Mike Bateson

Mike Bateson is an English businessman and former chairman of Torquay United Football Club.

Bateson was brought up in Blackpool and after a spell in the Scots Guards made his fortune selling double glazing in the South-West of England. In May 1990, after selling his windows company, he became chairman of Torquay United and saw the side promoted to Football League Third Division at the end of the next season, Torquay beating Blackpool on penalties in the Football League Fourth Division play-off final at Wembley Stadium, in doing so becoming the first Football League team to win promotion on penalties. However, they lasted just one season at this level before being relegated, and did not win promotion for 12 years. During those 12 years, they came close to being relegated to the Conference on no less than three occasions (once finishing bottom of the league and only retaining their status because the Conference champions did not meet the Football League requirements for stadium capacity), though on a more positive note they did qualify for the playoffs once (in 1998), losing to Colchester United.

In July 2002, he sparked controversy when deciding that the club's assistant manager had to be registered as a player, meaning that David Preece had to leave the club as he was retiring as a player, though Bateson admitted that the club could not afford to keep Preece on their payroll anyway. This sparked the resignation of manager Roy McFarland soon afterwards.

Promotion from the league's basement division was at long last achieved in 2004, but relegation took place after just one season and the following year they narrowly avoided a second successive relegation.

...
Wikipedia