Frank Stapleton

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; 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 finals; Stapleton scored one of the goals in Arsenal's 1979 FA Cup Final 3–2 win over Manchester United, and scored 108 goals in 300 appearances in total for the Gunners. Stapleton moved to Manchester United in the summer of 1981 for £900,000 (a fee set by tribunal after the two clubs could not agree) as new manager Ron Atkinson began building a team capable of challenging for silverware after a disappointing 1980–81 season under Dave Sexton. Stapleton helped United win the 1983 and 1985 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. In the 1985–86 season United won their first ten league games of the season before their form slumped and they finished fourth.…

Stapleton moved to the United States to manage Major League Soccer side New England Revolution in 1996, becoming the club's first-ever manager on 4 January 1996. His Revolution side recorded their first-ever win on 20 April against the MetroStars, Stapleton's Revolution did not have a particularly successful inaugural campaign, finishing the season with 15 wins and 17 losses. Stapleton announced his resignation on 26 September. In the 2003–04 season he briefly returned to English football as a specialist coach of Bolton Wanderers. The Bolton manager Sam Allardyce 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 with Jordan on 3 September 2014.

Stapleton gained 71 caps for the Republic of Ireland national team, scoring a then record 20 goals. He made his international debut under then player-manager Johnny Giles in a friendly match against Turkey in Ankara 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 in a 3–3 draw. 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, the Netherlands and France 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 though Ireland failed to emulate their fine performance in the 1982 qualifiers. Jack Charlton 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 diving header in the opening Euro 1988 qualifier against Belgium in a 2–2 draw at the Heysel Stadium, Brussels that September. He also scored in a 2–1 defeat by Bulgaria in Sofia on 1 April 1987, with another goal against Luxembourg in a 2–1 victory at Lansdowne Road the following…

His sister Helena played for the Republic of Ireland women's national football team in the 1980s He is second cousin of Irish actor Barry Keoghan.