Just seen Ken Bates has passed away, he was a divisive figure, but for all the bad things he did after he did save the club and built the CPO. RIP Ken.

RIP

RIP Uncle Ken

Likely be no Chels today without him.

RIP

Sad news. Time to reflect the on the good things he for the club. We wouldn’t have had the Roman glory years with the Bates years.

RIP Ken Bates. I really liked batesy, the character, the no nonsense approach, and the relationship he had with the likes of Dennis Wise. Saved the club and did so much for us.

Rest well Mr Chelsea.

Yes I bumped into him on the club train and also at the Bridge at that old office in the pre-fab, at face value seemed a decent chap and saved the club during hard times and led us into the modern era with Roman at the helm.

A very sad day for the club.

Always loved Ken. Sometimes a loose cannon and polarising at the best of times, but I always appreciated his no nonsense approach and the way he acted in the club's best interests.

He took on the club at its lowest ebb in the early 80s, laid much of the foundations that modernised Chelsea in the 90s and early 00s and turned it into the powerhouse it was under Roman.

A life well lived. RIP Ken.

RIP Ken ….. it’s ironic that he passed within 24 hrs of Ann Widdecombe I would imagine being both forthright and conservatives they would have been kindred spirits. I had problems with both of them but feel the loss, all the best to their families

On Ken - my experience of him in a personal level was great I would however point to the following of my experience of him, I think like most a mixed bag …….

1. Preseason friendly again Wokingham Town I would say late 80’s, he came round the crowd. He was a good laugh. A lot of “get your wallet out Ken” and “mines a pint” etc. to be fair he didn’t buy us all a pint but he subsidised the bar so drinks were cheaper

2. My 30th Birthday home game against Arsenal. I was living abroad at the time and had temporarily given up my season ticket. I couldn’t get a ticket for the match. My then wife wrote to him and I got two very nice complementary tickets

3. I will never forgive him for his stance on the fans, yes he had to be tough but it was the minority not the majority ruining it for others. Electric fences, treating us like animals was piss poor response

4. He saved our club and sold us to Roman

RIP Ken

RIP KEN

HE SAVED CHELSEA TWICE, BOUGHT THE CLUB FOR A QUID, TOOK ON THE DEBT THEN DONE THE DEAL WITH ROMAN, BROUGHT A LOT OF TOP PLAYERS TO THE CLUB,ZOLA, GUILLIT,DESAILLY, HODDLE TO NAME A FEW I BET THE OWNERS WOULDNT KNOW HIM IF THEY MET HIM

The electric fence was . . .something else. That was not cool, not cool at all. Ken takes a lot of credit - although Matthew Harding supplied a lot of the money - but Ken did good for the club. A lot of good for OUR club.

Rest in peace Uncle Ken. Saved the club, built a wonderful team to watch and made sure we went to an owner who loved us and gave us our golden era.

Thank you Mr. Bates.

RIP Ken.

You can rarely say that without person X a football club wouldn't exist and have it be entirely true.

In Ken's case it is 100% true. Sure he had his faults, don't we all, but he was our faulty bustard and we owe him a debt of honour that money could never have bought in that particular era of football.

RIP Ken. True Chelsea legend. Saved the club thesold it to Roman what a true blue

We've lost both Ken and his right-hand man, Colin Hutchinson, in the last few months.

Both massive figures in the 1990s along with Matthew Harding. All of them have nothing but my gratitude.

1 hour ago, The Boehly Babes said:

Likely be no Chels today without him.

RIP

Some people will dispute that view, but as a match going fan who lived through those times, I know they are wrong.

No Batesy, no Chelsea. If he had done what he did for us at any other football club, they would have a statue of him at the entrance to the ground.

For me the greatest Chelsea Legend RIP Ken

1 hour ago, loz said:

You can rarely say that without person X a football club wouldn't exist and have it be entirely true.

In Ken's case it is 100% true. Sure he had his faults, don't we all, but he was our faulty bustard and we owe him a debt of honour that money could never have bought in that particular era of football.

👏 👏

Great piece by Henry Winter.

Wrote a complaining letter to him, and received a reply, in typically blunt fashion. Bumped into him at airport shortly after he’d sacked Gullit; was happy that he’d lost first game at new club. ( Newcastle)

His programme notes were good value. During hooligan years he made out they were a tiny minority, when in actuality they were a significant chunk.

He was very litigious. Many thousands flowed into CFC coffers consequent to unproven allegations.

God Bless You Ken

Part of his deal was to stop bad press about Chelsea and the negative press being made about the club, so he took out a lot of court cases against individuals and institutions in the media. This included a successful £150,000 High Court libel victory against Tom Rubython and Business F1 magazine over false allegations of financial and criminal misconduct, and a £9,000 libel payout from the Evening Standard regarding claims he swore at a businessman. He also successfully sued The Independent for libel after the newspaper retracted false allegations concerning the club's financial dealings.

He also banned certain members of the media from the ground.

He wasn't wrong to do so.

His legacy with Chelsea will go on - he’ll always be part of the fabric of this great club. As others noted, saved the club. His interview after we signed JFH made me laugh - he said something to the effect of he certainly does hassle the bank.

On a personal level thank you for all he created. One of my favorite memories in life was the 1997 FA Cup final with my dad, and fair to say Ken had a lot to do with moments like this.

RIP Ken.

3 minutes ago, PhilH930 said:

His legacy with Chelsea will go on - he’ll always be part of the fabric of this great club. As others noted, saved the club. His interview after we signed JFH made me laugh - he said something to the effect of he certainly does hassle the bank.

On a personal level thank you for all he created. One of my favorite memories in life was the 1997 FA Cup final with my dad, and fair to say Ken had a lot to do with moments like this.

RIP Ken.

Think it was sh*t or bust, when we invested in half a dozen new players start of 83-84 Season, however where did that money come from; was it Batesey’s cause we were poor as the church mouse at that time

A very sad day and can only echo the sentiments of so many on here.

RIP Ken.

Without him it'd be Stamford Bridge luxury apartments. We owe him so much.