Former Gillingham FC Owner Tony Smith has passed away at the age of 79.
The Football Club is devastated to learn of the passing of former Owner, Tony Smith.
Tony Smith became Gillingham’s managing director in April 1989, just before the club was relegated to the basement division. The next few years saw the Gills struggle on the pitch, with money problems off it, and Smith was the club’s main financial benefactor, ploughing a lot of his own cash into the Gills to keep it in existence.
During the early stages of the 1994-95 season, Smith resigned from the board and put the club up for sale, saying, “Since 1988 I have injected more than £1m into Gillingham Football Club, ensuring its survival.
"Unfortunately, the inherited debt of £1.3m, plus the ongoing financial debt, have proved too large a burden for me to carry without prejudicing the financial security of my family, which I’m not prepared to consider. The truth is that I cannot afford to throw any more money at the club. This has been an emotional and heart-searching time. Had the club experienced a modicum of success the maybe I could have stomached the ongoing financial problems. On reflection, I acted as a fan and not as a director of a company. Too many times I let my heart rule my head. That’s a big regret.”
Smith, and his wife Val, continued to assist the club, prior to the takeover by Paul Scally in the summer of 1995, their help including putting up the £200,000 bond money, demanded by the Football League, as a guarantee against the club failing to complete the 1995-96 season, which had to be in place by the end of May 1995.
Tony may have been at the helm during a difficult period for the club, but he kept it afloat during dark times at Priestfield and the role he played ensured that the Gills made it through to better days once more, and, for that, all Gillingham fans should be grateful.
Our thoughts and condolences are with his wife Val, daughters Rachel and Natalie, son-in-law's Kriss and Joe and grandchildren Morgan, Jade, Louis, Shannon and Madison.
The Gillingham FC board said: "Tony was a humble, kind and loveable character. Everyone at the club will miss him greatly and fans will have the opportunity to give thanks, and pay tribute, to Tony prior to kick-off against Newport County on April 29."