Matthew Harding (1953-1996)

Written by Loz in August 2007

Elland Road, November 1993. Deep into the second half and Chelsea are getting hammered 4-1 by the scum of the North. Chelsea's travelling support are doing us proud, in fact the last quarter of the match saw the home support totally out sung despite the comprehensive beating of one of their biggest rivals, a rival that had form to match a nag with a wonky leg and a blind eye. 'What has this to do with Matthew Harding?' some may ask. Well legend has it that Matthew was right in the middle of that away support and he was as loud and proud as any other blue in the away end that day.

That may, or may not, be factually correct although based on what we discovered about Harding before his tragic death on October 22nd, 1996 there is no reason to dispute this version of events which has been reported on a number of occasions by a number of independent sources.

However what is factually correct is that once the rumours circulated as far as Ken Bates that standing in the terraces week in week out was a man with more money then Chelsea could dream of at that point in their history it didn't take long before a phone call or two was made and Harding was brought into the Chelsea board room. Harding was actually formally introduced to the club by Janet Rainbow, who was a Chelsea Pitch Owners executive.

One of Harding's first promises was to finance the completion of the North Stand, a promise that was to set him back a cool £5 million.

After that he effectively bank rolled the signing of Ruud Gullit and Luca Vialli however whilst doing so he looked to protect the interests of the 'common fan' with great fervour by fighting against plans to turn the company into a public limited company.

This, in Harding's opinion, would expose the club he loved to people with a purely profit orientated outlook and no real compassion for the club itself. This was not the only way that Harding was easily differentiated from the majority of board members (not just at Chelsea). When Harding was in the Directors' box he behaved just as he did when he was standing on the terraces, not always something that sat comfortably with other members of the Chelsea board, or the visiting directors for that matter. One in particular possibly being Man Utd chairman Martin Edwards who, whilst in the director's toilet at Old Trafford stood next to Matthew Harding and listened to him whistling along to 'Who the f**K are Man Utd!'

For a while this continued investment and love for the club resulted in a strong and healthy relationship between Matthew Harding and Ken Bates however that was to turn sour as a power struggle between them developed and Bates eventually banned Harding from the Director’s box. This banning, coupled with Bates seeming lack of compassion not long after Harding’s death when he described him as ‘evil’ is something that many Chelsea fans have never, and probably will never, forgive Bates for.

Matthew Harding's sporting hero, just like for many of us, was Ossie however get him talking about Cooke, Tambling, Hudson, Gullit, Wisey or one of many Chelsea players and you could be forgiven for believing that the one you had chosen to discuss was his favourite, such was his knowledge of each and every one of them.

It was after a Coca Cola cup tie away at Bolton in October 1996 that Matthew Harding's helicopter ran into difficulties, difficulties which culminated in the accident that took the lives of Harding, and the four friends travelling with him.

Matthew Harding was only 42 when he died, on board with him were the pilot Michael Goss, 38; Harding’s school friend Raymond Deane, 43; businessman Tony Burridge, 39; and magazine journalist John Bauldie, 47 (Bauldie was considered to be an expert on Bob Dylan and it was Harding and Bauldie’s shared passion for Dylan that had made them friends). A terrible tragedy that devastated not just the family of Matthew Harding but also the family of all five passengers. as Chelsea fans we mourn the loss of Harding but our loss is negligible in comparison to that suffered by the families of all five of the people who died that day.

After his death the club decided to rename the new north stand after him, and despite Ken Bates later efforts to reverse the decision the stand is there to this day (and hopefully forevermore) as a fitting tribute to what he did for our club.

As always in these circumstances there were many tributes paid to Harding by the great and the good however I think the one paid by Ruud Gullit was the most fitting. Gullit spoke of his depression at hearing the news and said 'I will remember him for his laughs, happiness after a game and his enthusiasm about the club," he said. "He was really a fan, and this is something I would like to treasure."

And as ever, and deservedly, the fans paid their own tribute at the Bridge where scarves, shirts, flowers, scarves and personal messages were left in what turned into an outpouring of affection for a man who, to all extents and purposes, was no different from you and I. A dyed in blue Chelsea fan.

His name was sung in the game against Tottenham when Dennis Wise, Gianfranco Zola and Kevin Hitchcock laid a wreath spelling ‘MATTHEW R.I.P’ on the centre circle, his name was sung at the cup final the following May, his name was sung when we beat Bolton to clinch the title in 2005 and his name is still sung today. The next time you take your seat in the Matthew Harding stand give him a moment in your thoughts for he gave our club many many moments in his.

Recovered from the old profile pages in honour of Matthew Harding who died 15 years ago. A sad loss for us all.

If people are interested I will think about resurrecting some of those old pages into a new forum.

If people are interested I will think about resurrecting some of those old pages into a new forum.

Yes, please. Thank you.

Yes, please. Thank you.

Already done mate - go to the home page and click on the Shed End History forum

Already done mate - go to the home page and click on the Shed End History forum

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