Herbert Chapman: A Spurs goalscoring hero?
The story of Herbert Chapman’s playing career, and the time he lined up for Spurs against Arsenal in a cup semi-final.
Herbert Chapman was one of the most influential figures in football in his day, and his influence echoes through the decades and is still felt now, particularly at Arsenal.
Nearly 80 years after his death, his statue oversees the Emirates Stadium, reflecting the massive impact he had on shaping the history of Arsenal Football Club.
By most accounts, while he was an accomplished and incredibly successful manager, he wasn’t much of a player. He was an amateur for a chunk of his footballing career, juggling appearances for several different teams with his paid career as an aspiring mining engineer.
There was one London team for which Chapman did make an impact, however: Tottenham Hotspur.
It seems incredible to me, an Arsenal fan who has grown up with the bitter Arsenal-Spurs rivalry, that our most influential 20th century manager can have played for them and no one ever mentions it.
But it is true. Chapman signed for Tottenham (as a professional) in early 1905 for £70, scoring on his debut against Brighton & Hove Albion on 18 March 1905, which ended in a 1-1 draw. The Athletic Chat columnist mistakenly calls him Harry, perhaps muddling him up with his brother of that name who was a goalkeeper for Sheffield Wednesday.
Chapman’s Wikipedia page has him playing just one season for Tottenham but it’s clear he played for Spurs for at least two years in the Southern League.
As a forward, he was a fairly prolific goalscorer and at one point was the top scorer in the Southern League.
It’s interesting reading some contemporary match reports and reflecting how dismissive some have been about Chapman’s playing career. He was a regular goalscorer in a league of some quality – the Southern League was far closer to the Football League in standards than one might assume.
Chapman, the Tottenham forward, took part in a more important match the next day. Hurrying away to the Midlands, he entered into the bonds of matrimony. The honeymoon will be brief, for he will be playing on Saturday.
(From The Weekly Herald, 15 September 1905. Annie Chapman, nee Poxon, moved to London with Herbert and got a job as a teacher.)
Chapman versus Arsenal
Here’s the big question, then: did Herbert Chapman ever play against Arsenal?
Short answer: yes – twice.
Although Woolwich Arsenal were in the Football League First Division and Tottenham were in the Southern League, the two teams met in the semi-final of the Southern Professional Charity Cup on 9 April 1906 at White Hart Lane.
The match was a pretty dismal one and ended in a 0-0 draw. Chapman and the other Spurs forwards, with the exception of noted amateur star Vivian Woodward, were “wholly inadequate” this time out, according to the Holloway & Hornsey & Muswell Hill Press.
According to another report, it was decided not to play extra time as Arsenal goalkeeper Jimmy Ashcroft had been informed that his child had been taken ill.
The teams met again for the replay on 28 April at Plumstead, just two days before the final was scheduled to be played at Craven Cottage. Chapman lined up among the forwards again, but this time the Gunners overwhelmed their opponents 5-0. Spurs were hampered by an early injury to a defender, meaning they played much of the game with 10 men and Chapman didn’t get much of a chance to make an impact against his future employers.
Arsenal promptly took up the attack, not many minutes having elapsed ere Satterthwaite, fastening on the ball from a clearance by Eggett, drove it into the net. With two goals in arrear, and the Reds playing in most convincing style, the game was as good as over… The run of the play was greatly in favour of the home team, who at times bombarded Eggett, and Sands, Coleman, and Ducat scoring in the order named, the Arsenal won easily by five goals to love.
Arsenal went on to beat Reading 1-0 in the final on 30 April.
So there you have it. Arsenal’s visionary manager Herbert Chapman twice set out to score against the Gunners and knock them out of a cup competition. (And failed.)
Almost exactly 24 years later on 26 April 1930, Chapman led Arsenal out at Wembley Stadium against Huddersfield Town in the FA Cup Final. The Gunners won 2-0 to secure their first major trophy. The First Division championship followed a year later, and Chapman’s revolution was in full swing.
Which of Tottenham’s current line-up would you put down as a future Arsenal manager? Answers on a postcard…
It seems Chapman’s Spurs career petered out in 1907 amid a difficult period for the club. Tottenham had failed to build significantly on their 1901 FA Cup success and had twice failed election to the Football League. Top players were leaving, and crowds were unhappy. According to Patrick Barclay’s biography of Chapman, The Life & Times of Herbert Chapman, he took the brunt of the crowd’s dissatisfaction with the team’s performances, despite his goalscoring exploits.
But the title always seemed destined for Fulham and the Tottenham crowd needed someone to blame in the latter half of the season. The fickle finger pointed at Chapman. He didn’t like anyone being barracked and must, on some match days, have wished he were back in Northampton.
(From The Life & Times of Herbert Chapman, by Patrick Barclay.)
Chapman carried on his connection with Spurs during the summer of 1907, playing cricket for them, before heading back to his former team, Northampton Town, and his first managerial position.
Perhaps we can surmise that Tottenham’s mismanagement had at least some influence on Herbert Chapman’s subsequent ideas of football leadership. His leading role at Arsenal – he was not subservient to the board in any way – is certainly a far cry from his experiences at White Hart Lane.
He had clarified his view of how team management was best conducted – through yet another close-up of how it should not be done, courtesy of the Spurs board as they undermined [manager John] Cameron.
(From The Life & Times of Herbert Chapman, by Patrick Barclay.)