Ken Bates, former chairman of Chelsea and Leeds United, has died aged 94.
His first formal role in football was as chairman of Oldham Athletic for five years in the 1960s. He later had a spell as co-owner and vice chairman of Wigan Athletic from 1980 to 1982.
But it is Chelsea with whom Bates is most readily associated.
He bought the club for £1 in 1982, assuming the club’s debts, fighting a long-running battle with property developers over the fate of Stamford Bridge and building the club into a regular presence in the Premier League’s top half before selling to Roman Abramovich in a deal worth £140million ($187.6m at current rates) in July 2003.
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