For one pound, in the spring of 1982, Ken Bates took ownership of a football club that its own bank did not expect to survive the year. He died on July 11, 2026, in Monaco, at the age of 94: the businessman who spent 22 years as chairman of Chelsea Football Club and later took charge of Leeds United, becoming one of the most consequential club owners in English football.

Bates was born in 1931 in west London and built his fortune in business, chairing two lower league clubs, Oldham Athletic and Wigan Athletic, in earlier decades before he arrived at Chelsea. "When he bought them, they were in the second division and in danger of being relegated to the third tier," said Kaveh Solhekol, Sky Sports News' chief correspondent. Bates took on close to 2 million pounds of the club's debt along with the nominal purchase price, and inherited a Stamford Bridge whose freehold property developers were separately trying to take for redevelopment.

Bates fought that battle for years and won it, later setting up the Chelsea Pitch Owners scheme so the ground itself would stay in the hands of the club and its supporters rather than pass to any future developer or owner. Under his chairmanship Chelsea returned to the top flight of English football and, in 1997, won the FA Cup, the club's first major trophy in 26 years. The club added a second FA Cup in 2000, along with the League Cup, the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, the UEFA Super Cup, the Community Shield and the Full Members' Cup twice.

"But you have to say overall, Bates did a great job as the Chelsea owner," Solhekol said, assessing a chairmanship that ran 22 years, the third longest in the club's history. In July 2003, Bates sold Chelsea to the Russian businessman Roman Abramovich, in a deal reported by ESPN at close to 140 million pounds.

He did not stay away from football long. In January 2005, Bates became owner and chairman of Leeds United, a role he held for eight and a half years before stepping down in 2013 following the club's sale to GFH Capital. "The thoughts of everyone at Leeds United are with the family, friends and former colleagues of Ken at this difficult time," Leeds United said after his death.

Chelsea Football Club announced his death in a statement: "It is with great sadness that we share the news of the loss of Ken Bates, former owner and chairman of Chelsea Football Club. The club sends our heartfelt condolences to Ken's wife Suzannah, the rest of his family and his friends." He died in Monaco, where he had made his home, with Suzannah and other family close by.

The rescue of two clubs, each on the brink of losing its ground or its place in the game, defined his working life. Stamford Bridge still stands as Chelsea's home today, its pitch held by the Chelsea Pitch Owners scheme he set up rather than by any developer. The trophies his Chelsea side won between 1997 and 2000 remain part of the club's record, and Leeds United, the club he steadied through a difficult decade, continues to play on in Yorkshire.