Francis Anthony Stapleton (born 10 July 1956) is an Irish former professional football player and manager. He is best remembered for his time at Arsenal, Manchester United and as a pivotal player for the Republic of Ireland national team. He has also been manager at

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. ...

and

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

club

New England Revolution The New England Revolution is an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), in the Eastern Conference of the league. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having compe ...

Playing career

Stapleton was a distinguished centre forward, once touted as being among the best in the world in his position, and an exceptionally strong header of the ball. He started his career with Arsenal, joining them in 1972 as an apprentice, after being turned down by Manchester United. He made his first-team debut in March 1975, at home to Stoke City, and would go on to form a potent striking partnership with

Malcolm Macdonald Malcolm Ian Macdonald (born 7 January 1950) is an English former professional footballer, manager and media figure. Nicknamed 'Supermac', Macdonald was a quick, powerfully built prolific goalscorer. He played for Fulham, Luton Town, Newcastle ...

; the two scored 46 goals between them in 1976–77. He was Arsenal's top scorer for the three following seasons, and helped the Gunners reach a trio of

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

finals; Stapleton scored one of the goals in Arsenal's

1979 FA Cup Final The 1979 FA Cup Final was a football match played on 12 May 1979 at Wembley Stadium. The match was contested by Arsenal and Manchester United. It is regarded as one of the greatest-ever finishes in an FA Cup final. For over 85 minutes the gam ...

3–2 win over Manchester United, and scored 108 goals in 300 appearances in total for the Gunners. Stapleton went on to move to Manchester United in the summer of 1981 for £900,000 (a fee set by

tribunal A tribunal, generally, is any person or institution with authority to judge, adjudicate on, or determine claims or disputes—whether or not it is called a tribunal in its title. For example, an advocate who appears before a court with a single ...

after the two clubs could not agree) as new manager

Ron Atkinson Ronald Frederick Atkinson (born 18 March 1939), commonly known as "Big Ron" or "Mr. Bojangles", is an English former football player and manager. In the 1990s and early 2000s, he was regarded as one of Britain's best-known football pundits. Nic ...

began building a team capable of challenging for silverware after a disappointing 1980–81 season under

Dave Sexton David James Sexton (6 April 1930 – 25 November 2012) was an English football manager and player. He was notable for managing Chelsea to their first ever major European trophy. Playing career Son of former professional boxer Archie Sex ...

. He helped United win the

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

and

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

FA Cups. It was in the first of those finals, when he scored against Brighton, in which Stapleton made history by becoming the first man to score for two different clubs in FA Cup Finals. United finished in the top four of the league in each of Stapleton's first five seasons at Old Trafford, and came close to winning a league title medal in the 1985–86 season after United won their first ten league games of the season before their form slumped and they finished fourth. Atkinson was sacked and replaced by Alex Ferguson in November 1986, and Stapleton remained a regular member of the first team under the new manager, but he left at the end of the season to sign for

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Gree ...

. There, he made just six appearances and scored one goal before quickly being moved to Belgian side Anderlecht at the end of 1987, followed by a three-month loan back to England with

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

. He then played for French club

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very ...

for a season, before returning to England with

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. Th ...

in 1989, followed by moves to

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alder ...

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...

(as player-coach) and

. After three seasons as player-manager at Bradford, he was sacked following their narrow failure to qualify for the Division Two playoffs at the end of the 1993-94 season. He then had a brief spell at

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 ...

in the 1994–95 season, playing two games before finally announcing his retirement as a player.

International career

Stapleton also won 71

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

for the Republic of Ireland national team, scoring a then record 20 goals. Stapleton made his international debut under then player-manager

Johnny Giles Michael John Giles (born 6 November 1940) is an Irish former association football player and manager best remembered for his time as a midfielder with Leeds United in the 1960s and 1970s. After retiring from management in 1985, Giles served as t ...

in a friendly against

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

in 1976 at 20 years of age. He scored after only three minutes of his debut when he headed home a Giles free-kick at the near post. That friendly international finished 3–3 and marked the start of a magnificent international career for the quiet and reserved Stapleton. Stapleton was committed to international football insisting that an "international release clause" be inserted to all of his contracts so that he could be released to play in international games for Ireland. Stapleton played a significant role in Ireland's attempt to qualify for the World Cup in Spain in 1982. Goals against

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

for Stapleton in the qualifying matches were not enough as Ireland were denied a place at the World Cup by a superior French goal difference. Stapleton was made captain of the national team for the qualifying campaign for the

1986 World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia had ...

though Ireland failed to emulate their fine performance in the 1982 qualifiers.

Jack Charlton John Charlton (8 May 193510 July 2020) was an English footballer and manager who played as a defender. He was part of the England national team that won the 1966 World Cup and managed the Republic of Ireland national team from 1986 to 199 ...

took over as the Irish manager in 1986 and he kept Stapleton as captain despite a sometimes uneasy relationship between the two men. Stapleton scored a magnificent diving header in the opening Euro 1988 qualifier against Belgium in the 2–2 draw at the Heysel Stadium, Brussels that September. He also scored in the 2–1 defeat by

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...

on 1 April 1987, with another goal against

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

in the 2–1 victory at

Lansdowne Road Lansdowne Road Stadium ( ga, Bóthar Lansdún, ) was a stadium in Dublin owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) that was primarily used for rugby union and association football matches. The stadium was demolished in 2007 to make way for ...

the following September. Stapleton captained the Irish team to the 1988 Euro finals and played in all of their matches during the competition including Ireland's famous victory against England. After the 1988, European Championships Stapleton remained on the fringe of the national team during qualification for World Cup Italia 1990 making just two appearances late in the campaign. By then, his 20 goals for the Republic had made him the national side's all-time leading goalscorer – a record which would be broken ten years later by

Niall Quinn Niall John Quinn (honorary MBE; born 6 October 1966) is an Irish former professional footballer, manager, businessman and sports television pundit. As a player he was a striker who played top flight football for Arsenal, Manchester City and S ...

, who was in the early stages of his own international career when Stapleton bowed out of the international scene. He did, however, score an 87th-minute goal against

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

in a 3–0 friendly in

Valletta Valletta (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an administrative unit and capital of Malta. Located on the main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, its population within administrative limits in 2014 wa ...

just prior to those finals in Italy.

Managerial career

Stapleton moved to the United States to manage Major League Soccer side

in 1996. In the 2003–04 season he briefly returned to English football as a specialist coach of Bolton Wanderers. The Bolton manager

Sam Allardyce Samuel Allardyce (; born 19 October 1954), colloquially referred to as Big Sam, is an English football manager and former professional player. Allardyce made 578 league and cup appearances in a 21-year career spent mostly in the Football Lea ...

wanted Stapleton to enhance the skills of the strikers at the club and saw the Irishman as an ideal candidate, given his successful playing career. Stapleton was appointed assistant manager to former teammate

Ray Wilkins Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (gra ...

with

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

on 3 September 2014.

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list Republic of Ireland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Stapleton goal.''

Honours

Arsenal *

: 1978–79 Manchester United * FA Cup: 1982–83, 1984–85 * FA Charity Shield:

Individual * Arsenal Player of the Season: 1976–77, 1979–80 * PFA Team of the Year: 1983–84 First Division

References

External links

*
Republic of Ireland RecordFAI Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stapleton, Frank 1956 births Living people Association footballers from Dublin (city) Association football forwards Republic of Ireland association footballers English Football League players Eredivisie players Ligue 2 players Arsenal F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players AFC Ajax players R.S.C. Anderlecht players Derby County F.C. players Le Havre AC players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Aldershot F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Republic of Ireland football managers Bradford City A.F.C. managers New England Revolution coaches Bolton Wanderers F.C. non-playing staff Republic of Ireland international footballers UEFA Euro 1988 players 1990 FIFA World Cup players Republic of Ireland expatriate association footballers Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Irish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate footballers in Belgium Irish expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate footballers in France Irish expatriate sportspeople in France Irish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Huddersfield Town A.F.C. non-playing staff Expatriate soccer managers in the United States Republic of Ireland expatriate football managers Irish expatriate sportspeople in England People from Artane, Dublin FA Cup Final players