Benjamin Chapman (born 2 March 1979), is an English former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

and coach who played as a left back. He notably played in the Football League for

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in t ...

where he started his career, and then

Boston United Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club is known ...

where he was club captain. He has since forged a career in Non-league playing for

Alfreton Town Alfreton Town Football Club is a football club based in Alfreton, Derbyshire, England. The club are currently members of and play at North Street. History The club was formed in 1959 following the merger of Alfreton Miners Welfare and Alfr ...

Northwich Victoria {{Infobox UK place , static_image_name = Northwich - Town Bridge.jpg , static_image_caption = Town Bridge, the River Weaver and the spire of Holy Trinity Church , official_name = Northwich , country ...

Nuneaton Borough Nuneaton Borough Football Club is an English football club that is based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. The men's 1st team competes in the , the seventh tier of English football. In 1889, Nuneaton St. Nicholas FC was the first team in Nuneaton t ...

, King's Lynn,

Eastwood Town Eastwood Town Football Club was an English football club based in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire. The club last participated in the Northern Premier League Division One South, the eighth tier of English football. A new club, Eastwood C.F.C., was f ...

Harrogate Town Harrogate Town A.F.C. is a professional association football club in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, which competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed the Sulphurites, due to the ...

Frickley Athletic Frickley Athletic Football Club is a football club based in South Elmsall, West Yorkshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Westfield Lane. History Although the club itself claims it was formed in 1910, the team was activ ...

Hall Road Rangers Hall Road Rangers Football Club is a football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Hill Top Ground in Willerby. History The club was formed in 1959 as a Sunda ...

and Bottesford Town.

Playing career

Grimsby Town

Chapman came through the youth ranks with professional club

and signed professionally with The Mariners in 1997. He made his first team debut for the club in a 1–0 victory over local rivals

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...

in the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

in January 1998. He would have to wait another 18 months before he was called up for action again, and made a run out against

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

. Ben was used as the club's reserve left back and was understudy to Tony Gallimore, Chapman only managed 2 appearances in both the 1999-2000 and 2000–2001 season and would have to wait until the 2001-2002 campaign before he started to have a regular run in first team affairs. Notably that season Chapman played for Grimsby on both

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 189 ...

and

Highbury Highbury is a district in North London and part of the London Borough of Islington in Greater London that was owned by Ranulf brother of Ilger and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads. The manor house was sit ...

as Grimsby recorded a historic cup win over

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

before being knocked out by Arsenal. In the Liverpool game, a Grimsby corner resulted in Chapman volleying just close over the crossbar and was Grimsby's only clear cut chance in the first half of play. He would go on to never get on the score sheet for the club. While playing for Grimsby, Chapman was responsible for ending the career of Scunthorpe United midfielder

Peter Morrison Sir Peter Hugh Morrison (2 June 1944 – 13 July 1995) was a British Conservative politician, MP for Chester from 1974 to 1992, and Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Background and education Morrison ...

during a pre season friendly in 2001. The game was abandoned as a result of the injury, and eventually following court proceedings, Morrison was rewarded a £400,000 compensation pay out.

Boston United

In July 2002 Grimsby captured Welsh International left back Darren Barnard on a free transfer thus resulting in Chapman's release from the club. He signed for

and became the team's captain, and was able to give his new teammates a helping hand as The Pilgrims avoided relegation from the Third Division. Ben stayed with Boston until the end of the 2003–2004 season, and after that he was released.

Non League

After spending a week training with his former club Grimsby and appearing in a pre-season friendly, Ben went on to sign for Non League side

for a season, before linking up

the following season, in his only season with the Vics he helped the club gain promotion from the Conference North division. He then went on to join

for the 2006–2007 season. In the summer of 2007 Chapman joined King's Lynn. He stayed with The Linnets until March 2009, where he signed for

. Chapman was released two months later following the end of the season, and joined

in October 2009. He went on to play for

before moving to

as well as having two spells with Appleby Frodingham and later playing for Bottesford Town. Chapman remained without a club for the 2012–13 season but in May 2013 he went on trial with

Scarborough Athletic Scarborough Athletic Football Club is an association football club based in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England. The club was formed on 25 June 2007 as a phoenix club following the winding up of Scarborough Football Club. After spending the ...

Coaching career

Chapman joined Armthorpe Welfare as a coach in January 2017. A month later he was promoted to assistant manager as well as also registering as a player.

Honours

Eastwood Town

* Northern Premier League champions: 2008–09

Grimsby Town

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

play-off winner: 1997–98 *

winner: 1997–98

Northwich Victoria

Conference North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Syst ...

winner: 2005–06

King's Lynn

* Southern League Premier Division champions 2007-08

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chapman, Ben 1979 births Living people Footballers from Scunthorpe Grimsby Town F.C. players Boston United F.C. players Alfreton Town F.C. players Northwich Victoria F.C. players Nuneaton Borough F.C. players King's Lynn F.C. players Eastwood Town F.C. players Harrogate Town A.F.C. players Frickley Athletic F.C. players Appleby Frodingham F.C. players Hall Road Rangers F.C. players Bottesford Town F.C. players English Football League players Men's association football defenders English men's footballers