Connor Chapman

Connor Chapman

Chapman with the Young Socceroos in 2013
Personal information
Full name	Connor Edward Chapman[1]
Date of birth	(1994-10-31) 31 October 1994
Place of birth	Malone, Australia
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position	Central defender
Club information
Current team	Melbourne City
Number	4
Youth career
2000–2003	Moorebank Sports
2004	Marconi Stallions
2005	Southern Districts FA
2006–2007	Sydney Wanderers
2008–2009	Sutherland Sharks
2010–2011	AIS
2012	Newcastle Jets
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2012	Newcastle Jets Youth	5	(1)
2012–2014	Newcastle Jets !Newcastle Jets	25	(0)
2014–	Melbourne City	30	(1)
National team‡
2009–2011	Australia U-17	19	(2)
2011–2013	Australia U-20	16	(0)
2013–	Australia U-23	3	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 24 April 2016. ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 21 January 2014

Connor Edward Chapman (born 31 October 1994 in Sydney) is an Australian professional footballer contracted to A-League club Melbourne City, who he joined from Newcastle Jets. He is also a youth international for Australia.

Early years

Connor grew up in South Western Sydney and began playing organised football at the age of five with his local club Moorebank Sports. At the age of ten he successfully trialled for the Westfields Sports High School football program and he also began playing representative football with Southern Districts within the Football NSW metropolitan reps competition. At the age of eleven he represented NSW Primary Schools (NSWPSSA) at the Australian School Sports football carnival in Darwin and at the age of thirteen he represented Football NSW at the Football Federation Australia National Youth Championships in Coffs Harbour.^[2][3]

As a 14-year-old Connor received his first national team call up to a Joeys training camp in Canberra and he subsequently played in two friendly matches against Japan.^[4] That same year he received a scholarship to the then fledgling Central Coast Mariners Academy through the Mariners' development link with Westfields Sports High School.^[5] He was also invited to the UK to train with Sunderland A.F.C. Reserves and Academy at the Academy of Light. Following two separate visits to the Academy of Light, Connor was offered a position at the Club's Academy, however visa regulations resulted in that deal falling through.

At 15 years and two months Connor left his home in Sydney to commence a two-year live-in football scholarship at the A.I.S. in Canberra.^[6] Whilst at the A.I.S., Connor played a total of thirty two A-League National Youth League matches during the 2010/11 and 2011/12 seasons. He Captained the A.I.S. team for twenty three of those matches.

Club career

Connor joined the Newcastle Jets from the A.I.S. on 15 January 2012, after signing a two and a half year contract with the Jets.^[7] On Saturday, 18 February 2012 he made his professional A-League debut as a 79th-minute substitute against Perth Glory.^[8] He made a second substitute appearance in the 2012 A-League season, appearing in the Newcastle Jets final match of the season against Sydney FC.^[9]

The 2012/13 A-League season saw Connor make his break through into the Newcastle Jets first team, with fifteen starts and two substitute appearances during their twenty seven match A-League season. His commitments with the Australian U20 national team meant that he was unavailable for selection for a number of 2012/13 A-League matches with the Newcastle Jets.

Connor made a strong start to the 2013/14 A-League season, starting for the Newcastle Jets in their first six matches of the season before succumbing to an ankle injury. After those first six matches the Newcastle Jets were equal second on the A-league points ladder and were third on goal difference. Connor's injury saw him ruled out of the match day squad for several weeks, during which time he penned a one-year contract extension with the Newcastle Jets, despite strong interest from a number of other A-League clubs.^[10][11]

Connor was selected for the Australian U23 team which competed at the 2013 AFC U-22 Championship, in January 2014 in Muscat, Oman.^[12] The resulting travel commitments with the Australian U23 team meant that Connor was unavailable for a number of Newcastle Jets matches throughout January 2014. Whilst in Oman, the Newcastle Jets parted company with Head Coach Gary van Egmond and appointed Clayton Zane as caretaker.^[13] In total, Connor played nineteen matches for the Newcastle Jets A-League and NYL teams throughout the 2013/14 season with only one loss recorded during his appearances.

On 9 May 2014, the Newcastle Jets announced that they had mutually agreed to terminate Connor's contract amid reports that he was in discussions to sign with Melbourne Heart.^[14][15]

On 20 May 2014, Melbourne Heart announced that Connor had been signed by the Club on a two-year contract.^[16][17] It was speculated that he was the first new signing conducted under the new CFG ownership structure.

Within days of joining his new Melbourne City team mates for the commencement of pre-season training, Connor was diagnosed with glandular fever. This debilitating illness saw him miss the whole of the 2014/15 A-League pre-season, along with the first eight matches of the season.^[18] Despite this setback, Connor sought to repay the Club's faith by turning in some impressive displays, once back on the park.^[19][20]

These displays contributed to Connor's nomination for the NAB Young Footballer of the Year award for the month of February, 2015.^[21]

International career

To date, Connor has represented Australia at the U17, U20, and U23 levels and started in all of Australia's matches at the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup and the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

He Captained the U17 team at the 2010 AFC U-16 Championship in Uzbekistan and in Australia's four matches at the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Mexico.^{[22][23][24][25][26]} Australia were grouped with the Ivory Coast, Brazil and Denmark and made it out of their group to the knockout phase where they were eliminated by Uzbekistan. Connor was identified by the FIFA Technical Study Group as one of Australia's two outstanding players for the tournament.^[27]

He was a member of the U20 national team that progressed undefeated through the 2012 AFC U-19 Championship qualification tournament in Malaysia.^[28][29] Connor was also selected into the U20 team that competed in Group E at the inaugural 2013 AFC U-22 Asian Cup qualification tournament in Indonesia and qualified for the finals.^[30] He was also selected into the U20 team that qualified for the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup^[31] by reaching the semi-finals of the 2012 AFC U-19 Championship.^[32][33][34]

In June 2013, Connor was selected into the Australian U20 team that were drawn in Group C at the 2013 edition of the FIFA U20 World Cup, alongside Colombia, El Salvador and the tournament hosts Turkey.^[35][36] Australia were eliminated at the group stage of the tournament.^[37][38] Despite their results, it was widely reported within the Australian media that this particular team had demonstrated an exciting style of football, not evidenced from Australia's youth teams for quite some time. In addition, Connor was recognized as one of Australia's outstanding players throughout the tournament, having started all three group matches.^[39]

In December 2013, Connor was selected into the Australian U23 team that competed at the 2013 AFC U-22 Championship, in January 2014 in Muscat, Oman.^[40][41][42] As the vice-captain, Connor captained the U23 team for their first match of the tournament against Kuwait because the team captain did not play. Despite finishing at the top of their group against Kuwait, Syria and Japan, Australia was eliminated at the quarter final stage of the tournament in a 2-1 loss to Saudi Arabia.^[43][44]

2013 A-League All Stars

In July 2013 Connor received an unexpected call up to the inaugural 2013 A-League All Stars Game, featuring twenty A-League players selected to play against Manchester United at ANZ Stadium in Sydney.^{[45][46][47][48][49]}

Connor was the youngest member of the inaugural A-League All Stars squad at just eighteen years of age and Coach Ange Postecoglou introduced him into the match in the 84th minute.^[50] This was Manchester United's only match in Australia during their 2013 pre-season tour of Australasia and a full array of first team players participated including Robin van Persie, Ryan Giggs, Rio Ferdinand and Danny Welbeck. The match was reported to be a sell out with more than 83,000 fans and spectators in attendance.^[51]

Honours

Individual

• 2013 A-League All Stars: 2013

References

External links