Gillingham’s managing director Joe Comper on his new role and chairman Brad Galinson’s reaction to the promotion

Gillingham’s chairman is confident their newly-promoted managing director can replicate the impressive off-field success with the club’s first team.

Brad Galinson - who splits his time between the Gills and the US - was keen for someone to oversee the club as a whole and believes Joe Comper’s the ideal person to fill that role.

More: Gills boss gets chairman’s backing

Galinson said: “If the pies are bad and the football is good, then you’re okay, but if the pies are great and the football is bad, you’re really not okay.

“We’re a football club and so ultimately how you play on the pitch is what drives everything else, which makes it so obvious why football and non-football have to be under the same management, most clubs do it that way, we needed to evolve.

“I feel more comfortable going back to the States with this change - it is in good hands, good communication and good transparency for me and Shannon (Galinson - his wife and co-owner). I think that is the most important thing.

“You have to then let these guys do their job, get out of their way and give them the resources to do it.

“Since we took over the club a little over a year ago Joe has been running the non-football and look at the success we’ve had financially, we have tripled sponsor sales, doubled retail sales, introduced LEDs, broke all season ticket records in the history of the club.

“This is the next step, pulling football into that same umbrella with Joe running it, to hopefully have that same success. This is pulling the entire company together where it should be.”

The Galinsons are the majority owners of the club with former chairman Paul Scally a minority owner and member of the board of directors.

Mr Galinson said this move means the former chief