Leeds face legal battle as Ken Bates sacked as president
Yorkshire Post 29/7/13
by Richard Sutcliffe
LEEDS UNITED were last night facing up to a possible legal battle after Ken Bates insisted the reasons given for his sacking as president had “no validity”.
The 81-year-old, who stepped down as chairman at the end of last month, was dramatically removed from the post on Friday night by owners, GFH Capital.
At the time, no reason was given for the decision but it has since emerged a number of issues were raised by GFH Capital in a letter hand-delivered to Bates while on holiday in Italy last week.
These include Bates, when still chairman, committing United to a three-year contract with a private aeroplane company, 247 Jet, to ferry him to Yorkshire from his Monaco home. A similar deal had been in place throughout his eight-year stint at the helm.
Bates, who is due back in West Yorkshire tomorrow following the end of his holiday, insists the new travel contract was covered by the agreement signed when he sold the club last December but GFH Capital clearly disagree.
A spokesman for GFH Capital declined to comment when contacted last night, other than to say they planned to stick to the confidentiality agreements in place.
On the three-year deal with 247 Jet, Bates said: “Part of the contract (when United were sold to GFH Capital) was that they would pay my expenses in the same manner that I’d been paid expenses for the last eight years. I don’t take a salary and never have done.
“I had a chance of renewing that travel expense contract at a price that was cheaper than the existing deal. I checked with a solicitor and he confirmed that a director had the authority to commit a club or a company. So I did and thought nothing more about it.
“That was on June 27. On (Wednesday) July 24, I had a hand-delivered letter telling me I had broken the agreement and asking me for my comments.
“I rang the lawyer concerned and got the answerphone. I said, ‘There is a perfectly reasonable explanation, let’s have a board meeting when I get back (from holiday)’. Then I got another letter (on Friday) telling me they’d terminated my contract.
“In all that time, not one person rang me from GFH to discuss the matter. I’ve spoken to one of their directors on a fairly regular basis and he hadn’t even mentioned it. That is most unusual conduct.
“They (GFH Capital) drew up the contract. I only signed it. I have been doing that mode of transport for eight years and they included it in the contract. There is nothing new there and I don’t have to justify it. It is in the contract.
“There is nothing I can do about it until I get back and then we will see what happens. But the real problem, I suspect, is that because they haven’t been doing well recently – as far as running the club is concerned – then this is a diversion tactic to take the real problems off the headlines.
“There is no validity in this.”
Bates stepped down as chairman officially on June 30. Since then, several of his close allies have also stepped down with Shaun Harvey, chief executive throughout Bates’s eight year reign as chairman, relinquishing the post earlier this month. He is expected to sever all ties with Elland Road in the near future.
Likewise, Gwyn Williams, the club’s technical director who had previously worked under Bates at Chelsea, has been placed on gardening leave, while Yvonne Todd, United’s long-standing finance director, has also departed.
Other matters have seen relations between Bates and GFH Capital sour in recent months. In the immediate wake of December’s takeover, for instance, Bates had been hoping to strike a deal whereby he would buy the club’s in-house television station LUTV, Yorkshire Radio and United’s official website for £2m.
The proposal was to merge all three into one company, which in the future would then launch other broadcast stations and websites. As part of the deal, United would have been handed a near quarter shareholding in the new company.
However, despite Bates believing a deal had all but been struck in March, no such agreement was eventually made and the talks collapsed when United recently signed a new three-year commentary deal with BBC Radio Leeds. Bates has since set up a new media company called Plantagenet, which he intends to base in Yorkshire.
A proposal to set up a charitable foundation that would finance and operate a club museum at Elland Road has also fallen by the wayside with Bates insisting he is still waiting for a response from the club’s owners to his plan.
by Richard Sutcliffe
LEEDS UNITED were last night facing up to a possible legal battle after Ken Bates insisted the reasons given for his sacking as president had “no validity”.
The 81-year-old, who stepped down as chairman at the end of last month, was dramatically removed from the post on Friday night by owners, GFH Capital.
At the time, no reason was given for the decision but it has since emerged a number of issues were raised by GFH Capital in a letter hand-delivered to Bates while on holiday in Italy last week.
These include Bates, when still chairman, committing United to a three-year contract with a private aeroplane company, 247 Jet, to ferry him to Yorkshire from his Monaco home. A similar deal had been in place throughout his eight-year stint at the helm.
Bates, who is due back in West Yorkshire tomorrow following the end of his holiday, insists the new travel contract was covered by the agreement signed when he sold the club last December but GFH Capital clearly disagree.
A spokesman for GFH Capital declined to comment when contacted last night, other than to say they planned to stick to the confidentiality agreements in place.
On the three-year deal with 247 Jet, Bates said: “Part of the contract (when United were sold to GFH Capital) was that they would pay my expenses in the same manner that I’d been paid expenses for the last eight years. I don’t take a salary and never have done.
“I had a chance of renewing that travel expense contract at a price that was cheaper than the existing deal. I checked with a solicitor and he confirmed that a director had the authority to commit a club or a company. So I did and thought nothing more about it.
“That was on June 27. On (Wednesday) July 24, I had a hand-delivered letter telling me I had broken the agreement and asking me for my comments.
“I rang the lawyer concerned and got the answerphone. I said, ‘There is a perfectly reasonable explanation, let’s have a board meeting when I get back (from holiday)’. Then I got another letter (on Friday) telling me they’d terminated my contract.
“In all that time, not one person rang me from GFH to discuss the matter. I’ve spoken to one of their directors on a fairly regular basis and he hadn’t even mentioned it. That is most unusual conduct.
“They (GFH Capital) drew up the contract. I only signed it. I have been doing that mode of transport for eight years and they included it in the contract. There is nothing new there and I don’t have to justify it. It is in the contract.
“There is nothing I can do about it until I get back and then we will see what happens. But the real problem, I suspect, is that because they haven’t been doing well recently – as far as running the club is concerned – then this is a diversion tactic to take the real problems off the headlines.
“There is no validity in this.”
Bates stepped down as chairman officially on June 30. Since then, several of his close allies have also stepped down with Shaun Harvey, chief executive throughout Bates’s eight year reign as chairman, relinquishing the post earlier this month. He is expected to sever all ties with Elland Road in the near future.
Likewise, Gwyn Williams, the club’s technical director who had previously worked under Bates at Chelsea, has been placed on gardening leave, while Yvonne Todd, United’s long-standing finance director, has also departed.
Other matters have seen relations between Bates and GFH Capital sour in recent months. In the immediate wake of December’s takeover, for instance, Bates had been hoping to strike a deal whereby he would buy the club’s in-house television station LUTV, Yorkshire Radio and United’s official website for £2m.
The proposal was to merge all three into one company, which in the future would then launch other broadcast stations and websites. As part of the deal, United would have been handed a near quarter shareholding in the new company.
However, despite Bates believing a deal had all but been struck in March, no such agreement was eventually made and the talks collapsed when United recently signed a new three-year commentary deal with BBC Radio Leeds. Bates has since set up a new media company called Plantagenet, which he intends to base in Yorkshire.
A proposal to set up a charitable foundation that would finance and operate a club museum at Elland Road has also fallen by the wayside with Bates insisting he is still waiting for a response from the club’s owners to his plan.