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Leeds United's Ken Bates loses his winning habit
KEN Bates has long been regarded as one of football's most colourful characters, attracting as many forthright descriptions as he delivers forthright opinions.
Ken Bates facing 1.5m bill over lost Leeds United libel case
In his business dealings with Leeds United and Chelsea, the word controversial has rarely been underused as onlookers either marvel or scratch their heads in disbelief at how Mr Bates has won battle after battle.
Which makes it all the more surprising that the Monaco tax exile finds himself in the unusual position of having lost a fight – and one which could cost him in the region of 1.5m, mainly in legal fees.
The figure is rather larger than the 1 Mr Bates spent to buy financially-stricken Chelsea in 1982, an acquisition which moved him onto football's main stage where he has remained ever since.
In his 21 years at Stamford Bridge, Mr Bates won a fight with property developers to regain control of ownership of the ground and then faced up to the challenge of boardroom rival Michael Harding – a challenge which only eventually ended when Mr Harding was killed in a helicopter crash in 1996.
And there was much of Mr Bates's trademark bluntness when it came to dealing with football's problems, best illustrated when he planned to put up an electrified fence to deal with Chelsea's notorious hooligan element – a plan ultimately aborted.
But the club was transformed from one in danger of relegation to English football's third tier to one that won major trophies and played in a modernised ground barely recognisable from the days when "The Shed" was Stamford Bridge's best-known terrace.
Mr Bates ultimately sold Chelsea to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich in 2003 for 17m – a deal which prompted question marks about the involvement of offshore companies, an issue which was to continue to dog him during his reign at Leeds.
After that transaction, the Financial Services Authority investigated whether the ownership of Chelsea had been accurately represented – an investigation which was ultimately dropped with no action taken.
In 2005, Mr Bates took control of Leeds in a deal with then-owners, the Yorkshire Consortium, after previously flirting with taking over at Yorkshire rivals Sheffield Wednesday. It was the fallout from that transaction which ultimately led to Mr Bates' recent court appearance in a failed attempt to defend libellous comments he made about one of the consortium's members, Melvyn Levi, in club programmes.
Two of the articles were written in March 2007, two months before the financial implosion following relegation from the Premier League ultimately resulted in Leeds sliding into administration.
The club emerged from administration with Mr Bates once again at the helm and again after a series of questions emerged about the involvement of offshore companies, which critically held sway over the majority of creditors' votes – and which Mr Bates insisted were unconnected to him.
Although a lot of local companies and the taxman had to write off debts running into millions of pounds, the deal to exit administration left Leeds in a much healthier position financially.
But Mr Bates has been unable to deliver a healthier position on the pitch where the club remain in League One and a long way from the glory nights of the European Champions League less than a decade ago.
Now 78, he shows little sign of losing his appetite for a challenge and it seems unlikely losing the legal battle with Mr Levi will divert his ambitions at Elland Road. In May, he predicted that plans to redevelop the ground would beat off the hopes both Sheffield clubs have of hosting World Cup games should England stage it in 2018.
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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