286:. The ground's capacity was reduced to 12,000 as parts of the ground were deemed to be unsafe. The police costs also mounted, much to Bell's annoyance, costing the club over £50,000 a year. The Bycars End was renovated for £90,000, bringing the capacity up to 23,000. A new police box was constructed, whilst thousands of seats were installed to meet the all-seater requirements of the Taylor Report. Recently discovered mine shafts also had to be filled in, for £175,000, whilst police costs reached £250,000 a year.
354:, and Bell commented on the "unacceptable situation" of the team's results. However, Bell continued to develop the stadium and announced a £1.4 million project to install seats at the Hamil End. In March 1995, £750,000 was spent on resurfacing the pitch and the purchase of a giant cover to protect the grass from frost. At the end of the campaign, Bell called a meeting to discuss Rudge's future; the manager remained in his post as he held the confidence of most of the club's directors and supporters.
386:"Bill was Bill to the end – insuppressible, indomitable and true to his entrepreneurial spirit. When I called to see him just weeks ago in his new showroom, he was planning his latest improvement to the body shop and showcasing a vintage car, with great enthusiasm for the future. Not everyone always agreed with Bill, but his passion for Burslem and for the Vale was never in doubt."
357:
On 26 April 1996, the club announced that a deal with the council had been reached to joint-finance a £1.6 million outdoor sports complex at Bycars Park. However, in
October Bell put the club's players up for sale and threatened to sell or liquidate the club if he received any further abuse from
361:
In
September 1997, plans were drawn up for a 5,000 seater stand on Lorne Street, with 14 executive boxes and a 300-seater restaurant; the stand would cost £1.8 million, with a £1.2 million being pledged by the Football Trust. Bell stated that "it is my ambition to see my job completed. We
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in May 1984 and became the club's second-highest shareholder in April 1986, when he purchased 23,000 shares from former chairman Don
Radcliffe. Bell then battled with chairman Jim Lloyd for control of the club, and won this battle on 14 May 1987. He stated: "There can be no room for sentiment in
429:
became the new chairman. Bell maintained a quiet public profile after leaving the club, though he held a long-running legal dispute with the club over rent owed towards the club shop, which he still owned. He made headlines in
September 2010, when a dispute with a builder at his
412:
despite Bell giving him the funds to sign new players. Bell also announced that £1 million had been spent filling in more mine shafts and that Vale was losing £20,000 a week. The financial situation worsened, and the club lost £400,000 from the collapse of
250:
and announced the start of a 'five-year plan' for the stadium after decades of neglect. He purchased an electronic scoreboard for £20,000 at the Hamil Road end of the ground and installed executive boxes bought cheaply from
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town centre, and in an attempt to eliminate the competition closed Vale Park's market, which had been making the club £100,000 a year. The club's debt mounted, reaching close to £500,000. The team fared poorly in
310:
for £300,000, with half that sum coming from the
Football Trust. It was placed above the Hamil Road Stand, the away end, and was opened for the league clash against Chester on 26 September 1992. At the end of
259:
for £164,800; the ground had been bought for only £13,500 eight years previously. In
December, the club announced plans for a 48-seater £80,000 disabled stand, the first such construction in the
373:
zone, Bell sacked Rudge in
January 1999, who had been employed for sixteen years. The fans abused Bell for his decision, and he again threatened to walk away from the club. He quickly appointed
289:
In May 1991, plans were drawn up for a new 4,000-seater stand on the Bycars End, at £1 million. However, further problems emerged when the city council opened a market in
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at great financial cost. However, the money for his ambitious projects dried up with his decision to axe Rudge, and he left the club in
December 2002 when Port Vale entered
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in 2002. Bell put his shares up for sale in
November 2002 and sold £40,000 worth of shares, nowhere near enough to pay off the £593,000 Vale owed the
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critical supporters. No one came forward to buy the club, and the club's total debt was revealed to be £1.5 million.
263:. In February 1989, the new family enclosure was opened, with 600 seats. On the pitch, Rudge led the "Valiants" into the
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meant that £250,000 worth of upgrades had to be made to Vale Park, with almost half of this amount being matched by the
366:". However, the team performed poorly, and Bell was vocal in his criticism of the team's results. With the club in the
431:
299:
161:(21 January 1932 – 12 February 2013) was an English businessman and football club chairman who was the chair of
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with debts of £2.4 million. The club was taken out of administration by the 'Valiant2001' consortium, and
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football, and if there are people here who do not do their jobs, they will have to go." He inherited as team
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of £216,453. He purchased Lloyd's shares in
November 1987, giving himself 60% of the total holding.
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side. However, attendances were low, and the club was losing around £50,000 a year and had an
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in his stead. As the team improved to reach safety, Bell then focused his work on improving
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from 1987 to 2002. He spent the first twelve years at the club in partnership with
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as a maintenance mechanic and later opened a car dealership called 'WT Bell'.
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What If There Had Been No Port in the Vale?: Startling Port Vale Stories!
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723:"You always knew where you stood with Bill Bell, says Martin Foyle"
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Vale were bottom of the table on 28 December 1987, and Bell sacked
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as his replacement. In June, Bell negotiated the purchase of
837:"Former Port Vale chairman Bill Bell faces builder with axe"
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at the end of the season, to the manager's disgruntlement.
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home ended with Bell threatening the builder with an axe.
408:, but could not prevent Vale from suffering the drop in
483:"Port Vale: Former chairman Bill Bell dies, aged 81"
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have decided to develop our own stadium fit for the
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196:on 21 January 1932, and became a supporter of
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327:final. They followed up this success with
200:in 1948. He worked on the construction of
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335:. However, Bell only offered Rudge a new
255:. On 20 October 1989, he sold the club's
224:, who had formed a stable and successful
404:Horton kept the team from relegation in
914:English football chairmen and investors
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924:Deaths from stomach cancer in England
919:Port Vale F.C. directors and chairmen
809:"Port Vale: Bell offers olive branch"
421:. In December 2002, the club entered
16:English football chairman (1932–2013)
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865:"Court date for building dispute"
342:The club were knocked out of the
242:and promoted 'hard taskmaster'
212:Bell became a board member at
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781:"Vale go into administration"
331:back to the second tier in
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375:Brighton & Hove Albion
453:. Stafford: Witan Books.
208:Chairmanship of Port Vale
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315:, Rudge led the Vale to
346:at the Second Round in
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325:Football League Trophy
276:Hillsborough disaster
393:Stoke-on-Trent North
381:as the new manager.
909:People from Burslem
845:. 15 September 2010
817:. 27 September 2008
449:Kent, Jeff (2011).
274:In the wake of the
159:William Thomas Bell
35:William Thomas Bell
789:. 16 December 2002
731:. 14 February 2013
491:. 12 February 2013
873:. 6 December 2011
460:978-09-52915-28-7
306:'s grandstand at
188:Bell was born in
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265:Second Division
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45:21 January 1932
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419:Inland Revenue
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368:First Division
284:Football Trust
226:Third Division
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194:Stoke-on-Trent
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178:administration
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68:(aged 81)
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875:. Retrieved
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814:The Sentinel
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728:The Sentinel
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493:. Retrieved
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403:
389:
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379:Brian Horton
360:
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341:
308:Sealand Road
304:Chester City
300:Bobby Downes
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273:
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158:
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134:Succeeded by
113:
104:Chairman of
66:(2013-02-12)
18:
904:2013 deaths
899:1932 births
877:20 February
849:20 February
821:20 February
793:20 February
735:14 February
495:12 February
415:ITV Digital
397:Joan Walley
364:Premiership
352:Scarborough
124:Preceded by
80:Nationality
893:Categories
438:References
432:Brown Edge
427:Bill Bratt
371:relegation
313:the season
244:Mike Pejic
240:Alan Oakes
222:John Rudge
184:Early life
170:John Rudge
139:Bill Bratt
91:Car dealer
88:Occupation
72:Brown Edge
41:1932-01-21
786:BBC Sport
768:Kent 2011
753:Kent 2011
710:Kent 2011
693:Kent 2011
678:Kent 2011
663:Kent 2011
651:Kent 2011
632:Kent 2011
617:Kent 2011
600:Kent 2011
588:Kent 2011
571:Kent 2011
546:Kent 2011
525:Kent 2011
488:BBC Sport
410:1999–2000
329:promotion
248:Vale Park
230:overdraft
214:Port Vale
202:Vale Park
198:Port Vale
174:Vale Park
163:Port Vale
128:Jim Lloyd
118:1987–2002
114:In office
106:Port Vale
74:, England
55:, England
25:Bill Bell
469:Specific
337:contract
443:General
406:1998–99
348:1994–95
333:1993–94
323:in the
321:Wembley
296:1991–92
291:Burslem
219:manager
190:Burslem
167:manager
83:British
49:Burslem
457:
344:FA Cup
278:, the
377:boss
317:glory
237:coach
879:2012
851:2012
823:2012
795:2012
737:2013
497:2013
455:ISBN
269:1989
61:Died
31:Born
395:MP
319:at
267:in
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391:—
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39:(
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