Former Huddersfield Town winger Les Chapman has retired from football – almost!
Despite having turned 65 last September, Chapman has decided to step down from his job as kit manager at Manchester City ahead of their Premier League title defence.
Born in Royton in Lancashire, Chapman was a member of Town’s youth team after he was spotted playing for Chadderton Boys.
However, he didn’t progress into the Town team and went to work for Middleton Council before being given a playing contract by Oldham Athletic in 1966.
In 1969, having made 76 appearance for the Latics, Chapman returned to Town in September 1969.
Chapman stayed with the Leeds Road club for five years making 134 appearances before once again returning to Oldham where in four and a half years he missed only five games making 187 appearances – playing 263 games in total in his two spells at the Boundary Park club.
There followed a spell in America with San Jose Earthquakes and on his return to England he had spells with Stockport County, twice, Bradford City and Rochdale before ending his career as player-coach under John McGrath at Preston North End.
Chapman went on to have spells as a manager at both Edgeley Park and Deepdale before returning to Town in 1996 for a year as youth team coach.
When he left Town in October 1997 he took on the role of City’s kit manager.
In his time at first Maine Road and then Eastlands, Chapman has seen City change from being an inner-city club who were in the second tier of English football (when he joined) to having a squad awash with multi-million pound stars and having twice won the Premier League title.
“We got kit skips with wheels on, that was when we knew,” said Chapman, who received an engraved Rolex watch on his retirement, of the changes at City.
Chapman is to stay on with the club in a different role, entertaining fans on matchdays and interviewing players for the club’s website.
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