry when there is vile personal abuse of him and his family. As would I.
Anyone who runs a football club will of course come in for criticism and scrutiny but when it goes beyond that and becomes ignorant abuse then I feel he has every right to call them out.
Why is it in modern society people think it is OK to abuse people just because they are in the public eye?

 

[PuB]

He files abridged accounts at Companies House. The same as 95% of companies that are entitled to do so. Why is that an issue? Why would he file anything else? The accountants file the accounts by the way.
He takes a remuneration from the club. It is his income. He doesn’t have other businesses like some chairmen for whom the football club is just a hobby. It is actually a pretty normal amount for someone running a business of this size. Again, why are people so up in arms?
I agree that PR is not his strong point but I don’t believe that he throws his toys out of the pram over people disagreeing with him. Rather he gets angry when there is vile personal abuse of him and his family. As would I.
Anyone who runs a football club will of course come in for criticism and scrutiny but when it goes beyond that and becomes ignorant abuse then I feel he has every right to call them out.
Why is it in modern society people think it is OK to abuse people just because they are in the public eye?

Can you point us in the direction of any abuse towards him or his family? (I haven’t seen any, just curious).

Also his letter does not state personal abuse, just if you disagree with him.

 

[THE LAST WALTZ]

Can you point us in the direction of any abuse towards him or his family? (I haven’t seen any, just curious).

Also his letter does not state personal abuse, just if you disagree with him.

PUB
I’m not going to get a protracted conversation over this as I believe we are both genuine fans that care about the club, just have different opinions on this.
Have a look on the various Facebook forums that blame Scally from everything from not being in the Champions League to start of Covid.
Faceless, cowardly morons most of them.

 

[PuB]

I don’t go on the clubs various forums so I genuinely don’t know if he or his family have suffered personal abuse (totally unacceptable if so obviously).

I do know that during lockdown Scally turned up at someone’s house after they posted pictures online of faulty items they had bought from the club shop (having failed to get a response from the club in the first instance). I also know that people wanting refunds for season tickets, which obviously haven’t been used, have been treated very poorly.

If you want your customers to treat you with respect then I suggest the person in charge offers the same. It’s a two way street.

 

[Davidimp]

Not done Steve Evans any favours by telling everyone what your budget is.

So our budget isn't 4 times bigger, I'm in shock
Steve Evans and budgets why can't he just say nowt he only ends up in trouble.
Midtable budget playing above it like us, fair play.
McGeady Griggs are on more than our budgets combined

 

[Davidimp]

I don’t go on the clubs various forums so I genuinely don’t know if he or his family have suffered personal abuse (totally unacceptable if so obviously).

I do know that during lockdown Scally turned up at someone’s house after they posted pictures online of faulty items they had bought from the club shop (having failed to get a response from the club in the first instance). I also know that people wanting refunds for season tickets, which obviously haven’t been used, have been treated very poorly.

If you want your customers to treat you with respect then I suggest the person in charge offers the same. It’s a two way street.

He keeps your club afloat like ours and a few others battling with the big boys in this division, it's not easy.

 

[PuB]

He keeps your club afloat like ours and a few others battling with the big boys in this division, it's not easy.

It’s not meant to be a dig at the man, but does your chairman draw a wage from the club?

Keeping us afloat keeps him afloat.

 

[Guernica]

Did he refund supporters season tickets from last season?

 

[GFC4EVA]

Did he refund supporters season tickets from last season?

No, a few fans posted stuff about not getting a refund and scally came out and said that anyone who wants refunds aren't real fans of gillingham

 

[Davidimp]

It’s not meant to be a dig at the man, but does your chairman draw a wage from the club?

Keeping us afloat keeps him afloat.

Nah just puts in, as he has done from South Africa for the last 5 years.

 

[PuB]

Did he refund supporters season tickets from last season?

No. Other than giving access to home games on ifollow for season ticket holders there has been zero communication from the club on the issue, or any mass offer of recompence.

It was taken to the football ombudsman who strongly suggested the club make a forthcoming statement in January, and yet nothing.

 

[Gills4years]

He files abridged accounts at Companies House. The same as 95% of companies that are entitled to do so. Why is that an issue? Why would he file anything else? The accountants file the accounts by the way.
He takes a remuneration from the club. It is his income. He doesn’t have other businesses like some chairmen for whom the football club is just a hobby. It is actually a pretty normal amount for someone running a business of this size. Again, why are people so up in arms?
I agree that PR is not his strong point but I don’t believe that he throws his toys out of the pram over people disagreeing with him. Rather he gets angry when there is vile personal abuse of him and his family. As would I.
Anyone who runs a football club will of course come in for criticism and scrutiny but when it goes beyond that and becomes ignorant abuse then I feel he has every right to call them out.
Why is it in modern society people think it is OK to abuse people just because they are in the public eye?

He takes a remuneration decided by him and him alone. Do you think anyone else at the club has any real power to hold him to account? The only other director or investor he turned up in his many foreign sojourns over a decade is being prosecuted abroad and the club is having to repay all the money he invested over a much shorter term than budgeted for.

When talking about players taking wage deferrals rather than wage cuts, he could perhaps throw in how much of HIS remuneration he is having to forgo for this season. We shall probably not know until eighteen months after the end of the financial year. If the accounts can be so abridged, why do they take so long to be compiled? The accountants file them but only after they have been approved and signed by - guess who?

If and when he sells up, it will be interesting to see whether the supporters who bought shares back in the day actually get a small amount back - they have certainly never been offered any perks - or whether he just sells his majority holding.

 

[THE LAST WALTZ]

Of course he makes the decisions regarding remuneration etc. the same as any other owner managed business in the country.
As for the accounts, the ones filed at Companies House are in the abridged format as laid out by Companies House.
Any shareholder can ask for a copy of the full accounts which are audited by an independent firm of auditors.
I will not be asking for a refund on my shares as they were only ever a very small minority holding. This was clear when purchased and was merely a keepsake and a small ‘donation’ to the club.
If anyone ever thought there were an investment then they are naive in the extreme.

 

[Indian Dan]

Nobody knows how an owner has run a club until he actually leaves and even then if there had been any dodgy dealings they would be hidden by a NDA. The favourite seems to be loaning the club money and charging an exorbitant % rate.

I reckon most clubs would be sustainable if owners kept their grubby little hands out of the till. But, for some, the lure of owning a club is the opportunity to extract funds.

 

[Luke Imp]

It’s not meant to be a dig at the man, but does your chairman draw a wage from the club?

Keeping us afloat keeps him afloat.

We haven't had any Board member take a wage/dividend/expenses/pension contributions or anything for years and years. I can't remember it ever happening in my time watching Lincoln.

 

[Luke Imp]

Nobody knows how an owner has run a club until he actually leaves and even then if there had been any dodgy dealings they would be hidden by a NDA. The favourite seems to be loaning the club money and charging an exorbitant % rate.

I reckon most clubs would be sustainable if owners kept their grubby little hands out of the till. But, for some, the lure of owning a club is the opportunity to extract funds.

I think we're probably one of the few whose Board buy shares and invests via equity rather than loans, which keeps us debt free in that respect.

Posh owe their lot £10m+ now I think.

 

[Boletus Edulis]

I think we're probably one of the few whose Board buy shares and invests via equity rather than loans, which keeps us debt free in that respect.

Posh owe their lot £10m+ now I think.

Simon Hallett turned his loans into equity and has said several times that if he sells he does not expect the sale to be anywhere near equal to what he has invested. He does not see ownership of Argo as a financial investment, more of a cultural/community investment. Such owners are very rare.

 

[PuB]

I’d be surprised if there are any other chairmen in league one taking out a wage (yes I accept that he can), and I’d be even more surprised if any chairmen had done it consistently for about 25 years across league’s one and two.

I’d be even more surprised if those chairmen also had their wives on the payroll for some of those seasons.

 

[Gassy]

Bloke sounds a right twat.

 

[Davidimp]

Scally by name...

 

[THE LAST WALTZ]

OK my final effort to get some sort of common sense in this issue.

firstly Scally has said in his letter (and it may best read before commenting) that he does not expect everyone to agree with the decisions he makes or the manager makes. He has no issue with ‘banter’ on the forums. His words. What he does object to is personal abuse of him and others at the club, and their families by people who do nothing but damage the club. People who hide behind false usernames. Keyboard cowards.
Secondly, who here works for nothing? If you run your own business do you take a wage? If you work for a company does the owner take a wage? Many chairmen, probably most, have other businesses interests and the football club is something of a side line. The upside of this is that because it is Scally’s livelihood it is in his interest to keep it solvent and not let it go to the wall.
His wife took a salary? Did she work for the club in any capacity?
The most worrying thing for me about this is how do you know? The only wage required to be disclosed in the accounts is the highest earning director. So, is this again just hate fuelled, ignorant rumour or has someone been disclosing personal wage details? If so that is pretty unscrupulous at best and possibly cause for a civil action at worst.
I said before and I will say again that Scally is not perfect and his PR skills leave a lot to be desired.
I will not condemn him though for taking a stand against personal abuse or trying to stop some individuals damaging the club and the business. Wouldn’t most of you?
Under him though the club is solvent, we are not going the way of Bury or to a lesser extent Orient. We spent 5 years in the championship and are currently looking at our second consecutive season in the top half of league one.
Since he took over we have spent 5 years in league 2, 15 years in league 1 and 5 years in the championship. Not world beating but how many in this board think that is appalling and the chairman deserves this level of scrutiny?

Now let the baseless bashing commence again.