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Herbert Chapman

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Image:Herbert Chapman.jpg right|thumb'''Herbert Chapman''' (January 19, 1878 – January 6, 1934) was an England English football (soccer) football player and manager. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential managers in English football history.

Playing career
Chapman was born in Kiveton Park, Sheffield. His father was a coal miner, but the young Herbert was bright enough to win a place at Sheffield Technical College, where he studied engineering. Chapman played football as well, first as an amateur, before turning professional in 1901 with Northampton Town F.C. Northampton Town. He played for a series of clubs, including Stalybridge Rovers F.C. Stalybridge Rovers, Rochdale A.F.C. Rochdale, Grimsby Town F.C. Grimsby Town, Swindon Town F.C. Swindon Town, Sheppey United F.C. Sheppey United and Worksop Town F.C. Worksop Town. He turned professional at Northampton Town F.C. Northampton Town in 1901, and had spells at Sheffield United F.C. Sheffield United and Notts County F.C. Notts County, before moving to Tottenham Hotspur F.C. Tottenham Hotspur, where he was mainly a reserve player. His playing career was relatively inauspicious; every time he moved to a new club, he often took up an engineering job in the same town as his new club. His brother, Harry Chapman, was also a footballer, and played for the successful Sheffield Wednesday F.C. Sheffield Wednesday side of the 1900s.

Managerial Career

Northampton Town
Chapman returned to Northampton as player-manager in 1907. Northampton were bottom of the Southern Football League Southern League when he joined, but he led the club to a title in 1909 and they were in the top four for each of the three seasons after that.

Leeds City
In 1912 he joined Leeds City F.C. Leeds City as secretary-manager. He successfully lobbied for the side's re-admission to the Football League, and only just missed out on promotion to the Football League First Division First Division in 1914.. However, during World War I Leeds were involved in a series of financial irregularities, involving payments to 'guest' players during wartime matches, that resulted in the dissolution of the club in 1919 and several of its officials being banned from football for life. Chapman escaped a ban after appealing, claiming he had not been in direct control of the club (having quit to take charge of a munitions factory as part of the war effort) at the time.

Huddersfield Town
Chapman spent a brief spell as manager of a coke (fuel) coking plant in Selby, and was unemployed for short while before returning to football. He joined Huddersfield Town A.F.C. Huddersfield Town in September 1920 as club secretary alongside manager Ambrose Langley, an old colleague of his brother Harry. Chapman became full manager the following March. Between 1920 and 1925, Chapman led the most successful period in Huddersfield's history, winning the 1922 FA Cup, and the Football League in 1924 and 1925. After his departure for Arsenal F.C. Arsenal, the team he had formed went on to win the 1926 championship as well, an unprecedented 'three in a row'.

Arsenal
Image:Herbert Chapman bust 20050922.jpg thumb|right|250px|A bronze bust of Chapman stands inside [[Arsenal Stadium as a tribute to his achievements at the club.]] After joining Arsenal in 1925, Chapman implemented a new strategy, originally suggested by player Charlie Buchan, that ruthlessly exploited a June 1925 change to the offside law (football) offside law. The change had reduced the number of opposition players that an attacker needed between himself and the goal-line from three to two. Buchan's idea was to move the centre half from a roaming position in midfield to a 'stopper' position in defence. With one forward brought back into midfield, this changed the usual formation (football) formation from 2-3-5 to 3-3-4, or a "WM", so called after the shape it formed spelled out the letters. This meant the offside trap was no longer the responsibility of the two full-backs, but the single central defender, while the full backs were pushed wider to cover the wings. Success was not immediate, but Chapman persevered and after several years, Arsenal became one of the most fearsome attacking sides in English football. He combined his revolutionary change in tactics with signing some of the biggest stars in British football, including Cliff Bastin, David Jack, Alex James (footballer) Alex James and Eddie Hapgood. After losing the 1927 Cup final after a freak goalkeeping error, Chapman's Arsenal won the 1930 FA Cup (beating his old side, Huddersfield). This laid down the foundations for a decade in which Arsenal would be the dominant team; Arsenal picked up a Football League First Division First Division title in 1930-31 in English football 1930-31, scoring a club record 127 goals, becoming the first team from the south of England to win the League. Two years later they followed it up with another title, this time scoring 118 League goals. Chapman died suddenly in January 1934, at the age of 55. Reportedly, he had attended a reserves' match on a wet and windy day while nursing a heavy cold, against his doctor's advice; the cold worsened and soon became pneumonia, and Chapman quickly succumbed. By then, he had made Arsenal the undisputed best in England, and the team went on to win a third title that year and another title year after that. Arsenal were the second side to win three League titles in a row, and no team was to repeat the feat until Liverpool F.C. Liverpool in 1982-1984 4.

England
In 1933, Chapman became the first professional manager in charge of England national football team England for the first international against Italy national football team Italy in Rome. He did not have any input into the selection process, the team being determined by the the Football Association FA's International Selection Committee. The result was a 1-1 draw.

Legacy
He was one of the first football managers in the modern sense of the word, taking full charge of the team, rather than letting board members pick the side. As well as his tactical innovations, Chapman was also a pioneer of physical fitness in football - he instituted a strict training regime and the use of physiotherapists. His innovative ideas spread beyond the training pitch. He was an early advocate of floodlights, white footballs and numbered shirts among many others, as well as reputedly being the driving force behind the renaming of London Underground's Gillespie Road station to Arsenal tube station Arsenal. He also changed Arsenal's kit from all red, used by a great many football clubs, to red with white sleeves - the famous Arsenal kit that survives to this day. In 2003 Champan was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in recognition of his impact as a manager. A blue plaque commemorating Chapman was unveiled in March 2005, at 6 Haslemere Avenue, Hendon, where he lived from 1926 until his death. Chapman was the first footballer or football manager to be commemorated in this way. A bronze bust of Chapman stands in the entrance of the marble halls of Arsenal's home ground, Arsenal Stadium, Highbury, in tribute to his achievements at the club. He is the only former Arsenal manager to have been honoured this way. He is buried at Hendon Parish Church, north London. {{start box}} {{succession box| before=Leslie Knighton| title=Arsenal F.C. Arsenal manager| years=1925–1934| after=Joe Shaw (footballer) Joe Shaw (caretaker) }} {{end box}}

External links

- English Hall of Fame Profile
- Biography at Leeds United history site
- Biography (includes Herbert Chapman's obituary in ''The Times'')
- English Heritage information about Chapman's blue plaque Category:1878 births Chapman, Herbert Category:1934 deaths Chapman, Herbert Category:Arsenal F.C. managers Chapman, Herbert Category:English football managers Chapman, Herbert Category:English footballers Chapman, Herbert Category:Grimsby Town F.C. players Chapman, Herbert Category:Huddersfield Town A.F.C. managers Chapman, Herbert Category:Leeds City F.C. managers Chapman, Herbert Category:Northampton Town F.C. managers Chapman, Herbert Category:Northampton Town F.C. players Chapman, Herbert Category:Notts County F.C. players Chapman, Herbert Category:Rochdale A.F.C. players Chapman, Herbert Category:Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Chapman, Herbert Category:Sheffield United F.C. players Chapman, Herbert Category:Swindon Town F.C. players Chapman, Herbert de:Herbert Chapman fr:Herbert Chapman sv:Herbert Chapman

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