William Thomas Bell (21 January 1932 – 12 February 2013) was an English businessman and football club chairman who was the chair of Port Vale from 1987 to 2002.
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 administration.
[2] Bell became a board member at Port Vale 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.
[2] Vale were bottom of the table on 28 December 1987, and Bell sacked coach Alan Oakes and promoted 'hard taskmaster' Mike Pejic in his stead.
[3] He purchased an electronic scoreboard for £20,000 at the Hamil Road end of the ground and installed executive boxes bought cheaply from Newcastle United.
[4] In the wake of the Hillsborough disaster, the Taylor Report meant that £250,000 worth of upgrades had to be made to Vale Park, with almost half of this amount being matched by the Football Trust.
[6] In June, Bell negotiated the purchase of Chester City's grandstand at Sealand Road for £300,000, with half that sum coming from the Football Trust.
[8] The club were knocked out of the FA Cup at the Second Round in 1994–95 at the hands of Scarborough, and Bell commented on the "unacceptable situation" of the team's results.
[9] 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.
[9] 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.
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.
Horton kept the team from relegation in 1998–99, but could not prevent Vale from suffering the drop in 1999–2000 despite Bell giving him the funds to sign new players.