26 Jul 2013 20:08:24
Leeds confirm Ken Bates has ceased to be President and as now no longer any role within the Club
As good as a new signing. great news
Great news, just need the red bull deal/major investment to happen now, then we can really start to push this great club back to where it belongs.
Yippe f**k*ng doo dah!! At Last.
Best news of the year - now let's get the show back on the road.
MOT YEHAA!!!
I'm old enough to remember the way we ripped the old 2nd division to pieces with Howard Wilkinson - absolutely amazing atmosphere back then - hope we can return ER (or the Red Bull Arena) back to those levels of achievement
COME ON LEEDS ;->
26 jul 2013 21:26:01
dare we celebrate yet? who knows what he still owns. i truly hate this man.
Fantastic news, was this the major announcement that was rumoured to be stated yesterday?
Hopefully this will encourage investment by other parties who are reluctant to do any business while Bates was still associated with our great club.
No excuses for staying away on match day now, or for supporting GFH and the club. I get the impression from the statement on the club OS this was abrupt and no love lost departure.
MOT
Northumberland LUFC
There should be a few more season ticket holders then if folks are true to their word. I for one will be there for the first game. First time for a long time but nowt to do with Bates, though I think it is for the best that the new owners have totally severed his connection with our once great and proud club.
I'll be the billy no mates stood on his own in Billys if any of you care to come and introduce yourselves. It will be my first day back living in Yorkshire for 28 years. Hope to celebrate that with a fine win
MOT
ExCroggywhite
This is indeed great news but begs the question, why?
We need a little speculation now as to why.
My theory is certain players or more likely investors wanted him out before any agreements are agreed.
I know this will annoy some people but thank you mr ken bates we are now a self sufficient football club
(knock me down guys)
This was the big news David haigh was on about. yupppppp
The slate is now clean and we can go forward with the shackles of administration well and truely behind us but never forget what Ken Bates did for leeds. Without him we would now be playing teams like Gainsborough Trinity in the Blue Square North. He may have profited significantly after the demise of Leeds, but Leeds are now in a postion to profit from his profit during those dark days and challenge to achieve greatness once again. Marching on Together!
Great news, but think about this for a second, wjat the heck has gone on there then? He's not even a month into a 3 year agreement to be president, somethings happened serious.
It's simply staggering that there are still people thanking Bates for 'saving us'
Do some research and scratch beneath the surface to see what a thoroughly pernicious influence Bates had at Leeds and how everything he did was for him and him alone.
Now he's gone more of the truth will out
No thanks whatsoever Mr. Bates
Those claiming that Bates was a positive thing for Leeds need to get real.
Its thanks to him that we have faced almost a decade out of the top flight. The current financial situation is due to Bates mortgaging off our season ticket money to pay for the horrendous East Stand overhaul and the executive boxes we don't fill.
The man is a cancer on any club and should have sold up long before he was essentially forced out.
Still don't understand the hatred, alright, there wasn't enough investment, but if Bates hadn't have turned up and wiped out the debts, of which there was over £120m, then there would not be a Leeds United right now.
Before people post that someone else would have come in, no they wouldn't, as no one was interested, this is fact.
Now he has gone, what will all the boo boys moan about now, because we all know you need something to whine about! I know, let's start a stay away campaign until they start selling venison pies or something
Lets not forget the real villain is that bandit Ridsdale
Harrogate White {Ed001's Note - Bates didn't come in and wipe out the debts and there were other people interested in doing so. I don't know what you have been reading, but Bates did nothing of the sort. It was almost the complete opposite! Rangers basically followed the model employed by Bates as a guide to shutting down and restarting.}
The big one is how much did it cost to pay him off.
I notice we've got a divide in people here but say what you like, where wer all these other investors why didn't they take over then? Because Bates put together the best deal the administrators chose for the creditors, so if there was sooo many full interested they wer free to challenge Bates or at any time after the sale funny how its taken all this time and not one of them have tries to take over. Money talks folks best to get to grips with that
27 Jul 2013 13:14:28
Yeah mate, that's what ide like to know too!
& is this why we've no more money
for transfers!
Don, t care what happened, just happy that master bates as gone, good riddance!!
I'll say it too. Thank you Ken Bates. I appreciated your efforts.
However, let's hope the gate on Saturday is not only swelled by the efforts of the new owners over the summer but that the Bates haters turn out too. I remember the early seventies but what we need is the atmosphere we had under Wilkinson when we won the old second division. The roar that went up before kick off made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.
We need everybody marching on together (apart from the knobheads who trashed the bar at Walsall)
Fawksey
To the poster who thinks Batws wiped out the debts - he didn't
Most of the debt had been wiped out by the time he took over.
In his own words, the debt as c. £10m and manageable when he bought the club.
Two yeas later e had caked the debt act up to over £30m and off we went into administration.
This is no footballing administration genius - this is an icompetent old egotisical windbag who couldn't let go of the power base he was used to.
Let et to often misjudgements straight - he didn't save when no one else was interested, there were five over parties at the table.
He didn't clear our debt- he grew it and took the club into administration, threatening to close the club down if he didn't get his way.
Good riddance to the evil old man.
Summer of 89 wilko were backed and the club showed ambition it created a unstoppable vibe, GFHC have done many things since they, ve come, but as of yet the summer transfer window as been the usual let down i'm afraid, until this changes gates will stay low.
I posted about Bates clearing our debts. No offence Ed but he did by offering creditors 1p in the £1 or get nothing. Not saying it was ethical but he did along with other questionable deals using almost untraceable businesses around the world
I also know he was the last chance saloon at the time and that there were no other serious interested parties
I am not saying he is a saint as it was a business transaction and done to ensure big returns when he came to sell
I know from someone who has been a part of the club for many years and still involved {Ed001's Note - that is simply not true, that is why the company had to be restarted, to avoid paying off the debts. He was also not the only option, there were always other options, that is simply a lie to say there weren't. Bates ensured he had his foot in the door and then locked all others out.}
Ed 0001. Your opinion is just as valid as anyone's. however Bates did the do. Nobody else did. And that as they like to say on here that is FACT!
Anyway he's gone and there's no denying he was decisive and it's best he's gone to leave us to March on together.
Fawksey {Ed001's Note - he did the do by blocking anyone else from having the opportunity. He also folded the club and restarted a new entity which was not needed.}
Celebrate if you must, that's your right. The undeniable fact remains that Ken Bates bought Leeds when NOBODY else was bothered, and our great club was 24 hours of closing down for good. We still have our club, things are looking good for the future and I for one WILL remember that it WAS Ken Bates that saved us. Can't say that I'm particulart happy or proud of that fact, but a FACT IT IS. {Ed001's Note - not true, complete and utter lie, other parties were blocked from bidding. Your idea of facts are the complete lies that Bates was spreading. There were other bidders, both times he screwed the club over.}
Other bidders? Like who exactly? I don't lie. I deal with what I know. If Ken Bates had blocked "other (mystery) bidders" then why didn't these "other bidders" come out in the open and complain, tell the papers and media? Answer, because there were NO OTHER BIDDERS. Get YOUR facts right Ed. {Ed001's Note - perhaps you would like to try a search engine, as there were plenty of reports at the time, if you could be bothered to get your head out of his backside long enough to look.}
Ed, where do you get your insight from, you say that it is a lie that Bates saved the club and that he blocked anyone else etc, but I have never read this so interested in your source? {Ed001's Note - there were plenty of reports at the time, including numerous allegations of collusion between Bates and the administrators. Most of them were from very reliable people. It is normal in Bates' dealings, he is fond of strong arm tactics and bullying, as I am sure you must have noticed.}