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\n Former Chelsea owner Ken Bates has died aged 94, it has been announced.\n <\/p>\n
Chelsea said Bates died peacefully on Saturday morning surrounded by his wife and family in Monaco.<\/p>\n
The west London-born businessman was the third-longest serving chairman at the club, holding the position for over 20 years.<\/p>\n
After selling the club to Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich for \u00a3140m, he went on to buy a 50% stake in Leeds United.<\/p>\n
He had also been chairman of Oldham for five years in the 1960s and then co-owned Wigan before famously buying Chelsea for \u00a31 in 1982.<\/p>\n
A statement from the Premier League club read: “Chelsea Football Club is today mourning the passing of former chairman Ken Bates.<\/p>\n
“The club sends our heartfelt condolences to Ken’s wife Suzannah, the rest of his family and his friends.<\/p>\n
“Ken’s determination to fight for Chelsea when times were tough, and drive the team on to winning trophies, will never be forgotten. Rest in peace, Ken.”<\/p>\n
Under his stewardship, the club won two FA Cups, a UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, the League Cup, the UEFA Super Cup and the Community Shield.<\/p>\n
During 21 years as Chelsea chairman, Ken Bates 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.<\/p>\n
Less than 9,000 turned up for his first game as chairman at Stamford Bridge, but in his last, in 2003, a full house saw Chelsea secure a place in the Champions League.<\/p>\n
While Bates was in charge, Chelsea were promoted into the top flight before going on to end a 26-year wait for major silverware in 1997.<\/p>\n
Chelsea Supporters’ Trust said in a statement it was “deeply saddened” to learn of Bates’ passing.<\/p>\n
Bates had a less successful eight-year reign as owner of Leeds, where he failed to replicate the success he had enjoyed at Chelsea.<\/p>\n
After the club was put into administration, then bought back by Mr Bates and relegated to the third tier, he finally sold Leeds to Middle East-based investment bank Gulf Finance House in 2013 for \u00a322m and retired to his tax-haven home in Monaco.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Read more: Lower league clubs receive 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.<\/p>\n He built an electric perimeter fence around the Stamford Bridge pitch, but was refused permission to turn on the electricity by the local council.<\/p>\n Born in London on December 4, 1931, Mr Bates was brought up by his grandparents on a council estate in Ealing. His mother died when he was still a baby and his father absconded.<\/p>\n He was born with a club foot, which needed numerous operations, grew up as a QPR fan and, after heading north, had initial success helping to run a quarry business in Manchester.<\/p>\n He invested in Australia’s sugar cane industry and in property development in South Africa and, it was reported, bought his first Bentley aged 23.<\/p>\n Bates made millions from a failed building project in the British Virgin Islands in the early 1970s and also founded a bank, the Irish Trust Bank, which later had its licence revoked after lengthy investigations by Ireland’s financial authorities.<\/p>\n \n
World Cup footballer dies
Runner gored by bull in Spain<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"Sky](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/skynews_2018-small.png\")
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