Ken Bates, who died at 94, transformed Chelsea Football Club during his 22-year tenure as owner and chairman beginning in 1982. He acquired the financially troubled London club for just £1 when it faced demotion to Division Three and through aggressive investment salvaged Stamford Bridge from property developers. Under his leadership, Chelsea climbed back to the highest ranks of English football, and Bates pioneered commercial ventures—hotels, retail operations, and media stations—that subsequently became standard industry practice.

Bates's success was accompanied by a reputation for confrontational leadership and frequent managerial turnover, cycling through nine managers during his tenure with many dismissals in contentious circumstances. He publicly banned prominent players for criticising him and implemented debatable security measures including an electrified fence around the stadium to deter hooligans. When he sold Chelsea to Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich in 2004, the club carried £97m in debt, yet Bates personally took £17m from the sale and subsequently sued the board for an additional £2m in expenses, despite delivering a cordial farewell address.