Phil Chapple
Philip Richard Chapple (born 26 November 1966) is an English former professional footballer. Chapple began his career with Cambridge United after coming through the youth teams at Norwich City. He was part of the Us defence which gained consecutive promotions in 1989–90 and 1990–91. He joined Charlton Athletic in 1993 and spent five seasons at The Valley before ending his career at Peterborough United. After retiring from playing Chapple took up coaching roles at Peterborough United and West Ham United before becoming chief scout back at Charlton. After a brief spell at Fulham Chapple was appointed European scout at Brighton & Hove Albion. In September 2019 Chapple joined Stoke City as head of first-team recruitment until February 2020. In May 2025 he was appointed Head of Recruitment at Charlton Athletic.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Philip Richard Chapple[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 26 November 1966[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Norwich,[1] England | ||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[2] | ||
| Position | Defender | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1985–1988 | Norwich City | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1988–1993 | Cambridge United | 187 | (19) |
| 1993–1998 | Charlton Athletic | 142 | (15) |
| 1998–2001 | Peterborough United | 17 | (1) |
| Total | 346 | (35) | |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Philip Richard Chapple (born 26 November 1966) is an English former professional footballer.
Chapple began his career with Cambridge United after coming through the youth teams at Norwich City. He was part of the Us defence which gained consecutive promotions in 1989–90 and 1990–91. He joined Charlton Athletic in 1993 and spent five seasons at The Valley before ending his career at Peterborough United.
After retiring from playing Chapple took up coaching roles at Peterborough United and West Ham United before becoming chief scout back at Charlton. After a brief spell at Fulham Chapple was appointed European scout at Brighton & Hove Albion. In September 2019 Chapple joined Stoke City as head of first-team recruitment until February 2020.
In May 2025 he was appointed Head of Recruitment at Charlton Athletic.
Playing career
[edit]A centre back who started his career with Norwich City, he failed to make the breakthrough and joined Cambridge United on a free transfer in March 1988. During his time at The Abbey Stadium, Chapple went on to feature in the club's most successful seasons, culminating in a rise from Division 4 to Division 2 in successive seasons. In total Chapple made 187 league appearances for the club, scoring an impressive 19 goals.
Charlton Athletic paid £100,000 for his services in 1993 and he went on to have a 5-year playing career at The Valley, scoring 15 goals in 141 games before joining Peterborough United in 1998. Chapple endured an injury ravaged time at London Road and only managed 17 games and one goal before retiring from playing.
Scouting career
[edit]Chapple stayed at Peterborough in a number of roles including Youth Team Coach, Scout and Head Coach before leaving in September 2003.
He had spells as academy coach at West Ham United and as a coach at Newmarket Town and in 2007 returned to Charlton Athletic as chief scout. When Charlton named Phil Parkinson as caretaker manager in November 2008, Phil briefly joined the first-team coaching set-up before returning to his Chief Scout role in July 2009.[3] He remained at Charlton until September 2015 when he joined Fulham.[4] He was appointed European scout at Brighton & Hove Albion in December 2016.[5]
In September 2019 he was appointed as head of first-team recruitment at Stoke City.[6] He left Stoke in February 2020.[7] He is currently a scout for Luton Town.
Career statistics
[edit]| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Cambridge United | 1987–88 | Fourth Division | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
| 1988–89 | Fourth Division | 46 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3[a] | 0 | 54 | 4 | |
| 1989–90 | Fourth Division | 45 | 5 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 5[b] | 0 | 64 | 6 | |
| 1990–91 | Third Division | 43 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5[a] | 0 | 57 | 5 | |
| 1991–92 | Second Division | 29 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2[c] | 0 | 35 | 3 | |
| 1992–93 | First Division | 18 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2[d] | 0 | 22 | 2 | |
| Total | 187 | 19 | 23 | 1 | 11 | 1 | 17 | 0 | 238 | 21 | ||
| Charlton Athletic | 1993–94 | First Division | 44 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5[d] | 0 | 54 | 5 |
| 1994–95 | First Division | 21 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 2 | |
| 1995–96 | First Division | 16 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 2 | |
| 1996–97 | First Division | 26 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 2 | |
| 1997–98 | First Division | 35 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 4 | |
| Total | 142 | 15 | 9 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 167 | 15 | ||
| Peterborough United | 1998–99 | Third Division | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 1999–2000 | Third Division | 16 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | 18 | 1 | |
| Total | 17 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 1 | ||
| Career total | 346 | 35 | 33 | 1 | 22 | 1 | 24 | 0 | 425 | 37 | ||
- ^ a b c Appearances in Football League Trophy
- ^ Two Appearances in Football League Trophy and three appearances in Football League Fourth Division play-offs
- ^ Appearances in Football League Second Division play-offs
- ^ a b Appearances in Anglo-Italian Cup
Honours
[edit]Cambridge United
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "Phil Chapple". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Archived from the original on 8 June 2024. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
- ^ Dunk, Peter, ed. (1987). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 262. ISBN 978-0-356-14354-5.
- ^ Charlton Athletic Club News 28 Jul 2009 Archived 30 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Chapple takes scouting role at Fulham". West London Sport. 28 September 2015. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
- ^ "Albion's European scout to join Championship rivals". The Argus. 14 December 2016. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
- ^ "Phil Chapple joins Stoke as head of first-team recruitment". Sky Sports. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
- ^ "BREAKING: Stoke City's head of recruitment leaves after just five months". Stoke Sentinel. 13 February 2020. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
- ^ Phil Chapple at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
- ^ Bateman, Cynthia (28 May 1990). "Beck's beer toast for on-song Dion's latest hit and promotion to the Third". The Guardian. p. 13. Retrieved 25 August 2025 – via Gale.
External links
[edit]- Phil Chapple at Soccerbase
