Conor Mark Chaplin (born 16 February 1997) is an English professional footballer who plays for

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...

club

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

. Known for his versatility in attack, goal-scoring and playmaking, Chaplin can be deployed as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...

, winger,

second striker Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. Chaplin joined the youth set up at

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

in 2003, progressing through the club's academy to make his senior debut in December 2014. He won the 2015 League Two Apprentice Award during his first season as a senior professional. He helped Portsmouth win the

EFL League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

title in 2016–17, going on to make 122 appearances and score 25 goals during his time at the club. He joined

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

on loan in 2018, before signing permanently for the club in January 2019. After one season at Coventry, he signed for

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

in 2019. Chaplin spent two seasons at Barnsley, helping the club to Championship survival during his first season at the club, and then go on to reach the

EFL Championship play-offs The English Football League Championship play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL Championship table and are part of the English Football League play-offs. , t ...

in the 2020–21 season. In July 2021, Chaplin signed for

. In the 2022–23 season, Chaplin scored 26 league goals to help the Tractor Boys to promotion, scooping the Golden Boot and earning himself a spot in the

EFL League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

Team of the Season.

Career

Portsmouth

Born in

Worthing Worthing () is a seaside town in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of Chichester. With a population of 111,400 and an area of , the borough is the second largest component of the Brighton and Hov ...

, Chaplin progressed through

's youth categories after joining the club at the age of six. He was offered a two-year scholarship contract on 3 July 2013.

2014–15 season & senior breakthrough

Chaplin signed a two-year professional deal with Pompey on 20 October 2014, after scoring 11 goals in 11 appearances for the under-18's. He made his

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

debut on 13 December, from the bench in a 3–2 home defeat against

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England. The club competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They have spent their complete history ...

. Chaplin scored his first professional goal on 11 April 2015, netting his team's only goal in a 3–1 away defeat against

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea. Name The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), w ...

. He made his first start for ''Pompey'' in their final game of the season, a 1–1 home draw against

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

. At the end of the season he was named the League Two Apprentice of the Year.

2015–16 season

Chaplin started the 2015–16 season on the bench, playing second fiddle to first-choice striker

Matt Tubbs Matthew Stephen Tubbs (born 15 July 1984) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Bashley. Having started his football career, Tubbs joined Salisbury City and quickly made an impact throughout his time at the club, h ...

, but showcased his talents with goals against

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

clubs

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

and

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

in the first and second rounds of the

Football League Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

, also scoring in the 3rd round of the FA Cup in a 2–2 draw with

. He scored his first two league goals of the season in a 3–1 win over Barnet on 12 September. Although Chaplin struggled to maintain a first-team place in the league, he would still manage to score 11 goals in 38 appearances in all competitions over the course of the season.

2016–17 season

Competition for the sole striking berth in manager

Paul Cook Paul Thomas Cook (born 20 July 1956) is an English drummer and member of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols. He was also called "Cookie" by his friends on the punk music scene. Early life and career Cook was raised in Hammersmith and atte ...

's preferred 4–2–3–1 formation was made all the more intense at the start of the 2016–17 season, following the signings of Michael Smith, who made his loan move permanent, as well as

Curtis Main Curtis Lee Main (born 20 June 1992) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Scottish Premiership club Dundee. Main previously played in the Football League and the Football Conference for Darlington, and spent three ...

from

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

and experienced forward

Noel Hunt Noel Hunt (born 26 December 1982) is an Irish retired professional footballer, who is the Under-23s manager at Reading. A striker, he began his career in Ireland with Shamrock Rovers, also playing for Waterford United on loan. He moved to Scot ...

. Chaplin subsequently found himself on the bench in the early weeks of the season, before the inconsistent form of Smith and Main, coupled with Hunt's injury problems, saw Chaplin promoted to the starting lineup. He grasped the opportunity, scoring league goals against

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their home ...

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) * Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

and

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on N ...

before the end of October – a run of form which would see him established as Portsmouth's first-choice striker. As the season continued, Cook would rotate his centre-forwards, and Chaplin lost his place to the more physically imposing Smith. Though Smith would ultimately fall out of favour and move to

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

in the January transfer window, the signing of

Eoin Doyle Eoin Doyle (born 12 March 1988) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a forward for League of Ireland Premier Division club St Patrick's Athletic. Doyle has previously played for Chesterfield, Cardiff, Preston North End, Portsmou ...

– who had previously played under Cook at Chesterfield – ensured that Chaplin would remain on the bench. Chaplin continued to make cameo appearances as a substitute, however, and took his tally to eight for the season with a last-gasp, 25 yard strike against Barnet to snatch a point in a 1–1 draw on 18 February. Chaplin finished the season with 8 goals in 42 appearances, helping Portsmouth to lift the EFL League Two title.

2017–18 season

Following Portsmouth's promotion to

, Chaplin continued to feature regularly. He scored his first goal of the season on 26 August, netting an equalizer in a 1–1 draw with

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

. On 10 February, he scored a late winner in a 2–1 away win against

Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The ...

. Chaplin helped Portsmouth establish themselves in League One after an 8th-placed finish, making 32 appearances in all competitions, scoring 5 goals.

Coventry City

At the end of August 2018, Chaplin joined

on loan with an agreement in place to sign permanently in the following January. He made his debut in a 1–0 defeat against

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

on 1 September. Chaplin scored his first goal for the club from the penalty spot in a 2–1 away victory against

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and th ...

on 9 September. Chaplin completed his permanent move to Coventry on 4 January. On 19 January Chaplin scored the opener in a 2–1 away defeat to

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

. On 13 April, Chaplin scored the winning goal in a 5–4 away win against

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

. He scored 8 goals in 32 appearances for Coventry during the 2018–19 season.

Barnsley

On 19 July 2019, Chaplin joined

for an undisclosed fee on a four-year deal. He made his debut for the club as a second-half substitute on the opening day of the 2019–20 season, against

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

. Two weeks later, he scored his first goal for Barnsley, scoring in a 2–2 draw with

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

. He did not score again until 23 November, when he scored in a 3–2 loss against

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

. His goal scoring form improved from that point, going on to score seven goals in his next seven games, including scoring his first career hat-trick in a 5–3 Barnsley victory over

QPR Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus R ...

Oakwell Oakwell is a multi-purpose sports development in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England used primarily by Barnsley Football Club for playing their home fixtures, and those of their reserves. While the name 'Oakwell' generally refers to the main s ...

on 14 December. His form earned him the

EFL Championship Player of the Month The EFL Championship Player of the Month is an association football award that recognises the player adjudged the best for each month of the season in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Originally named the Football ...

award for December. He became a key player during his first season at Barnsley, scoring 13 goals in 47 appearances, with 11 goals coming in the Championship. He helped Barnsley to survival on the final day of the season. He continued to feature as a key part of Barnsley's first-team during the 2020–21 season. He scored his first goal of the season in a 3–0 win against Queens Park Rangers on 27 October. Chaplin made 39 appearances in all competitions over the course of the season, including 30 league starts, scoring 4 goals. He helped Barnsley turn their fortunes around from the previous season by helping the club qualify for the

following a 5th placed league finish.

Ipswich Town

On 27 July 2021, Chaplin joined Ipswich Town, on a three-year deal for an officially undisclosed fee, understood to be in the region of £750,000. He made his debut for Ipswich on the opening day of the 2021–22 season in a 2–2 home draw with Morecambe at

Portman Road Portman Road is a football stadium in Ipswich, Suffolk, England, which has been the home ground of Ipswich Town F.C. since 1884. The stadium has also hosted many England youth international matches, and one senior England friendly internatio ...

. He scored his first goal for the club on 25 September, netting a 90th-minute equalizer in a 1–1 home draw with

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

. At the end of the 22/23 League One season, Chaplin would be awarded the Sky Bet League One Golden Boot joint with

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

striker

Jonson Clarke-Harris Jonson Scott Clarke-Harris (born 21 July 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for EFL League One side Peterborough United. He set a new record during his first spell at Coventry City when, aged 16 years and 21 days, he made ...

scoring 26 league goals which helped Ipswich achieve a 2nd-place finish and promotion to the Championship. Chaplin would also be included in the League One Team of the Season and awarded the Ipswich Town Player of the Season. In June 2023, Chaplin signed a new three-year contract at the club, stating "there is nowhere else I would rather be".

Career statistics

Honours

Portsmouth *

: 2016–17 Ipswich Town *

runner-up:

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

Individual * EFL League One Golden Boot: 2022–23 * EFL League One Team of the Season:

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premie ...

: 2022–23 League One *PFA League One Player of the Year: 2022–23 *

: December 2019 *

EFL League One Player of the Month The EFL League One Player of the Month is an association football award that recognises the player adjudged the best for each month of the season in EFL League One, the third tier of English football. Originally named the Football League One Play ...

: December 2022, April 2023 * PFA Fans' League One Player of the Month: August 2022, September 2022 * Ipswich Town Player of the Year:

*Ipswich Town Players’ Player of the Year: 2022–23 *Ipswich Town Goal of the Season: 2022–23 * League Two Apprentice Award: 2014–15

References

External links

Conor Chaplin profile
at the Ipswich Town F.C. website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chaplin, Conor 1997 births Living people Footballers from Worthing English men's footballers Men's association football forwards English Football League players Portsmouth F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players Ipswich Town F.C. players