Life at Gillingham Football Club may be very different in the New Year with rumours of a takeover gathering pace.

Current owner and now Co-Chairman, Paul Scally, has made no secret of the fact that he is keen to offload Kent’s only Football League club, but the price has to be right.

Scally has been in charge at The Gills since saving the club back in 1995, paying the princely sum of just £1 to stop the club from going into liquidation.

Fast forward 27 years and the club are now facing a relegation battle that would see them enter Non League, a position Gillingham were in when Scally took over.

So having gone almost full circle with some great days at Wembley in the play-offs and memories of playing at the dizzy heights of the Championship at the start of the new century, Gillingham now find themselves effectively up for sale, but there have been no takers in the past ten years or so.

Many have expressed an interest and if the past has taught us anything, nothing is certain until it’s actually happened.

So where have the takeover rumours come from?

A few months ago, Scally made a surprise move by bringing Paul Fisher back into the club to take on the day to day running and also to become the Co-Chairman.

This has allowed Scally to focus on his own exit strategy, whilst protecting his own health.

In the past few weeks, rumours have grown that a number of interested parties have shown themselves to be keen on taking over at Priestfield, but like years gone by, having an interest and having the necessary funds is another thing.

Anyone wanting to take over at Gillingham will have to pass muster with the EFL – and that’s not easy nowadays.

Gone are the days where a prospective owner could dance into a club with a wing and a prayer, and lots of promises, only for it all to backfire.

That doesn’t mean to say that this doesn’t still happen as it does. Many an owner believe they have what it takes to get a club to the promised land of the Premier League. Many clubs have hit the wall trying and there are too many sad tales of clubs that have floundered having gone for broke.

So who could Gillingham’s mystery new owner be?

A lot of talk about an American businessmen has gained traction in recent weeks with a few coincidences of American visits to Priestfield too hard to ignore.

Investment into British football clubs from wealthy American owners isn’t new and the likes of Manchester United, Liverpool and Wrexham can hang their hats on having financial clout from over the pond.

Chelsea are one of the latest acquisitions for an American businessman and the likes of Gillingham could be a good long term investment to any potential buyer.

You only have to look at where Gillingham are geographically to see that being the only Football League club in Kent offers big returns in the long term.

Staying in the Football League is vital though and we’ve seen in recent years that clubs like Chesterfield, Notts County and Tranmere Rovers have fallen down the pyramid and struggled to return to where they came from.

So where do we go from here if you are a Gillingham fan?

Don’t expect a running commentary from the club as you won’t get one. You also won’t get confirmation or denials of an imminent takeover as it just won’t happen.

What we are likely to see though is yet more speculation, yet more rumours and yet more conspiracy theories.

One thing is for certain, Paul Scally’s time at Gillingham will come to an end at some point. How long that will be is almost anyone’s guess, but it’s seemingly more likely by the day that the fateful day is edging every closer.