HERBERT CHAPMAN

Herbert Chapman, below, was the manager of Huddersfield Town, where he led Town to win the FA Cup and the League Championship twice:

• 1921–22: Huddersfield won the FA Cup, with Smith scoring the winning penalty. They finished third in the League table, seven points behind Liverpool.
• 1923–24 and 1924–25: Huddersfield won the League Championship twice.            

Chapman is considered one of the most influential managers in English football history. He was known for his strategic thinking and his W-M formation*. Chapman left Huddersfield Town in 1925 to join Arsenal, where he led the Gunners to an FA Cup Quarter Final in his first season. He later led Arsenal to victory at Wembley, overcoming Huddersfield Town. Floodlights to Highbury, the stadium clock,

On November 5th 1932, Arsenal had been to Wolverhampton Wanderers and beaten them 7-1. The previous Saturday they had overcome Leicester 8-2 at Highbury and they had their local Tube Station renamed from Gillespie Road to Arsenal. With the Division fixtures beginning on August 27th, they beat Birmingham City 1-0 away, but it wasn't long before Arsenal lost their next game to West Bromwich Albion at home 1-2. But by the end of the season the Gunners had Played 42 Won 25 Drawn 8 and Lost 9 coming top of the First Division with 118 goals for and 65 against.

This was Herbert Chapman's team and you will know, he was brought from Huddersfield Town to revive the North London club. He and Arsenal were loved by some and hated by many!
Arsenal were league champions on 1931, 1933-4-5, and 1938. They were runners-up in 1932 and third in 1937.

Arsenal won the FA Cup in 1930, 1936 and runners up in 1932. The first 38 championships had been won by Midland or Northern clubs and Arsenal broke the run.
There was no television to show the country this success but Arsenal's players became household names. Do you know about these?
Alex James, David Jack, Joe Hulme, Cliff Bastin, Herbie Roberts, Tom Parker, George Male, Eddie Hapgood, Ted Drake to name the most well known.

Chapman was an innovator who, having visited Austria, saw floodlights being used to illuminate a game, so he introduced lights at the training ground. He also introduced other innovations to the game, including: numbered shirts for his team. He talked about using a white ball under lights, but all this didn't happen until 20 years later. 
He insisted on first class facilities for spectators, so the Highbury Ground was developed and he tried out "numbered shirts" before they were made official by the Football League in 1939.

He used "all weather" pitches for practice, he experimented with independent time keeping and goal judges!
Even his gift of persuasion had the local tube station name changed to Arsenal! 

Born 1878 at Kiveton Park, Yorkshire near Rotherham. It's a venue for local football and I have been fortunate enough to be there with our local junior teams.

In 1881, Kiveton Park FC was formed and the club has played in the FA Cup and FA Vase on numerous occasions. They currently play in the Sheffield County Senior League.

Chapman's brother Harry, played for Sheffield Wednesday. At one time the Kiveton Village football club was reputed to have produced more professional footballers than any place its size in England, with the Chapman brothers, Derek Ashton of Aston Villa, Bert Morley (Notts County and England), Sidney Cartwright (Arsenal), Leslie Hoften (Man Utd), Eric Oakton (Chelsea) and Walter Wigmore (Birmingham City) all coming from the village.

Patrick Barclay, in his book about Herbert Chapman, wrote: "Kiveton Park could claim to have been a cradle of two revolutions, one industrial and the other sporting. Beyond question it is the birthplace of at least one great man, widely considered the father of football as we have come to know it."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqkDM3WhoMY  listen to this, there's more!!!!.12 minutes, long.

Herbert died suddenly following a club game at Aldershot Town FC, in January 1934, following illness.

Chapman's vision became known as the W Formation: GK-3-2-2-3 with defenders feeding wingers who attacked at pace.

                                                         GK

                                Full Back    Centre Half      Full Back

                                  Half Back                    Half Back

                                 Inside forward         Inside Forward  

                            Wing                Forward                  Wing

Herbert Chapman‘s grave is at St Mary’s church, Hendon and his former home, also in Hendon, has a Blue Heritage Plaque on it.

After his death, Arsenal continued to win!