Leeds United: Former director Melvyn Levi dies aged 71

Mr Levi suffered a massive heart attack while travelling with his wife, Carole, on a ferry from Bilbao to Portsmouth earlier this month.

Paying tribute to her husband, Mrs Levi said: “It was so sudden and we are just trying to pick up the pieces. He is very much missed.”

Businessman Mr Levi was part of the so-called Yorkshire Consortium that spent 10 months running Leeds before selling the club to a Swiss-based group with Ken Bates as its UK representative in 2005.

A subsequent falling-out between Mr Levi and Mr Bates led to a number of high-profile court cases.

Mr Bates was ordered to pay £50,000 in damages in 2009 after Mr Levi made a successful claim for defamation at the High Court in London.

And, as recently as March this year, Mr Bates was told to pay £6,000 in damages to Mrs Levi following allegations that she had been harassed.