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New York Times

Meet Matthew Harding's son Pat, chairman of a title-winning club: ‘I like to think he'd be proud'

For most of his life, Pat Harding has been accustomed to being asked about his dad and his achievements. Pat is the son of beloved former Chelsea vice-chairman Matthew, who tragically died aged just 42 in a helicopter crash in October 1996 while travelling back from seeing the senior team play at Bolton. Advertisement The Harding family's strong connection with Chelsea has never gone away. Not only are they all supporters of the club, the North Stand was renamed in Matthew Harding's honour after his passing because his loan helped pay for its development. They still own season tickets in the upper tier and attend matches on a regular basis. Pat was only 12 when he lost his father but remembers fondly going to Chelsea games with him, seeing his passion as people engaged in his favourite topic of conversation — Chelsea. Last year, Pat made the decision to follow in his dad's footsteps by becoming chairman of non-League Hassocks FC, a club based within nine miles of Premier League club Brighton and Hove Albion. Last month they clinched promotion to the Isthmian South East Division (the eighth tier of English football) for the first time in their history as champions. On Monday (April 21), they will get to celebrate lifting the Southern Combination Premier Division trophy after their match against local rivals Haywards Heath Town. It is going to be an emotional day for Pat. He tells The Athletic: 'I would like to think my dad would be proud of what I have achieved. I was 12 when it happened, and it is hard to gauge what an older son-father relationship would be now. But people tell me that he would be proud of me. I am a father now, and seeing your children do well is all you want in life. I am sure he would be.' While the club operate at a much lower level to Chelsea, it means just as much to the Harding family. Growing up just a few miles away in Ditchling, it was Pat's local club. He joined them as an under-9, stayed till he was 22 and, after playing for four other clubs, returned to spend the last two seasons there before retiring in 2024. His record from a very good non-League career read 348 goals from 990 appearances. Twin brother Joel played as a goalkeeper for many years with them too. Chelsea were not the only club Matthew helped. Hassocks FC benefited from his wealth as well. The club approached him in the mid-1990s to fund the installation of floodlights, a requirement if they were to win promotion to Division One of the County League. They cost £50,000 and have been in use at the club's Beacon Ground ever since. Advertisement 'When Hassocks came up, you get to a certain level and you need to have floodlights to play at a certain level,' Pat explains. 'We lived locally, and so they asked him. I think he jokily said, 'I will put money in if you get promoted, I won't if you don't!' I know what he was like — he was pretty eccentric, and it was probably a bit of a wind-up. There was a game against Chelsea's youth team here in 1995 to mark them having been installed, and a picture of it was hung up in the boardroom. 'Funnily enough, I am now in the process of changing them. We will keep the pylons so that part of what Dad paid for will still remain, but times have changed and we are going to put LED lights in. The LEDs will save energy costs by 75 per cent each time they are used, so it makes sense long-term.' His mother, Ruth, has also made her presence felt. After being left unimpressed by the state of the carpet in the main clubhouse, she recently paid for a new one to be installed. To put what Hassocks FC have achieved this season in further perspective, they did not have a budget to sign players, pay wages or even their expenses. The squad all live within a 30-minute drive and are united by the same ambition to make the club do well. There will be more money available now that they have gone up a division. The hope is that it will help keep the current group together. Pat, 41, is not a conventional chairman. He's not a man in a suit enjoying the delights of a boardroom and the VIP treatment. Like the other volunteers, he is not paid for any of the work he does. On matchday, he helps out everywhere he can, from directing cars into parking spaces, pouring drinks behind the bar and taking the rubbish out. Indeed, he was so busy doing all this when Hassocks FC beat Crowborough 3-0, the result that clinched top spot with five games to spare, he missed all of the goals. He says, 'We had a record crowd of 807 people here. It was so busy I only saw the last 10 minutes of the match. I like to show that I am doing the work like the rest of the volunteers, that I am not just swanning around. Some people say to me, 'You shouldn't have to do all this, the car parking and so on', but I think it shows it is a team effort. Advertisement 'I actually enjoy hosting the event. People ask me, 'What do you do as a chairman?'. And I will always explain that it is two things: it's kind of ground management/organising maintenance, and also managing a match day. I host a big party in a way and have to make sure it runs smoothly. If it does go smoothly, it's job done. 'If I am busy doing a job and hear a cheer, I get on my walkie-talkie and ask, 'What's happened there?'. I will be told who scored. Luckily, the Crowborough game was filmed so I could watch the goals back. 'Did seeing how my dad acted influence how I am with people? I think so. There were subconscious things I picked up from dealing with people and business. It is something that has helped on the sponsor side of things, like I connect with people first, and then it is good for a working relationship. 'I am one of those people who needs to do something, I can't sit still. There is always a problem cropping up. I'm on call. Imagine looking after your house and there is a plumbing problem. Here it is on a larger scale because there are more toilets! 'The Premier League are actually helping us with the headlights. They are giving 70 per cent towards the cost (total price is £31,000). It is part of their funding. If you show you are a well-run club, doing things right, they will chip in towards it.' Ruth, Joel, elder brother Luke and older sister Hannah were all there to see Hassocks FC beat Crowborough. Some, if not all, will be there to join in the title celebrations as well, plus their children. When Pat is not busy with Hassocks FC or his full-time job of being a mobile sports-massage therapist and personal trainer, he likes to sit in the stand which bears his father's name at Stamford Bridge to watch Chelsea play. 'It is still special,' he says with a smile. 'You don't forget how bizarre it is when commentators mention 'the Matthew Harding Stand' or you see it on TV. I still think, 'Wow, that is still unusual, a stand named after my dad'. It is a bit emotional going back there. My mother tells me his ashes were spread on the pitch so it does always feel nice going back. I was 12 when he died — I was quite young. I can't quite take the enormity of it in at times, but it is pretty much all I have ever known. Advertisement 'Dad made sure I had no choice but to support Chelsea growing up. My grandfather, his dad, also supported Chelsea, that's why he did. But I am fine with that! It is the same with my kids; it is, 'Chelsea or no one… oh, and Hassocks!' I can't have them supporting another team — no chance.' (Top photo — Pat Harding with his dad Matthew (left, The Harding Family), Pat Harding at Hassocks FC (right, Simon Johnson/The Athletic))