Heroes & Villains – Chelsea
Heroes – Matthew Harding
Matthew Harding lived and breathed Chelsea Football Club.
He made his fortune in insurance and became a Director at his beloved Chelsea in October 1993, putting £26.5 million into the club.
Following the Taylor Report, Stamford Bridge had to go under major renovation to become an all-seater ground.
£7.5 million of Harding’s money went towards paying for a new stand at Stamford Bridge. It was named the Matthew Harding Stand.
The remaining funds from Harding’s investment went towards the freehold old the ground and the transfer kitty.
Harding died in a helicopter crash when travelling back from a League Cup tie at Bolton. He was only 42 years of age.
Villain – Winston Bogarde
Winston Bogarde made nine league appearances in a Chelsea shirt. However, it was what he chose to do off the pitch that angered the Chelsea faithful.
Signed at the age of 29, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Bogarde wanted to get as much game time as possible. He would only have a few years left before he would hang up his boots.
This couldn’t be further from the truth as Bogarde fell out of favour soon after joining Chelsea. Rather than trying to find a new club, the Dutchman decided to sit out the four years of his contract.
He was on £40,000 a week, a huge sum back then. In all, he earnt over £8 million at Chelsea and spent the majority of the time at the club playing for the reserves!
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