Helicopter Sheffield: Stoke City chairman John Coates lands in ...

The pilot told The Star how Mr Coates travels to most away games by helicopter, and this was not the first time he had landed at the sports club.

The Coates family - Denise, her brother John and their father Peter - were in 20th place on this year’s Sunday Times Rich List, with an estimated fortune of £7.47 billion.

Denise and John Coates are joint chief executives of the online gambling company Bet365.

In August, John Coates became the ‘outright’ owner of Stoke City, with the club announcing that they were now debt free and owned their stadium and training ground.

The club said at the time that the board continued to be made up of John Coates, his father Peter, and Stoke City’s vice-chairman Richard Smith.