{"id":39012,"date":"2026-07-11T20:05:28","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T20:05:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/11\/ken-bates-dies-as-fans-pay-classy-tribute-to-former-chelsea-and-leeds-manager-soccer-sports\/"},"modified":"2026-07-11T20:05:28","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T20:05:28","slug":"ken-bates-dies-as-fans-pay-classy-tribute-to-former-chelsea-and-leeds-manager-soccer-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/11\/ken-bates-dies-as-fans-pay-classy-tribute-to-former-chelsea-and-leeds-manager-soccer-sports\/","title":{"rendered":"Ken Bates dies as fans pay classy tribute to former Chelsea and Leeds manager | Soccer | Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Former Chelsea and Leeds United owner Ken Bates has died at the age of 94. Chelsea confirmed the news on Saturday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>&#8220;It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Ken Bates, former owner and chairman of Chelsea Football Club,&#8221; it said in a statement.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>&#8220;The club sends its deepest sympathies to Ken&#8217;s wife Susannah, the rest of his family and friends. Ken&#8217;s determination to fight for Chelsea through tough times and drive the team to trophies will never be forgotten.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Chelsea Supporters Trust also released a statement: &#8220;Chelsea Supporters Trust is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of former Chelsea owner and chairman Ken Bates. Ken was one of the most important figures in the modern history of Chelsea Football Club.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>&#8220;Taking charge during one of the club&#8217;s most difficult periods, he played a decisive role in securing the club&#8217;s future at Stamford Bridge and laying the foundations for subsequent success. His influence on Chelsea will be remembered for generations and his place in the club&#8217;s history is secure.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>&#8220;The thoughts of the CST Board of Directors and all of our members around the world are with Ken&#8217;s family, friends, and everyone who knew him. Thank you, Ken.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Bates bought Chelsea for just \u00a31 in 1982, before selling the club to former owner Roman Abramovich for \u00a3140m almost 30 years later.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>After leaving Chelsea, Bates took over a 50% stake in Leeds in 2005, before selling the club to Bahrain-based GFH Financial Group in 2012.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Bates was also involved in the construction process of the new Wembley Stadium, which opened in 2007, and also held control of Partick Thistle in the 1980s.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Mr Bates was appointed chairman of the company overseeing the development of New Wembley in 1997, but resigned in 2001.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>In 2018, he was adamant that the FA should not sell the National Stadium amid rumors that Fulham owner Shahid Khan could buy it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>&#8220;They have no moral authority to sell it because it&#8217;s not their property,&#8221; he said. &#8220;The FA directors are just passing by, they&#8217;re trustees. Well, they&#8217;re thinking of selling it. Until we won Wembley, the FA didn&#8217;t have a proper home.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/sport\/football\/2228044\/ken-bates-dies-chelsea-leeds-united\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former Chelsea and Leeds United owner Ken Bates has died at the age of 94. Chelsea confirmed the news on Saturday. &#8220;It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Ken Bates, former owner and chairman of Chelsea Football Club,&#8221; it said in a statement. &#8220;The club sends its deepest sympathies to Ken&#8217;s<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39013,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-39012","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-matches"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Ken Bates dies as fans pay classy tribute to former Chelsea and Leeds manager | Soccer | Sports - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News &amp; Updates<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/11\/ken-bates-dies-as-fans-pay-classy-tribute-to-former-chelsea-and-leeds-manager-soccer-sports\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ken Bates dies as fans pay classy tribute to former Chelsea and Leeds manager | Soccer | Sports - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News &amp; Updates\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Former Chelsea and Leeds United owner Ken Bates has died at the age of 94. Chelsea confirmed the news on Saturday. &#8220;It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Ken Bates, former owner and chairman of Chelsea Football Club,&#8221; it said in a statement. &#8220;The club sends its deepest sympathies to Ken&#8217;s\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/11\/ken-bates-dies-as-fans-pay-classy-tribute-to-former-chelsea-and-leeds-manager-soccer-sports\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News &amp; Updates\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-11T20:05:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin_ok9yktt6\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin_ok9yktt6\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/11\/ken-bates-dies-as-fans-pay-classy-tribute-to-former-chelsea-and-leeds-manager-soccer-sports\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/11\/ken-bates-dies-as-fans-pay-classy-tribute-to-former-chelsea-and-leeds-manager-soccer-sports\/\",\"name\":\"Ken Bates dies as fans pay classy tribute to former Chelsea and Leeds manager | Soccer | Sports - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News &amp; Updates\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/11\/ken-bates-dies-as-fans-pay-classy-tribute-to-former-chelsea-and-leeds-manager-soccer-sports\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/11\/ken-bates-dies-as-fans-pay-classy-tribute-to-former-chelsea-and-leeds-manager-soccer-sports\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/7034909.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-11T20:05:28+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6b2ade58a96ab056f743f12490573ae9\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/11\/ken-bates-dies-as-fans-pay-classy-tribute-to-former-chelsea-and-leeds-manager-soccer-sports\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/11\/ken-bates-dies-as-fans-pay-classy-tribute-to-former-chelsea-and-leeds-manager-soccer-sports\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/11\/ken-bates-dies-as-fans-pay-classy-tribute-to-former-chelsea-and-leeds-manager-soccer-sports\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/7034909.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/7034909.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/11\/ken-bates-dies-as-fans-pay-classy-tribute-to-former-chelsea-and-leeds-manager-soccer-sports\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Ken Bates dies as fans pay classy tribute to former Chelsea and Leeds manager | Soccer | Sports\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/\",\"name\":\"EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News &amp; Updates\",\"description\":\"EPL VIP is your ultimate source for all things related to the English Premier League. 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