Ian Russell Chapman (born 31 May 1970) 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 le ...

. Born in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

, he spent most of his career with hometown club

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

Playing career

As a schoolboy, Chapman was chosen to attend

the Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...

's School of Excellence at

Lilleshall Hall Lilleshall Hall is a large former country house and estate in the fields of Lilleshall, Shropshire, England. It is run by Serco Leisure Operating Ltd on behalf of Sport England as one of three National Sports Centres, alongside Bisham Abbey a ...

. When he made his professional debut for

away to

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

in February 1987, he became the first former pupil of the school to play in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

, in addition to being Brighton's youngest ever peacetime player. He went on to make 281 Football League appearances for the "Seagulls". He was part of the team which made the final of the

Second Division play-offs The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...

in 1991, but during his time at the

Goldstone Ground The Goldstone Ground (or The Goldstone) was a football stadium in Hove, East Sussex that was the home ground of Brighton & Hove Albion between 1902 and 1997. History The Goldstone Ground stood on Old Shoreham Road, Hove, opposite Hove Park i ...

Brighton also twice suffered

relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

, and dropped into the

Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the f ...

in 1996. Immediately after Brighton's relegation, he was transferred to Gillingham, who had just gained

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

from the Third Division. He only made 23 League appearances for the "Gills", however, before he was forced to retire from professional football due to injuries. He finished his playing career with

non-league Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

club

Whitehawk Whitehawk is a suburb in the east of Brighton, England, south of Bevendean and north of Brighton Marina. The area is a large, modern housing estate built in a downland dry valley historically known as Whitehawk Bottom. The estate was originally ...

of the

Sussex County League The Macron Southern Combination Football League is a football league broadly covering the counties of East Sussex, West Sussex, Surrey and South West London, England. The league consists of eight divisions – three for first teams (Premier Div ...

. In 1999, he made one last bid to return to professional football when he had a trial with former club Brighton, but his injury problems prevented him gaining a contract with the club.

Managerial career

Chapman became manager of

at the start of the 2001–02 season, initially as player-manager. In October 2006 he returned to former club Brighton in a coaching role, initially in a part-time capacity while remaining manager of Whitehawk. At the end of the 2006–07 season he dedicated himself to the job at Brighton full-time, resigning from his job with Whitehawk. He left his job at Brighton in 2008, however, after the departure of

Dean Wilkins Dean Mark Wilkins (born 12 July 1962) is an English football coach and former professional player. He was most recently the assistant manager of League Two club Stevenage. Managerial career Wilkins assumed the position of caretaker manager at B ...

, the manager who had brought him to the club. He was said to be in the running to take over as manager of

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

team Crowborough Athletic, but was not offered the job. He later coached

Conference National The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...

strugglers

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of ...

on a casual basis while looking for another full-time job in the sport. In 2012, he joined

side Burgess Hill Town as manager.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chapman, Ian Living people 1970 births Footballers from Brighton Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Gillingham F.C. players English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Whitehawk F.C. players English Football League players English football managers Isthmian League managers Whitehawk F.C. managers