Ken Bates, the former owner of Chelsea and Leeds United, has died at the age of 94. Bates was one of the most colourful, controversial and significant figures in modern English football, best known for famously buying a near-bankrupt Chelsea for just £1 in 1982 and later selling the club to Roman Abramovich in a £140m deal in July 2003. Under his more than two decades of ownership, Chelsea were transformed from a fallen giant facing extinction into a powerful force at home and in Europe.

During his tenure Chelsea won the FA Cup twice, the League Cup, the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1998 and the Uefa Super Cup, attracting stars such as Ruud Gullit, Marcel Desailly and Gianfranco Zola. A self-made millionaire from haulage and ready-mix concrete, Bates began as chairman of Oldham Athletic in the 1960s, later owned Wigan Athletic, and became principal owner of Leeds United from January 2005 until July 2013. He was rarely far from controversy — erecting a 12ft electric fence at Stamford Bridge in the mid-1980s that he was refused permission to switch on, and overseeing a 1991 fine of £105,000 for alleged illegal payments — while also securing the ground's future through the Chelsea Pitch Owners scheme and playing an influential role in rebuilding Wembley Stadium.