Peter Coates (born 13 January 1938) is an English businessman, the co-founder of bet365, and the owner of Stoke City Football Club, of which he is a board director and former chairman.
[2] His father, Leonard was a miner and World War I veteran who had a keen interest in football, where they regularly attended Stoke City's Victoria Ground.
[2] Coates signed for the club on amateur terms in the 1950s, but admitted he was "not quite good enough" to make it as a professional; instead he went on to play for local non-league sides Goldenhill Wanderers and Kidsgrove Athletic.
Denise Coates developed a sports betting platform and trading team to launch the business online in March 2001.
In 1986, Peter Coates became majority shareholder at Stoke City and was appointed chairman in September 1986 taking over from Sandy Clubb.
[1] In 1990 the Stoke City board consisted of six directors and it was agreed that a new share issue was needed, with the majority wanting the supporters to be free to purchase.
[1] Coates appointed Lou Macari for the 1991–92 season and he guided the club to the Second Division title and victory in the 1992 Associate Members' Cup Final.
[1] Supporters were dismayed with the board after Mark Stein was sold to Chelsea in October 1993 for £1.4 million and shortly after Macari left to join Celtic.
[1] The Icelandic consortium eventually took Stoke back the First Division via the play-offs in 2002 and consolidated the club in mid-table but were unable to mount a promotion attempt.
[1] The consortium made one last effort to gain promotion in the 2005–06 season after sacking Tony Pulis and replacing him with Johan Boskamp.
He brought in a large number of foreign players and ultimately only managed a mid-table finish and the owners left at the end of the season.
[17][18] Coates came in for criticism from supporters in December 2017 with the team in deep relegation trouble and pressure mounting on Hughes, He dismissed the fans concerns with— "I don't know what all the fuss is about".
[20] Gary Rowett was appointed manager going into the 2018–19 season and despite spending over £30 million on new players he was unable to mount a promotion bid and was sacked in January 2019 and replaced with Nathan Jones.
[28] Coates' father, Leonard was a miner and fought in World War I with the York and Lancaster Regiment where he was awarded a Military Medal.