Roy Chapman

Chapman began his professional playing career with Aston Villa in February 1952, having initially joined the club from Kynocks Works as an amateur three months earlier. He made 19 appearances for the "Villans" in the First Division. He spent 1955 to 1957 in the Royal Air Force. Finding his first-team opportunities limited at Villa Park, manager Eric Houghton allowed him to leave for Bill Anderson's Lincoln City in November 1957. The "Imps" narrowly avoided relegation out of the Second Division in 1957–58, finishing one place and one point above relegated Notts County. He finished as the club's top scorer in 1958–59 with 15 goals, as Lincoln avoided relegation despite achieving a lower points tally than in the previous campaign. They rose the table to 13th in 1959–60, but were relegated in last place in 1960–61, despite Chapman becoming top-scorer again with 16 goals. He then departed Sincil Bank on a £7,000 move to Mansfield Town. The "Stags" finished 14th in the Fourth Division in 1961–62 under Raich Carter's stewardship, before Chapman and strike partner Ken Wagstaff fired the club to promotion in 1962–63. Mansfield took to life in the Third Division well under new boss Tommy Cummings and posted a seventh-place finish in 1963–64 before missing out on promotion in 1964–65 due to their inferior goal average. Chapman left Field Mill and returned to Lincoln as player-manager in March 1965, who were by now seeking re-election to the Fourth Division. In August 1965, he came on…

A two-footed player, he was aggressive and had ball-control skills but lacked pace.

Chapman steered Stafford Rangers to a treble of the FA Trophy, Northern Premier League and Staffordshire Senior Cup in 1972. Rangers topped the league with 71 points, and beat Barnet 3–0 at Wembley in the Trophy final. He followed this by leading Rangers to the FA Cup fourth round three years later. He then returned to professional circles with a short spell as Stockport County manager, where he signed George Best on a short-term deal. His reign at Stockport was short, and he returned to Port Vale as a coach in August 1976 before being sacked in May 1977 and returning to Stafford. In his second spell in charge of Rangers, he led them to another FA Trophy triumph (this time a 2–0 victory over Kettering Town) before standing down in 1980.

After leaving Rangers, he took up the position of manager of Walsall Sports Company. He died in Stoke-on-Trent three days after his 49th birthday. He had suffered a fatal heart attack when playing in a five-a-side tournament.