William John Batchelor (4 January 1959 – 11 April 2010), known as John Batchelor, was an English racing driver, businessman, political activist, and football investor. He was chairman of

York City F.C. York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league ...

from 2002 to 2003, during which time he was also the owner of York City Racing, a

motor racing Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of tw ...

team competing in the

British Touring Car Championship The Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom, currently organised and administered by TOCA. It was established in 1958 as the British Saloon Car Championship and was renamed as ...

Early life

Batchelor was born in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

, where he lived for a short period before moving to Surrey, Kent and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

due to his father's work. He received four

O-Level The O-Level (Ordinary Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education. It was introduced in place of the School Certificate in 1951 as part of an educational reform alongside the more in-dept ...

s at school and had an exchange year in

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

, United States, after which he sold insurance door-to-door in East Lancashire. He worked in this for nine months before selling cleaning products for five years, when he started "System Hygiene", a janitorial supplies company based in Accrington. He married Gillian in 1981 and the couple have had four children. "System Hygiene" was sold by Batchelor to business partner Robin Huddleston in 1990. e stood as a Common Sense Sick of Politicians candidate for

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...

in the 1997 general election, coming in last place after winning 0.8% of the share with 362 votes. Following the election, through an

open letter An open letter is a letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally. Open letters usually take the form of a letter addressed to an indiv ...

, he said "I extend my gratitude to the 362 voters in Blackburn who backed my campaign to take politics out of government. I would also like to point out that an additional 30,000 voters also offered me their support by being so sick of politicians that they abstained from voting at all. If we now add this figure to my votes and then subtract the votes of the 'winning' candidate it shows a 5,000-vote majority for those who are sick of politicians."

Racing career

He became a racing driver in 1999 after being backed by

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

and their sponsors, which helped him gain enough money to build a 220bhp Ford Fiesta and entered the Super Road Saloons Championship. He won the title in his first season and moved into the Ford Fiesta Zetec Championship the year after and secured a sponsorship deal with

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

Football

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

Douglas Craig

although it was later revealed he bought it for £1. After taking over the club, he said he had two sites in mind for a new 15,000-seated ground. He revealed an interest in buying

ITV Digital ITV Digital was a British digital terrestrial television broadcaster which launched a pay-TV service on the world's first digital terrestrial television network. Its main shareholders were Carlton Communications plc and Granada plc, owners ...

in May, which he later admitted was unlikely to succeed. He changed the club's name from York City Football Club to York City Soccer Club, in an attempt to appeal to United States markets. Also, Batchelor's racing brand was incorporated into other parts of the club; the official badge had a chequered flag brought into it, as did the first team kit, which had a racing style print on one sleeve. He promised to buy York's

Bootham Crescent Bootham Crescent in York, England, was the home of York City football club and York City Knights rugby league club. With a capacity of 8,256, it is near the city centre, just over a mile from York railway station. York City leased land at B ...

ground, give the Supporters Trust 24% of the club's shares and invite two supporters onto the board, but none of these were fulfilled. It was reported that Batchelor received some

death threat A death threat is a threat, often made anonymously, by one person or a group of people to kill another person or group of people. These threats are often designed to intimidate victims in order to manipulate their behaviour, in which case a de ...

s in regards to way he was handling the club. York went into

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, admini ...

on 18 December and he tried to purchase the club, but the Supporters Trust eventually bought the club on 26 March 2003. Following his time at York, Batchelor said "I did nothing wrong" and "I tried hard to make it work as a business". He was later investigated by the Department of Trade and Industry after pressure from supporters. Batchelor made a profit of over £300,000 from his association with York and while the club was enduring financial difficulties he bought a house for £250,000. Batchelor spent a month in hospital in late 2006 for alcoholism. He was a part of James Derry's bid to buy

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and ...

in March 2008, but eventually launched his own bid to buy the club. He revealed plans to rename the club " Harchester United", after the fictional team in the

Sky The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space. In the field of astronomy, ...

series

Dream Team Dream Team may refer to: Sport Basketball * Dream Team, the 1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team in Barcelona * Dream Team II, the 1994 U.S. men's national basketball team at the FIBA World Championship * Dream Team III, the 1996 ...

. This was called "absolutely bizarre" by Mansfield mayor

Tony Egginton Tony Egginton (born 1951) was the first directly elected Mayor of Mansfield in Nottinghamshire, England. He was elected to the position on 17 October 2002, beating Labour Party (UK), Labour's Lorna Carter by 588 votes, ending 30 years of Labour ...

, who was later appointed as the club's non-executive chairman, which put doubt on Batchelor's takeover bid. He was later revealed to have had a £1.5 million bid for

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England. The club competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They have spent their complete his ...

turned down by chairman Eric Whalley, which proposed moving a newly formed "Lancashire United" to

Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staf ...

and building a 10,000 seater stadium. He held talks with Chester City chairman Stephen Vaughan about purchasing the club in November. Batchelor fronted a consortium that made a £12.5 million bid to buy

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

in July 2009. He was disqualified from acting as a company director for seven years from 2010 after he allowed two of his companies, Moornate Chemists Limited and The Besglos Polish Company Limited, to enter transactions to the benefit of connected companies and himself and to the detriment of their creditors. He was a

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

supporter and a season ticket holder at

Turf Moor Turf Moor is an association football stadium in Burnley, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Burnley F.C. since 1883. This unbroken service makes Turf Moor the second-longest continuously used ground in English professional footba ...

Death

Batchelor died on 11 April 2010 in Stepping Hill Hospital, Stockport, Greater Manchester at the age of 51 after suffering from

liver disease Liver disease, or hepatic disease, is any of many diseases of the liver. If long-lasting it is termed chronic liver disease. Although the diseases differ in detail, liver diseases often have features in common. Signs and symptoms Some of the si ...

caused by alcoholism.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Batchelor, John 1959 births 2010 deaths Sportspeople from Sheffield Independent British political candidates British Touring Car Championship drivers English football chairmen and investors York City F.C. directors and chairmen Deaths from liver disease 20th-century English businesspeople

Early life

Racing career

Racing record

Complete British Touring Car Championship results

Football

Death

References