After 27 years at the helm Gillingham chairman Paul Scally is taking a break from the club. We look back at almost three decades of highs and lows for Gills during the Scally era.

June 1995: Despite rumours of a showbusiness consortium considering an offer to buy Gillingham, unknown businessman and Millwall fan Paul Scally is announced as the new owner after purchasing the club from Tony Smith. Neil Smillie had been in caretaker charge of team affairs since Mike Flanagan's departure in February, but Scally appointed former Gills player Tony Pulis as manager and it proved a masterstroke.

1995-1999: Gills began the 1995/96 season in Division 3 of the Football League but stated their promotion intent from the off. Four successive wins set the tone and they went on to finish as runners-up with striker Leo Fortune-West scoring 15 goals. With promotion in his first season, things could not have gone much better for Scally.

If any Gills fans feared they would struggle to hold their own in Division 2 those concerns were misplaced. With 23-goal Iffy Onuora leading the line, Pulis' side finished 11th, and they did even better in 1997/98, Ade Akinbiyi also comfortably in double figures with 22 goals, as Gillingham finished eighth.

Twelve months later Gills were minutes away from English football's second tier in one of the most famous play-off finals in history. After finishing the league season in fourth place, they led Manchester City 2-0 after 89 minutes at Wembley, before Kevin Horlock in the 90th minute and Paul Dickov in the fifth minute of injury time denied the Gills. The game went to penalties with Gillingham beaten 3-1. Pulis, meanwhile, was sacked by Scally the following month to be replaced by Peter Taylor.

2000-2004: Where Pulis fell short Taylor got the job done, leading Gillingham to promotion and what was new ground as the club reached English football's second tier for the first time. As in the previous year there was plenty of play-off final drama, Gills beating Wigan 3-2 with Andy Thomson's late header. Leicester City, however, had their eye on the Gills boss and he quit the club for the Premier League outfit after just one season.

Once again Scally needed a new manager and this time he kept things in-house, appointing Andy Hessenthaler as player/boss. Despite his lack of managerial experience, Hessenthaler proved a success, keeping the club in the second tier with 13th, 12th and 11th place finishes in the first three seasons. However he resigned in November 2004 with Gills on a poor run and, after several caretakers, including former England assistant manager John Gorman, he was replaced by former Burnley manager Stan Ternent. There were some impressive cup runs, too, with memorable games against Chelsea and Arsenal.

2005-2009: Gillingham's five-year stay in the second tier ended in May 2005 despite the best efforts of Ternent, who only just failed to keep the side up on goal difference. He declined to stay for 2005/06, however, with Scally opting for Neale Cooper - but the Scot lasted until November before resigning with the club in the relegation zone.

Some stability was needed and it came in the form of Ronnie Jepson. Ternent's No.2 had stayed on to assist Cooper, and Scally saw enough in him to offer the manager's job. Jepson stayed for nearly two years before resigning himself after a poor start to the season in September 2007.

The 2007/08 campaign saw Gills relegated for the second time in three years. After Onuora and Mick Docherty briefly held the reins, Scally decided on Stevenage boss Mark Stimson and although he failed to keep Gills in League 1, he got the club promoted at the first attempt in May 2009 with a 1-0 play-off final win over Shrewsbury at Wembley.

2010-14: Unfortunately for Stimson he could not keep Gills up, and they returned to League 2 after one year. That signalled his departure and a return for Andy Hessenthaler, Scally opting to give his former manager another go in the hotseat after impressing with Dover Athletic. Two successive eighth-placed finishes followed before Hessenthaler was replaced by Martin Allen for the start of the 2012/13 campaign.

Mad Dog gave Gills plenty of bite and they stormed to the League 2 title, Scally's first as chairman. However Allen was sacked just two months into 2013/14 with his side 17th in the table. Peter Taylor returned to the club, but, like Andy Hessenthaler, his second spell was a disappointment compared to his first and he was dismissed by Scally on December 31, 2014 - 14 months after his appointment.

2015-19: Priestfield legends Andy Hessenthaler, Steve Lovell, Darren Hare and Mark Patterson were coined the Gang of Four as they combined to take temporary charge following Taylor's exit. They held the fort until Scally could complete a deal with Newport's former Spurs left-back Justin Edinburgh and he was worth the wait as Gills started 2015/16 strongly and remained at the top end of the table until the new year before finishing ninth.

Expectations were high the following season but instead Edinburgh was sacked in January, to be replaced by crowd favourite Ady Pennock, who in turn was sacked in September 2017. Peter Taylor then returned for a month before Scally put his faith in ex-Gills striker Steve Lovell. He lasted 18 months and was sacked in April 2019 with none of them able to get Gills promoted.

2019-22: Gang of Four member Mark Patterson was placed in charge for two games but the big news was Scally's decision to appoint Steve Evans in June 2019. The Scot was not a popular choice with many supporters, but successive 10th-placed finishes were received positively until the relationship between owner and manager soured in their third year together. Evans was sacked in January this year - Lovell again filling the managerial shoes temporarily - until former Gills striker Neil Harris was appointed. Harris - the 15th full-time manager since June 1995 - couldn't quite keep Gills from relegation back into League 2 after nine seasons away. He could also be Scally's final managerial appointment...

• Five key challenges facing the new man in charge at Gills

• Paul Scally to take extended break from Gillingham