Matthew Harding – the lifelong Chelsea fan who became a high-profile director of the club in a pivotal period in our history, but always wanted to remain essentially a fan.

To those who followed the Blues in the mid-1990s, that was clear and it was a major reason why he was held in such high esteem by his fellow supporters and remains so to this day.

His legacy is the accelerating effect the investment of millions of pounds from his considerable wealth had on our long overdue return to winning trophies, and on the redevelopment of the stadium into the modern, closed-in arena the team plays in today.

As Chelsea Football Club marks the 20th anniversary this weekend of his hugely untimely death at the age of just 42, the official Chelsea website will tomorrow look at the impact his time as a director had, but as Harding considered himself primarily a fan, we today recall that part of his life first and to do that, we spoke to three of his children, Hannah, Joel and Luke, whom he ensured were bitten by the blue bug and are season ticket holders to this day. We talk sitting in the stand at the north end of the stadium that bears their father’s name.

‘There wasn't a choice for us about being Chelsea fans,’ Hannah confirms, ‘and our kids have had no choice either.

‘Dad was quite obsessed. We couldn't go on holiday for a whole week because we'd have to be home for the matches, so we could only go on holiday from Monday to Friday.’

Matthew Harding was a Chelsea fan for the same reason – parental influence – and was taken to his first game in November 1962, a Division Two win. His father continued to bring him to Stamford Bridge a few times a season and Bobby Tambling became an early favourite player.

He continued to follow the team’s fortunes in early adulthood and with his children growing up and other activities, including playing hockey, subsiding, he bought season tickets in 1989.

Luke remembers being taken to the first game of the 1989/90 season, a win away at Wimbledon and the home game the following weekend when Sheffield Wednesday were beaten 4-0. Hannah’s first game was the start of the next season, Dennis Wise’s debut against Derby, with Joel following on a couple of months later by watching a goalless visit from Nottingham Forest.

It is clear Chelsea for Matthew Harding was about far more than the 90 minutes. The social occasion was paramount too.