Andrew Chapman (born 18 September 1959) is an English-American retired soccer player who saw his greatest success as an indoor player in the United States. He spent six seasons in the American Soccer League, ten in the Major Indoor Soccer League, four in the National Professional Soccer League and two in the Continental Indoor Soccer League.

Career

Chapman was born in London, England, on 18 September 1959. An Arsenal signee at age 16, he turned pro the following year. Chapman went to the United States in the summer of 1978 to play outdoors for the California Sunshine of the American Soccer League for two seasons. In 1980, he moved to the

Cleveland Cobras The Cleveland Stars were an American soccer club based in Cleveland, Ohio and a member of the American Soccer League in 1972–73. Before the 1974 season, the name was changed to the Cleveland Cobras. Overview The Stars' colors were blue and ...

, spending two seasons with them. In 1982, he moved to the

Detroit Express The Detroit Express was a soccer team based in suburban Detroit that played in the now defunct North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1978 to 1980. Its home field was the Pontiac Silverdome. The Express were co-owned by Jimmy Hill, Roger ...

. The Express won the Championship in 1982 as Chapman led the league with 23 goals. His last outdoor season came in 1983 with the Express. The league collapsed at the end of the season and Chapman dedicated himself to indoor soccer. He had already established himself as an indoor player, signing in 1979 with the

Wichita Wings The Wichita Wings were a professional indoor soccer franchise based in Wichita, Kansas. The Wings were admitted to the Major Indoor Soccer League as an expansion team on August 21, 1979.

of the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL). In 1984, he was a first team All Star as a forward. He began the 1984–1985 season in Wichita, but on 1 March 1985, the Cleveland Force purchased Chapman's contract. He finished the season in Cleveland, then played the 1985–1986 season with the Force before being released on 10 May 1986 as part a salary reduction effort. He then moved to the

Baltimore Blast The Baltimore Blast is an American professional indoor soccer team based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. The team is a part of the Major Arena Soccer League. The team has won 10 championships since it was founded in 1980. Beginning with ...

before moving to the Wings for the 1986–1988 seasons. Chapman, known as one of the best natural goal-scorers to ever play the indoor game, was a fan favourite in every city. He finished with 307 MISL goals, a tally which ranks 8th all time. His best season was 1983–84 when he finished second in goal scoring, seventh in league overall scoring and was named to the league's All-MISL team. In 1990, Chapman became a player-coach of the National Professional Soccer League's

Detroit Rockers The Detroit Rockers were an indoor soccer team in the National Professional Soccer League from 1990 to 2001. They played in Joe Louis Arena and Cobo Arena in downtown Detroit, Michigan as well as The Palace of Auburn Hills and Compuware Sports A ...

. He led the league in scoring during the 1990–1991 season with 77 goals and 37 assists in 40 games. He was selected as both the NPSL MVP and a first team All Star that season. In 1992, the Rockers won the NPSL championship. In 1994, the Detroit Neon of the Continental Indoor Soccer League hired Chapman away from the Rockers. In 2000, he came out of retirement to play for the Detroit Rockers in their last three games of the season,NATIONAL PROFESSIONAL SOCCER LEAGUE FINAL OFFICIAL STATISTICS – 1999–2000
making him one of only two players (Goalkeeper, Victor Nogueira) to play in four different decades. Involved in youth coaching since 1978, Chapman started the Birmingham United Football Club in 1997, a youth soccer club in

Birmingham, Michigan Birmingham is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a northern suburb of Detroit located along the Woodward Corridor ( M-1). As of the 2010 census, the population was 20,103. History The area comprising what is now the ...

References

External links

MISL stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chapman, Andy 1959 births Living people American Soccer League (1933–1983) players Baltimore Blast (original MISL) players California Sunshine players Cleveland Cobras players Cleveland Force (original MISL) players Continental Indoor Soccer League coaches Continental Indoor Soccer League players Detroit Express (1981–1983) players Detroit Neon players Detroit Rockers players English footballers Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) coaches National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) players People from Birmingham, Michigan Wichita Wings (MISL) players Arsenal F.C. players Association football forwards English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer players in the United States English expatriate footballers English football managers