Soccer: Bates quits with blast at FA

The strife-torn Wembley national stadium project lurched into new controversy today when a bitterly-angry Ken Bates quit as vice-chairman and aimed a volley of parting shots at the Football Association, Sports Minister Kate Hoey and former colleagues.

The Chelsea chairman sent a copy of his resignation letter to the Press Association, in which he claims he was undermined by senior figures in both the Government and the FA.

Bates was replaced as chairman of Wembley National Stadium Limited (WNSL) by Sir Rodney Walker in December after the £630million national stadium project failed to attract financial backing from the City. It still needs to secure a loan of at least £400million in the next two months in order to proceed.

The resignation letter, addressed to FA chief executive Adam Crozier, is a considerable embarrassment to the FA and WNSL, as Bates is also highly critical of both the financial advisors and lead bank involved in the stadium project.

In his letter to Crozier, Bates spares few involved in Wembley. Figures criticised include:

:: new chairman Sir Rodney Walker. Bates says he is disappointed Walker did not arrange a meeting with him after replacing him.

:: Sir David Hill-Wood, a member of the FA finance committee and vice-chairman of WNSL while Bates was chairman. Bates partly blames him for his fall from grace, describing him as ‘‘my Brutus’’.

:: WNSL’s financial advisers Investec, for whom Hill-Wood works. ‘‘Their performance has simply been pathetic,’’ says Bates.

:: Lead bankers Chase Manhattan. ‘‘The performance of Chase Manhattan has been abject. Their approach seems to have been riven by internal dissent,’’ says Bates in his letter.

:: Crozier himself. Bates claims Crozier approached Manchester United plc chairman Sir Roland Smith ‘‘without any authority’’ asking if he would be willing to replace the Chelsea chairman as head of the WNSL board.

:: The FA and WNSL. ‘‘It is quite disgraceful that not one single person on either FA or WNSL Board stood up publicly to defend the project and my position,’’ says Bates. ‘‘Even Jesus Christ only had one Pontius Pilate I had a whole team of them.’’

:: Clive Sherling, chairman of the Football Licensing Authority and a member of the Wembley board. Bates claims he was asked to resign at a WNSL board meeting on December 11 following ‘‘several whispered consultations led by Hill-Wood and Sherling’’.

Bates also claims that ‘‘leaks and spin doctoring appears to have become a way of life within the FA’’.

One of Bates’ allegations is that the Sports Minister and figures within the FA undermined his position.

He says: ‘‘There was a sustained press campaign to undermine both the project itself and my own credibility. We know a considerable part of it came from Kate Hoey and her lackeys. But it is also clear that a lot came from within the Football Association itself.’’

It is no secret that there is little love lost between Hoey and Bates indeed the Chelsea chairman regularly calls for her to be sacked.

Hoey would not respond to the criticism but said: ‘‘I have no intention of responding to Mr Bates’ personal attacks except to wish him well in his other business interests.

‘‘I am sure that the whole Wembley Board will now unite to make a success of this important project.’’

Potentially, the most damaging repercussions of Bates’ attack will be a further loss of confidence in the national stadium project. Sir Rodney Walker, currently on a family holiday, is acutely aware that City financial institutions are wary of a project which has been bedevilled by rumours and in-fighting.

Now Bates, the former chairman and vice-chairman, has not only quit the board, but has poured vitriol over the performance of both the project’s financial advisors and lead bankers.

Bates’ decision followed a letter to him from Crozier, detailing how he would be expected to work with Walker and chief executive Bob Stubbs. Bates would have been expected to oversee the fine detail of work on the stadium, but would have been answerable to an FA committee something he was not prepared to do.

The FA released a statement thanking Bates for his hard work but saying his letter of resignation contained inaccuracies.

The statement read: ‘‘The Football Association received Ken Bates’ letter of resignation from the board of WNSL with disappointment. We would like to thank him for his hard work over the past four years.

‘‘He has shared with all of us the ambition of building the best stadium in the world as the new home of English football.

‘‘While today’s letter contains some inaccuracies, they in no way detract from the contribution he has made.

‘‘As stated last week, both the Wembley and FA boards are united and unanimous in agreeing the way forward. The new Wembley will be built and we will have a stadium to be proud of.’’

The irony of the situation is that the national stadium project is following the path that Bates had mapped out.

The Chelsea chairman wanted a stadium without an athletics track, and Walker has now confirmed that will be the case. Despite some opposition, Bates wanted to build a hotel and office complex, and that still remains part of the plans.

Indeed, some senior figures in football believe the in-fighting has done nothing except to delay the project, which is now not expected to be completed until the end of 2004.

The crux of the matter was that Bates, as he admitted himself, wanted to run WNSL without outside interference, be it from the Government or the FA. But for a man who has never been afraid to make enemies, once the project ran into trouble in securing a loan, his position was always precarious.