FORMER INDIA INTERNATIONAL CHAPMAN DIES

Former India football captain Carlton Chapman, who had formed a deadly trio in club football with Bhaichung Bhutia and IM Vijayan in the 1990s, died on Monday following a heart attack in Bengaluru. He was 49.

Chapman was admitted on Sunday night at a hospital in Bengaluru and passed away early Monday morning.

An attacking midfielder, Chapman played for India between 1995 and 2001 and the country won the 1997 SAFF Cup under his captaincy.

A product of the Tata Football Academy in early 1990s, Chapman joined East Bengal in 1993. East Bengal officials recount how Chapman was intercepted at the Kolkata’s Howrah Station by them, so that they could get him before rivals Mohun Bagan did. His career took him to JCT and FC Kochin before returning to East Bengal, but he never crossed the road to Mohun Bagan. Chapman was a player who wasn’t overawed. Iraqi club Al Zawra’a, used to winning the country’s league, found out in October 1993, when he scored a hat-trick in East Bengal’s 6-2 win in a first round match at the Asian Cup Winners Cup. With that Chapman, then a thin, faircomplexioned buck-toothed rookie, became part of Indian football’s folklore.

Off the field, Chap was all smiles, high-fives and, often, hugs. “Such a wonderful fun guy, great teammate,” said Bhaichung Bhutia, who also joined East Bengal in 1993. Bruno Coutinho, under whose captaincy Chapman made his debut for India, said he “played with a smile.” “We were like brothers,” said former India captain Renedy Singh. “He was my senior at TFA (Tata Football Academy). He was a leader who led not by talking but showing how good he was on the ground.”

“He was one of the fastest players I have played with,” said Bhutia.

Chap came from Austin Town in Bengaluru, a football pocket that has produced internationals beginning with players who represented India at the 1948 Olympics, to Chapman’s cousin Noel Wilson. Chapman won nearly everything in the domestic circuit and played 39 times for India, scoring six goals.