Matthew Harding

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Matthew Harding (December 26, 1953 – October 22, 1996) was a British businessman and vice-chairman of Chelsea football club.

Harding was born in Haywards Heath, West Sussex, the son of Paul Harding, an insurance executive. He attended Abingdon School in Oxfordshire, but did not enjoy the school ethos. He did however return to the school just weeks before his death to speak to a small group of sixth formers about his road to success. He left school at 16 and went to London.

Through his father's friendship with Ted Benfield, he joined the insurance brokers Benfield, Lovick & Rees and it was in the insurance industry that he made his fortune, starting out by making the tea and going on to be a director. By 1980 he had acquired a 32% stake in the company, becoming a millionaire and one of Britain's 100 richest men.

A lifelong Chelsea fan, Harding responded to Chelsea chairman Ken Bates' call for new investment in the club in 1994 and invested £26.5m and joined the board. However, his time there was marked by frequent clashes with Bates, club chairman and majority shareholder, a man in many respects Harding's antithesis, over the new direction to be taken by the club.

Harding died in a helicopter accident in 1996, after flying back from a Chelsea match away to Bolton Wanderers, along with the pilot and three passengers. Stamford Bridge's North Stand was renamed the Matthew Harding Stand in his honour. The stand is now widely seen as the home of Chelsea's most vocal and passionate supporters.