London, Mar 04: Ken Bates has resigned as chairman of Chelsea, the club said.
''At an emotional last' chairman's supper club attended by over 300 people, he (Bates) expressed 'no blame' as he said that the intended period of hand over from himself to the new regime had not gone as he had anticipated, and that the differences of eastern and western cultures perhaps resulted in his decision,'' the club said on its website yesterday.
There had been speculation about the position of the 72-year-old since Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich bought the Premier League club last July, which intensified with the arrival of former Manchester United chief executive Peter Kenyon in February.
Bates had retained the title of chairman of the football club but he was replaced as chairman of Chelsea's parent company by Abramovich associate Bruce Buck earlier this year.
Kenyon's arrival put paid to a club institution with the axing of Bates' acerbic column in the club's matchday programme.



''Bruce Buck told me Peter Kenyon would be doing a profile piece and it would be better if I didn't do my notes. I told him he could shove it and I wouldn't be doing them again,'' newspapers quoted Bates as saying at the time.



Bates bought the ailing club for one pound in 1982 and took the team back into the top flight. He invested heavily in the southwest London stadium, adding restaurants, a hotel and leisure complex.



Under Bates and benefactor Matthew Harding, who later died in a helicopter crash, Chelsea pioneered the importation of foreign talent.



Dutch coach Ruud Gullit brought Chelsea their first honour for 26 years when they lifted the FA Cup in 1997.



He attracted top Italians Gianluca Vialli, Gianfranco Zola and Roberto Di Matteo to the club.



Vialli replaced Gullit as coach in 1998 and guided the team to victories in the English League Cup and European Cup Winners' Cup. A second FA Cup success followed in 2000.



But Bates had stretched his business financially and, with an enormous wage bill and the bottom falling out of the European television rights market, Chelsea were in trouble again.



When Abramovich arrived he paid off 80 million pounds (149.7 million) of debt, bought up 60 million pounds of shares including Bates' 17 million worth and allowed Ranieri to spend more than 100 million pounds on new players.


Bureau Report