Ken Bates has revealed that former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich identified Regent's Park as a potential training ground during discussions about buying the west London club.
The former Chelsea owner, who purchased the club for £1 in 1982 and sold it to the oligarch in 2003 for £140 million, was quick to rule out the possibility, citing the park's royal ownership.
Regent's Park has been owned by the Crown since Henry VIII's dissolution of the monastries in the 1500s.
In an interview with The Telegraph, the former Chelsea owner shared that Abramovich had thought that Regent's Park 'looked like a good park' after viewing it from the air.