Matthew Harding
Matthew Charles Harding was a British businessman, vice-chairman of Chelsea Football Club and a major financial supporter of New Labour.
Early years and education
Harding was born in Haywards Heath, Sussex, the son of Paul Harding, an insurance executive. He attended Abingdon School in Abingdon from 1964 until 1971. He was a member of the badminton first team, for which he was awarded half-colours, in addition to being a cricket first XI player, captain of the colts cricket team and a member of the hockey second XI. Although he enjoyed the sport, he did not enjoy the school ethos, earning his single A level in Latin.Career
He left school 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 one of Britain's 100 richest men.In June 1995, he was appointed a "Steward" of Abingdon School and presented the awards at Leavers' Day. He donated £500,000 towards the school's "Mercers Court", a new IT centre where one of the rooms was named ”The Matthew Harding Careers Room" after his interest in offering careers advice to the pupils.
Political activity
In 1996, Harding donated £1 million to the Labour Party, making him, at the time, the party's largest individual donor in its history.Chelsea FC
A lifelong fan of Chelsea Football Club, Harding responded to Chelsea chairman Ken Bates' call for new investment in the club in 1993. In October 1993, he was appointed as a Chelsea Football Club director. He invested £26.5 million in the club, including £7.5m towards construction of the North Stand, £16.5m to buy the Stamford Bridge freehold and transfer funds. He would frequently ask players for autographs and other signed items. However, his time there was marked by frequent clashes with Bates, club chairman and majority shareholder, over the direction to be taken by the club. Bates feared that Harding would try to oust him from his position, although in reality Harding was only interested in the success of the club. Bates eventually banned Harding from the Chelsea boardroom and effectively limited his input and influence over the club. Dispute between Bates and Harding was continual and only stopped after Harding's death in 1996. Bates received widespread criticism after calling Harding "evil" just a year after his death.In honour of his services to the club, Chelsea renamed the North stand to the Matthew Harding stand.