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| Ken Bates |
The past few days have seen welters of condemnation by conservative writers and commentators on the glee allegedly being expressed online by lefties/progressives/woketards on the deaths of former Conservative and latterly Reform UK politician Ann Widdecombe and US Republican Senator Linsey Graham.
I must state at the outset that the death of any human being leaves their loved ones in a state of grief and so any comment on the recently deceased must in the first instance acknowledge that fact and express sorrow for those who mourn their loss. Death and its impact on relatives and friends is a universal which will affect all of us on this planet. Any reflections on the passings of public or private figures must always incorporate this unchangeable truth. That is as true for those for those who have whooped with glee at the deaths of the aforementioned big beasts of the political Right either side of the Atlantic as it would be for Donald Trump were he to react to the death of James Comey, former Head of the FBI and his would-be nemesis by saying “good” and that “he wasn’t a very nice person”.
However normal human decencies should never preclude honest reflections on the conduct and character of any public figure who has departed this temporal existence. That Ann Widdecombe was the elderly female victim of an appalling act of homicide and who had in her post-Westminster life achieved a partial national treasure status due to her participation in reality TV shows such as “Strictly Come Dancing” and “I am a Celebrity” should not deflect from critique of her views on abortion, same sex marriage, capital punishment and Brexit (all views which are polar opposite to mine but which I recognise the sincerity in which they were held) and her actions as Prisons Minister in John Major’s Conservative administration in the mid-1990s which included the shackling of pregnant female prisoners.
Likewise, Linsey Graham’s staunch support for Ukraine needs to be balanced against his cynical volte face on his views on Trump’s unsuitability for the US Presidency and his enthusiastic backing for his illegal war on Iran and for Netanyahu's war of obliteration in Gaza. Yes, it is a truism that the deaths of universally admired personalities such as the broadcaster Dermot Murnaghan and the tragic passing of young athletes in their prime such as 25-year-old Jayden Adams who made his debut for South Africa recently in the World Cup will generate much more outpouring of sadness that partisan political figures. But the rule in obituary and tribute paying should always be play the personal.
Which brings me to the dilemmas for Leeds United supporters such as myself posed by the death at the age of 94 in Monaco of another notable figure last weekend: Ken Bates, former Leeds and Chelsea Chair. For in death as in life he has provoked division among Leeds fans. It is undeniable that he saved the club from almost inevitable liquidation as a result of the catastrophic financial mismanagement by the PLC board headed by Peter Ridsdale by investing £10m in January 2025 and for this he earned eternal gratitude from one section of the fan base. But for others, most likely the majority, his tenure which ran to 2013 was another dark chapter in the history of the club which saw relegation to the third tier for the first time, and the club being put into administration the manner of exit from which earned us a 15-point deduction at the start of our first season in League One in 2007-08.
Which brings me to the dilemmas for Leeds United supporters such as myself posed by the death at the age of 94 in Monaco of another notable figure last weekend: Ken Bates, former Leeds and Chelsea Chair. For in death as in life he has provoked division among Leeds fans. It is undeniable that he saved the club from almost inevitable liquidation as a result of the catastrophic financial mismanagement by the PLC board headed by Peter Ridsdale by investing £10m in January 2025 and for this he earned eternal gratitude from one section of the fan base. But for others, most likely the majority, his tenure which ran to 2013 was another dark chapter in the history of the club which saw relegation to the third tier for the first time, and the club being put into administration the manner of exit from which earned us a 15-point deduction at the start of our first season in League One in 2007-08.
Even after we returned to the Championship three seasons later under the stewardship of fan and ex player Simon Grayson, actions taken by Bates would serve to delay our return to the Premiership by almost a decade. From these fans, the reaction was as vituperative as those of the woketariat to the demise of Miss Widdecombe and Senator Graham with “Rot in Hell” being amongst the more family newspaper printable comments. While I belonged to the latter faction and abhorred everything he done after promotion from League One my reaction was “Let bygones be bygones” as, to paraphrase Amy Winehouse, hate is a losing game.
Ken Bates, a self-made millionaire from haulage and readymade concrete whose own football career was ended by a knee injury entered football chairmanship in the 1960s first as Chair of Oldham Athletic for five years before becoming owner and vice chair at Wigan Athletic and then really establishing his reputation at Chelsea. When he bought the club for £1 in 1982, it had become a ramshackle club far removed from the Kings Road glamour era on the late 60s and 70s with debts of £1.5 million and who had reached such nadirs on the field as a 6-0 defeat at Rotherham and a 7-3 home defeat to Leyton Orient in 1979.
Ken Bates, a self-made millionaire from haulage and readymade concrete whose own football career was ended by a knee injury entered football chairmanship in the 1960s first as Chair of Oldham Athletic for five years before becoming owner and vice chair at Wigan Athletic and then really establishing his reputation at Chelsea. When he bought the club for £1 in 1982, it had become a ramshackle club far removed from the Kings Road glamour era on the late 60s and 70s with debts of £1.5 million and who had reached such nadirs on the field as a 6-0 defeat at Rotherham and a 7-3 home defeat to Leyton Orient in 1979.
It is fair to say that he rescued Chelsea from extinction, and he can boast of setting them on the road to modernity by securing the freehold on its Stamford Bridge Ground from property dealers Marler Estates, enabling its conversion into a 40,000 plus capacity all seater stadium. His business acumen attracted quality players like Pat Nevin, Dave Speedie and Kerry Dixon, and by 1984 the club had returned to the then First Division suffering only one more one season in 1988. With the advent of the Premier League in 1992, Chelsea regained the glamour factor winning trophies such as FA Cup in 1997 and 2000 and the old European Cup Winners Cup with star continental imports such as Ruud Gullit (he of the “sexy football” vibe), Gianfranco Zola, Marcus Desailly and Gianluca Vialli along with English grit such as Dennis Wise and Michael Duberry (both eventually Leeds bound).
But his time at the Bridge was also characterised by grandiose gestures such as the construction of an electric fence around the Bridge to deter hooliganism (Chelsea fans had a particularly notorious reputation in that dark era of the 80s in English football) which was never switched on due to a refusal of permission by Greater London Council on safety grounds. His period in charge also say spectacular ruptures with friends such as Vice Chair and lifelong Blues fan Matthew Harding who was crucial to their revival, but who Bates banned from the boardroom in 1995 and who died the following year in a helicopter crash with no reconciliation with his erstwhile ally. Ruud Gullit who had steered Chelsea to the FA Cup in 1997, their first major trophy in sixteen years, was sacked the following year reportedly by teletext. Bates’ match programme notes became compulsive reading as he played out his feuds to the wider Chelsea community. It was a playbook that Leeds fans were to become used to.
Bates eventually sold the club, again in a parlous debt situation, to Roman Abramovich in 2003 and the rest, as they say, is history.
As a member of the FA Executive Board, Bates was a prominent figure in the rebuilding of Wembley Stadium being appointed chair of Wembley National Stadium Limited in 1997 only to resign in 2001 owing to what he felt was lack of progress on the project.
And so the unlikeliest White Knight arrived to save Leeds United oblivion. To reprise briefly what was the lie of the land then in January 2005. Leeds had been relegated from the Premier League in May 2004 with debts amounting to £100m as a result of the boom-and-bust era under Peter Ridsdale which saw scintillating form on the pitch leading to four successive top four finishes, a UEFA Cup semi-final place and, the piece de resistance, a Champions League semi-final appearance in 2001. It seemed only a matter of time before trophies started rolling in as David O’Leary’s young team (his “babies” as he cringingly called them) with young stars like Harry Kewell, Alan Smith, Stephen McPhail Jonathan Woodgate who had broken into the first team from the youth squad who had won the FA Youth Cup in 1997 augmented by established first teamers Lucas Radebe, Gary Kelly and Lee Bowyer and then joined by exciting arrivals on transfer such as Rio Ferdinand, Mark Viduka and Robbie Keane enthralled fans and football lovers generally with attacking, fearless prowess.
But his time at the Bridge was also characterised by grandiose gestures such as the construction of an electric fence around the Bridge to deter hooliganism (Chelsea fans had a particularly notorious reputation in that dark era of the 80s in English football) which was never switched on due to a refusal of permission by Greater London Council on safety grounds. His period in charge also say spectacular ruptures with friends such as Vice Chair and lifelong Blues fan Matthew Harding who was crucial to their revival, but who Bates banned from the boardroom in 1995 and who died the following year in a helicopter crash with no reconciliation with his erstwhile ally. Ruud Gullit who had steered Chelsea to the FA Cup in 1997, their first major trophy in sixteen years, was sacked the following year reportedly by teletext. Bates’ match programme notes became compulsive reading as he played out his feuds to the wider Chelsea community. It was a playbook that Leeds fans were to become used to.
Bates eventually sold the club, again in a parlous debt situation, to Roman Abramovich in 2003 and the rest, as they say, is history.
As a member of the FA Executive Board, Bates was a prominent figure in the rebuilding of Wembley Stadium being appointed chair of Wembley National Stadium Limited in 1997 only to resign in 2001 owing to what he felt was lack of progress on the project.
And so the unlikeliest White Knight arrived to save Leeds United oblivion. To reprise briefly what was the lie of the land then in January 2005. Leeds had been relegated from the Premier League in May 2004 with debts amounting to £100m as a result of the boom-and-bust era under Peter Ridsdale which saw scintillating form on the pitch leading to four successive top four finishes, a UEFA Cup semi-final place and, the piece de resistance, a Champions League semi-final appearance in 2001. It seemed only a matter of time before trophies started rolling in as David O’Leary’s young team (his “babies” as he cringingly called them) with young stars like Harry Kewell, Alan Smith, Stephen McPhail Jonathan Woodgate who had broken into the first team from the youth squad who had won the FA Youth Cup in 1997 augmented by established first teamers Lucas Radebe, Gary Kelly and Lee Bowyer and then joined by exciting arrivals on transfer such as Rio Ferdinand, Mark Viduka and Robbie Keane enthralled fans and football lovers generally with attacking, fearless prowess.
The trouble was that the sunny uplands of the present and future were built on a pyramid of high interest loans from hedge funds secured against twenty years of season ticket sales; HP payment arrangements for new arrivals such as Mark Viduka, five year deals with excessive wages and a culture of excess and extravagance throughout the club with directors flying in private jets to away matches and 17-year-old youth players on wages of £6k a week. All this was mortgaged against annual participation in the Champions League and when Leeds failed to secure this objective for the second successive season in 2002, the whole edifice was to crumble with the departures of Ferdinand, Woodgate, Bowyer, Keane, Smith and Danny Mills in the next two seasons and the sacking of O’Leary as manager in June 2002. The cull was completed after relegation with only Gary Kelly and Michael Duberry remaining.
When Bates arrived, the club was run by a group of local businessmen headed by insolvency practitioner Gerard Krasner who had mortgaged their own properties to keep the club running but clearly lacked the wherewithal to carry on for the long haul. The Chelsea connections were always going to rankle with elements of the fan base but after false hopes had been raised by the prospects of rescue by Bahraini sheiks or Ugandan property developers; it was patently obvious that Bates was the only show in town. The prospect of administration averted (for now) Leeds ended the first of what was to be a sentence of sixteen years exile from the top flight in fourteenth position.
The arrival of reinforcements to the squad such as Rob Hulse, Richard Cresswell, Eddie Lewis and David Healy led to optimism that we could get promotion in the 2005-06 season. However the goal of securing the automatic route back to the Premiership was undermined by Bates’ decision to sell another homegrown starlet Aaron Lennon to Spurs who subsequently went to play for Everton and England. The absence of Lennon’s pace on the right flank was arguably the crucial difference between us going up automatically and having to do it through the play-offs. And so it was that thousands of us flocked to Cardiff on the third Sunday of May 2006 perhaps more in hope rather than expectation of a return to the Promised Land. Our abject 3-0 defeat to a hungry and ‘up for it’ Watford side put paid to any such optimism.
When Bates arrived, the club was run by a group of local businessmen headed by insolvency practitioner Gerard Krasner who had mortgaged their own properties to keep the club running but clearly lacked the wherewithal to carry on for the long haul. The Chelsea connections were always going to rankle with elements of the fan base but after false hopes had been raised by the prospects of rescue by Bahraini sheiks or Ugandan property developers; it was patently obvious that Bates was the only show in town. The prospect of administration averted (for now) Leeds ended the first of what was to be a sentence of sixteen years exile from the top flight in fourteenth position.
The arrival of reinforcements to the squad such as Rob Hulse, Richard Cresswell, Eddie Lewis and David Healy led to optimism that we could get promotion in the 2005-06 season. However the goal of securing the automatic route back to the Premiership was undermined by Bates’ decision to sell another homegrown starlet Aaron Lennon to Spurs who subsequently went to play for Everton and England. The absence of Lennon’s pace on the right flank was arguably the crucial difference between us going up automatically and having to do it through the play-offs. And so it was that thousands of us flocked to Cardiff on the third Sunday of May 2006 perhaps more in hope rather than expectation of a return to the Promised Land. Our abject 3-0 defeat to a hungry and ‘up for it’ Watford side put paid to any such optimism.
However what none of us suspected was that this defeat had laid the ground for future calamity. Having seen his strategy of getting Leeds back to the PL on the cheap fail, Bates in the following season was to turn his attention to Plan B which was to put the club into administration at the most opportune moment. The opportunity presented itself when - with one game to go, relegation to League One was virtually assured due to our hugely inferior goal difference to that of the club above us, Hull City, - Bates called in the administrators with the club debt at £35m including £7m to the HMRC who incensed by the obligation of clubs in administration to pay off their football debts in full while settling for much lower terms for the other creditors including the taxman, decided to take a stand. They challenged Bates’ deal to buy the club from off shore companies with connections to him in the British Virgin Islands and to repay creditors with a rate of one penny in the pound. After a summer of shenanigans, the Football League agreed to allow Bates to circumvent normal insolvency procedures with the proviso of a 15-point deduction.
Bates also imposed Dennis Wise as manager on a hostile fan base. He waged war on the Official Supporters Club and banned those who didn’t like from the boardroom. On our return to the Championship he presided over the dismantling of the core of the squad that got us promotion and who with additions could have got us to the PL in order to build bars and restaurants around Elland Road. He undermined Simon Grayson before sacking him.
But that is all in our past. We have moved on. Rest in Peace, Ken.
Bates also imposed Dennis Wise as manager on a hostile fan base. He waged war on the Official Supporters Club and banned those who didn’t like from the boardroom. On our return to the Championship he presided over the dismantling of the core of the squad that got us promotion and who with additions could have got us to the PL in order to build bars and restaurants around Elland Road. He undermined Simon Grayson before sacking him.
But that is all in our past. We have moved on. Rest in Peace, Ken.
⏩Barry Gilheany is a freelance writer, qualified counsellor and aspirant artist resident in Colchester where he took his PhD at the University of Essex. He is also a lifelong Leeds United supporter.
