Former Wigan Athletic, Chelsea and Leeds United pioneer has died

The former Chelsea, Leeds United and Wigan Athletic owner, businessman and administrator was never far from the headlines throughout his 48 years in the game. Bates was loved and loathed. Out-spoken, anti-establishment, often offensive and sometimes outrageous, he pushed the boundaries and hogged the spotlight, but, for reasons good and bad, left an indelible impression. During 21 years as Chelsea chairman he transformed them from second-tier also-rans in a ramshackle stadium into a top-flight force, rebuilt Stamford Bridge and established the Chelsea Village complex before selling to Roman Abramovich in 2003. He was accused of shady dealings throughout his working life, which was punctuated by bitter, long-running feuds. Settlements in and out of court were the norm. Divisive, bombastic, arrogant, ruthless and self-serving – Bates was described as them all, and more, across five decades of notoriety. But he also got things done. He refused to be bulldozed into submission by property developers in his early years at Stamford Bridge and formed the Chelsea Pitch Owners to safeguard the ground’s future. Lower league clubs enjoy a greater share of the Premier League’s television revenue thanks to Bates’ campaigning, while he actively opposed racism and did much to help eradicate Chelsea’s thriving hooligan element in the 1980s. He built an electric perimeter fence around the Stamford Bridge pitch, but was refused permission to turn on the electricity by the local council. He spent five years on the Football League management committee from 1986 and was an active member of the Football Association executive in the 1990s. In 1997, he was tasked by the FA to end all the dithering over plans to rebuild Wembley and was appointed chairman of Wembley National Stadium Ltd. But he quit his Football League role after Chelsea were fined £105,000 for alleged illegal payments to players and resigned from Wembley National Stadium Ltd, citing a lack of progress and support from the board. Bates later said the best way to move the Wembley project forward was to shoot the Minister for Sport at the time, Kate Hoey. He had been chairman of Oldham Athletic for five years in the 1960s and then co-owner of Wigan before famously buying Chelsea for £1 in 1982. Bates was involved in a bitter fall-out with major Chelsea investor Matthew Harding and was widely censured for remarks made about him after he had been killed in a helicopter crash in 1996. He still walked away from Stamford Bridge a hero to many Blues fans, but, following his purchase of another fallen giant Leeds in 2005, Bates won few admirers. His stormy reign at Leeds was notable for more covert dealings, offshore companies and court cases. He lost a damages claim for harassment brought against him by former director Melvyn Levi and his wife, put the club in administration before buying them back and presided over relegation to the third tier for the only time in their history. He also waged war with protesting fans. He finally sold Leeds to Middle East-based investment bank Gulf Finance House in 2013 for £22million and retired to his tax-haven home in Monaco.