Harold Payne Hardman (4 April 1882 – 9 June 1965) was an English football player and chairman.^[1]

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Harold Hardman

Personal information
Full name	Harold Payne Hardman
Date of birth	(1882-04-04)4 April 1882
Place of birth	Kirkmanshulme, Manchester, Lancashire, England
Date of death	9 June 1965(1965-06-09) (aged 83)
Place of death	Sale, Cheshire, England
Position(s)	Outside forward
Youth career
	Worsley Wanderers
	Chorlton-cum-Hardy
	South Shore Choristers
	Northern Nomads
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1900–1903	Blackpool	73	(10)
1903–1908	Everton	130	(25)
1908–1909	Manchester United	4	(0)
1909–1910	Bradford City	20	(2)
1910–1913	Stoke	54	(10)
1913–?	Manchester United	0	(0)
International career
1905–1908	England	4	(1)
1906–1908	England amateur	7	(3)
1908	Great Britain	3	(0)
Medal record Men's football Representing  Great Britain Olympic Games 1908 London Team competition
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

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Born in Kirkmanshulme, Manchester, Hardman was discovered by Blackpool as a schoolboy and thrown into the first team during their season in exile from the Football League in 1899–1900. He made his League debut on 8 September 1900, in a home draw against Gainsborough Trinity, the first competitive game played at Blackpool's Bloomfield Road ground. He became almost an ever-present for the club over the next three years.

An outside-left, Hardman had the ability to switch flanks and sometimes played on the right wing. He possessed speed and a knack for trickery, and although not a regular goalscorer himself, he provided the final pass for many of the goals scored by Bob Birkett and Jack Parkinson. Blackpool, however, as a whole, were a team struggling in the Second Division, and they found it too difficult to hold on to him.

In 1903, he signed for Everton for a fee of £100.^[2] He played for the Toffees in the 1906 and 1907 FA Cup Finals before joining Manchester United in 1908. Hardman later played for Bradford City, during their first two seasons in Division One, and Stoke City.

After his playing days ended, he became a well-known administrator and, later, director of Manchester United. He became chairman of the club in 1951 after the death of James W. Gibson, and was at the helm at the time of the Munich air disaster on 6 February 1958, which claimed the lives of 23 people, including eight players, three non-playing staff, and ended the careers of two other players due to injury. He oversaw United's three league title glories of the 1950s as well as their early foray into the European Cup from 1956 to 1958. Hardman also saw Manchester United win the FA Cup in 1963 and another league championship in 1964–65, before his death in June 1965 at the age of 83. He was succeeded as chairman by Louis Edwards.

In 1908, Hardman became a solicitor in Manchester.