Both Andy Hessenthaler and Paul Raynor have paid tribute to Chairman Paul Scally for guiding Gillingham through a quarter of a century.

Last week Scally marked 25 years in charge at Priestfield, taking over from Tony Smith in 1995 with the club at one of its’ lowest ebbs.

A sum of £1 was initially paid and Scally took on the reins at Kent’s now only Football League club.

The man who saved the club from extinction in 1995 has seen many ups and downs in the last quarter of a century.

Steve Evans is the thirteenth full time manager that Scally has appointed as well as a total of fourteen caretakers in seven different spells.

On the pitch there have been four promotions, three trips to Wembley and the Club have knocked out five top flight clubs from knock-out football – four in the FA Cup (Bradford City, Sheffield Wednesday, Charlton Athletic and Cardiff City) and Coventry City in the League Cup.

The club has also registered its’ highest ever League finish and got to the Quarter Finals of the FA Cup for the first – and so far, only – time in the club’s history.

Of course, there have been lows too with the heartbreak that came with Play Off Final defeat against Manchester City as well three separate relegations…

The Chairman has also been behind the complete transformation of the club’s Priestfield home into an all-seater stadium.

But it’s not all been plain sailing and there have been times when Scally has been associated with varying levels of controversy, but after twenty-five years he’s still at the helm of the club he bought for just £1.00 saving the club from being liquidated following administration.

One man who probably knows the Gills Chairman better than most and has worked for Scally four times down the years – as a player making over 300 appearances for the Gills and three times as manager (including one spell in a four way caretaker role) – is Andy Hessenthaler.

The Gills legend was in charge of the club for a total of a little over five years. We spoke to him for his thoughts on the Chairman’s anniversary – Hessenthaler told us, “Credit to him to be in the position for so long. I’ve known him for a long time, and he’s kept going.”

“To be honest, I thought he might have come away from the club a few years ago,” Hessenthaler admitted, “he’s been through some good times and some really tough times, but he’s stuck by the club and is still going.”

“He’s been my Chairman, but he’s also become a good friend of mine. He’s a businessman as well as a Chairman like most Chairman are – he’s tough; he makes some tough decisions – did I agree with everything he wanted to do? No, because you can’t agree with everybody and I didn’t agree with everything thing that he did – I also had my opinions on things – but everything he did, he did for the good of the club and as far as I’m concerned, he was always honest with me which was good and probably why I worked with him for so long!”

“There was a lot of honesty between the pair of us – he was tough to work with at times, but also fantastic to work with; socially he was great – when we had a beer, we had a beer and we talked about everything, he was good fun, but as a Chairman he was tough and hard to work with, but he was honest and that was the key for me – he told me how it was and I think that’s why we got on so well!”

Scally’s current assistant manager Paul Raynor also paid tribute to the Chairman – he told us, “You don’t see that (being in the role for 25 years) very often anymore and it’s a testament to the man himself. And the fact that people are making a big thing out of his anniversary, he must have done something right.”

“I know he’s had his critics, but he’s really shown in this period his prudence and his shrewd handling of the club.”

“Without that I’m sure that we might have a real problem – we might not have a club to work for and support, so he needs credit for that!”

“He’s a good man to work for – I’d heard all these stories that he was this and he was that, but when I met him face to face, he was very positive and clearly loves Gillingham, clearly loves the club you can just see that!”

“It’s his real pride and his real passion – I know he’s had some stick over the years, but you know what? He’s still in that stand and he’s still there, he still sticks his chest out and he still loves the club, so you know credit to him for that, especially at this difficult time, credit to him for keeping the doors open so we’ve still got a Football Club.”

“He may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I think his record at the club is great – we’ve got a Football Club which had a great season last year, maybe could have been better if we’d been allowed to finish it and that’s testament to the job that he’s done.”