Bates became one of English football’s best-known characters, rarely far from the headlines.<\/p>\n
In the announcement of his death, Chelsea<\/a> described Bates as “colourful, outspoken and controversial”.<\/p>\n While he safeguarded the future of Stamford Bridge, he also built a high perimeter fence around the pitch when football hooliganism was at its height in the 1980s, but he was refused permission to electrify it by the local council.<\/p>\n He spent five years on the Football League management committee from 1986 and was an active member of the Football Association executive in the 1990s.<\/p>\n Bates also oversaw plans to rebuild Wembley and was appointed chairman of Wembley National Stadium Ltd.<\/p>\n After resigning from that role because of what he considered a lack of progress and support, Bates was quoted by the Telegraph as saying the best way to move the Wembley project forward would be to shoot the minister for sport at the time, Kate Hoey.<\/p>\n Later, having failed in a bid to invest in Sheffield Wednesday, Bates bought Leeds United<\/a> and his eight-year tenure was less successful than his reign had been at Chelsea<\/a> – where the Abramovich era<\/a> would deliver Premier League and Champions League glory.<\/p>\n Leeds<\/a> had five managers during the Bates years, including former Chelsea<\/a> captain Dennis Wise, and lost in the Championship play-off final in 2006. A year later Leeds<\/a> went into administration and were relegated to English football’s third tier for the first time.<\/p>\n Bates was part of a consortium that bought the club back from the administrators and Leeds<\/a> returned to the Championship in 2010.<\/p>\n Although Bates sold his stake in Leeds<\/a> towards the end of 2012, he stayed on as chairman and then briefly honorary president before leaving in July 2013.<\/p>\n