Ken Bates
Sport
Football club chairman
Born: 04/12/1931
No image at https://www.deathleague.com/pictures/e9a8b940-7d3a-11f1-8417-c9f35e2ce384.jpg.
Died: 11/07/2026
Former Chelsea and Leeds United owner Ken Bates has died at the age of 94. Chelsea announced the death of Bates on Saturday, saying he "passed away peacefully in Monaco this morning surrounded by his wife and family". Bates bought Chelsea for £1 in 1982 when they were in the old Second Division, taking on debts of £1.5m, and set about turning around their fortunes. He eventually sold the club to Roman Abramovich in 2003 in a deal worth £140m when they were in the English top flight. The club were heavily in debt when Bates sold his shares. He stayed on as chairman at Stamford Bridge before stepping down in 2004.
5 points.