THE MAN WHO CHANGED EVERYTHING
Herbert Chapman . . . made in Huddersfield and idolised at Arsenal
Each year, on January 6, a red- andwhite floral tribute is lovingly placed on a gravestone at St Mary’s church in hendon, north London, by a long- standing member of arsenal’s community staff.
It is a small but significant mark of respect maintained by the club more than 80 years after the death of herbert chapman, a man who led them into the elite of English football.
chapman died in 1934 but his presence survives in many forms, from a statue outside the Emirates Stadium to the white sleeves worn by arsene Wenger’s team.
a bronze bust can be found in the marble halls of highbury’s East Stand reception more than a decade after the team moved out and it was converted into luxury apartments.
a replica is on display at the Emirates and another, presented to huddersfield Town to commemorate their centenary in 2008, takes pride of place at the entrance to their PPG canalside training ground.
chapman, who was born in South Yorkshire and played for more than a dozen clubs including Tottenham, means as much to huddersfield as he does to arsenal.
Under his leadership, the Terriers won the Fa cup in 1922, their first major honour, the title two years later, and were the first to claim three in a row, a hat-trick represented by the stars above the club crest.
huddersfield completed the achievement without chapman, who was lured away after the first two title wins, attracted by the promise to double his salary to £2,000 a year and the potential of an ambitious club in the capital.
arsenal had seen what he could do, conceding 22 in five games against his team, and he was released with the blessing of the board at Leeds Road who approved a parting gift of 200 guineas by way of thanks for all he had done.
chapman’s impact cannot be understated either in West Yorkshire or north London.
‘One of the game’s great visionaries,’ said arsenal’s resident historian Iain cook. ‘he changed everything and moved football from the amateur era into a professional one with the sort of minimal gains people still talk about.’
The iconic shirt design, so the story goes, was inspired by friend and golf partner, Daily Mail cartoonist Tom Webster, who appeared for a round one day wearing a sleeveless red sweater over a white shirt.
chapman took one look at the distinctive style and decided it would suit his team.
Numbers on shirts, a whiter ball and a public address system were all introduced to enhance the experience for the fans.
he pioneered the renaming of Gillespie Road Tube station as ‘arsenal’ and employed Tom Whittaker as football’s first modern physiotherapist. Whittaker, who became arsenal manager after the Second World War and won the title twice, also worked closely with tennis star Fred Perry.
chapman devised training schedules, argued in favour of floodlit football, having seen it in Belgium, and persuaded his players with cars to turn on their headlights to illuminate evening training sessions.
he was also an advocate of goalline judges, some nine decades before hawk-Eye technology was adopted by the Premier League. he wrote: ‘Goal judges must come. I am convinced that referees need their help, if they are to avoid mistakes and injustices.’
he broke new tactical ground by advancing the W-M formation and was aggressive in the transfer market, not least in the deal to sign David Jack from Bolton. chapman is said to have tipped the waiter to serve him gin and tonic ‘without the gin’ while delivering doubles to Bolton’s directors as he agreed a fee of £10,890, which was a record in 1928 but lower than the £13,000 they had been demanding.
his first arsenal swoop was for charlie Buchan from Sunderland, who wanted £ 4,000 for their top scorer but chapman struck a deal for £2,000 plus £100 per goal scored in his first season.
Buchan was 34 years old but scored 21 and cost £100 more than the original asking price. The transfer made a statement, however, and caused repercussions. arsenal chairman Sir henry Norris was later banned from football for making an illegal payment of £125 to Buchan, sparking the start of the hill-Wood dynasty at highbury.
arsenal won their first major trophy in 1930, beating huddersfield in the Fa cup final at Wembley when chapman came up with the idea of the teams walking out side by side, another innovation destined to become tradition.
arsenal won their first league title in 1931 and again in 1933.
Like huddersfield in their ‘Roaring Twenties’, arsenal would go on to complete a hat-trick of titles and be hailed as the team of the decade but chapman died midway through the 1933-34 season.
after scouting a player on New Year’s Day, he travelled north to cast an eye over Sheffield Wednesday, the next opponents, and returned to London with a cold.
Next day, he felt well enough to watch arsenal’s third team against Guildford city but his condition deteriorated and he was diagnosed with pneumonia. chapman died early on the morning of Saturday, January 6, 1934 aged 55.
his players found out from newspaper billboards as they travelled to highbury to face Wednesday, a game which went ahead in a subdued atmosphere and ended in a 1-1 draw.
Nearly 84 years have passed and so much has changed as arsenal and huddersfield meet tonight for the first time in the Premier League and yet still his legacy is cherished by his two clubs.