Mike Bateson is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

businessman and former chairman of

Torquay United Football Club Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in D ...

. Bateson was brought up in

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

and after a spell in the

Scots Guards The Scots Guards (SG) is one of the five Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. Its origins are as the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland. Its lineage can be traced back to 1642, although it was only placed on the ...

made his fortune selling double glazing in the South-West of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. In May 1990, after selling his windows company, he became chairman of Torquay United and saw the side promoted to

Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the f ...

at the end of the next season, Torquay beating

on penalties in the

Football League Fourth Division The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Whilst the division disappeared in name ...

play-off The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

final at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

, in doing so becoming the first

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

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 A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main p ...

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 Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

. 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 Roy Leslie McFarland (born 5 April 1948) is an English former football manager and former player. With Derby County, he played 442 league games, helping him to earn 28 caps for England. Playing career Born in Liverpool, McFarland was a player f ...

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. On 12 October 2006 Bateson sold his stake in the club to a consortium headed by Chris Roberts, ending 16 years at the club which had seen two promotions, two relegations and numerous scrapes with relegation from the

to the

. With the deal to be completed over a four-year period, Bateston retained his position as majority shareholder, though stepped away from the club. However, Roberts resigned on 21 February 2007 amid growing criticism from all quarters. Local hotel owner Keith Richardson took over as chairman, but on 7 March 2007 it was announced that Bateson had returned as chairman. He immediately restored his wife Sue to a Director's post, promoted his daughter Debbie, wife of former Torquay player, groundsman and coach

Richard Hancox Richard Hancox (born 4 October 1968) is an English former professional footballer. He has held various roles at Torquay United in his career. Career Hancox was born in Stourbridge and first joined Exeter city in 1985, he was not offered a contr ...

, to managing director and reappointed three locally based directors who had resigned as a protest over Roberts' handling of the club. In May 2007, after Torquay's relegation to the

Conference National The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...

, Bateson stood down as chairman of Torquay United, with Mervyn Benney taking over. Later that month he agreed to sell his stake in the club to a consortium headed by Cris Boyce, son of former Torquay United chairman, Tony Boyce.Bateson agrees deal to sell Gulls
/ref> and the club has prospered as a result.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bateson, Mike Living people People from Blackpool English football chairmen and investors Torquay United F.C. Year of birth missing (living people)