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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 31 July 1875 | ||
| Place of birth | Church, Lancashire, England | ||
| Date of death | 21 March 1936(1936-03-21) (aged 60) | ||
| Place of death | Exeter, England | ||
| Position | Centre-half | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Church | |||
| Accrington | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1895–1897 | Burton Swifts | 55 | (7) |
| 1897–1901 | Southampton | 81 | (6) |
| 1901–1904 | Portsmouth | 70 | (12) |
| 1904–1906 | Northampton Town | ||
| 1906–1908 | Accrington Stanley | ||
| 1908–1910 | Exeter City | ||
| International career | |||
| 1900 | England | 2 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1908–1922 | Exeter City | ||
| 1923–1925 | Reading | ||
| 1925–1931 | Southampton | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Arthur Chadwick (July 1875 – 21 March 1936) was a professional footballer whose playing career as acentre-half included spells atPortsmouth andSouthampton, before going on to be manager atExeter City,Reading and Southampton. He also made two appearances forEngland in 1900.
Chadwick was born inChurch, Lancashire and started his career playing in his native county forAccrington andBurton Swifts. When he signed forSouthampton in May 1897, little was known about him. He travelled to Southampton for a trial accompanied byBob Brown ofBurton Wanderers.[1]
Chadwick initially played at right-half, but was not a great success until he was converted to a centre-half in which position his career took off. Described in Holley & Chalk'sThe Alphabet of the Saints as "a powerful and efficient defender, Arthur reached his peak at the turn of the century".[2] He helped Saints to win theSouthern League title in 1897–98 and again in 1898–99 and to theFA Cup final in 1900, defeating three top flight clubs along the way,[3] by when he had been rewarded with twoEngland caps, againstScotland andWales. Southampton again won the Southern League title in 1900–01 before Chadwick decided to move on.
In January 1899, in a match atSheppey United, Chadwick became the first Saints player to be sent off in a League match.
In his four seasons with Southampton, he made a total of 96 appearances, scoring six goals.
In May 1901 Chadwick moved to local rivals,Portsmouth, and was part of their side who won the Southern League title in 1901–02.[4]
In 1904 Chadwick moved on toNorthampton Town, and then returned toAccrington Stanley before joiningExeter City, where he finished his playing career in 1910, although by now he was acting as manager.
In 1910, Chadwick became the first manager ofExeter City, a post he held for 12 years until December 1922.
When he first joined Exeter, they had recently joined the Southern League, and in 1920 Exeter City were invited bythe Football League to become founder members of theThird Division.
In January 1923, Chadwick was at the helm ofReading, where he guided the club through two seasons in the Third Division. He is credited with signing most of the players that won promotion to Division 2 in 1926.[5]
When the manager's job at Second DivisionSouthampton became vacant in October 1925, Chadwick resigned his post at Reading to take charge atThe Dell, thus becoming the first ex-player to become manager.
He found immediate success by guiding the Saints to the semi-final of the 1927FA Cup, defeatingNewcastle United on the way. In the semi-final, played atStamford Bridge on 26 March 1927, Saints were eliminated 2–1 byArsenal with Saints' goal coming fromBill Rawlings. In this match, Saints came up against their former star full-backTom Parker who had had a nightmare in Saints' previous semi-final appearance two years earlier. This time Parker was on the winning side as Arsenal moved on toWembley, losing toCardiff City inthe final.
Shrewdly Chadwick bought several new players, including forwardWillie Haines fromPortsmouth and by the end of the1928–29 season, he had taken Southampton to fourth place, their then best ever position inDivision 2. Soon after, Saints embarked on a policy of selling their best players to survive financially, and Chadwick grew disillusioned with both the club in particular and the game of football in general and he resigned on 16 April 1931, thereby ending a long association with the game.
Chadwick left Hampshire and settled inExeter, where in 1936 he collapsed and died whilst watching a match at Exeter's ground.
His cousin,Edgar Chadwick also played forEngland as well as forEverton and Southampton. He also had a brother,Albert who was an apprentice with Everton, making five appearances between 1888 and 1892.
Southampton
Portsmouth
