# Lee Chapman
**Lee Chapman** ([Lee Roy Chapman](https://www.edgepedia.org/lee-roy-chapman), born 1959 in Lincoln) is an English retired center-forward whose 18-year professional career took him to 14 clubs, most successfully Sheffield Wednesday, Nottingham Forest, and Leeds United, and ended with 197 goals from 552 Football League appearances.[1](https://greensonscreen.co.uk/gosdb-players2.php?pid=154) He was the son of a professional footballer, Roy Chapman, and followed his father into the game.[1](https://greensonscreen.co.uk/gosdb-players2.php?pid=154)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1959, Lincoln, England; height 1.88 m[2](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/lee-chapman/profil/spieler/175862) |
| Position | Centre-forward[2](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/lee-chapman/profil/spieler/175862) |
| Career span | 1978 to 1996, 14 clubs in 18 years[1](https://greensonscreen.co.uk/gosdb-players2.php?pid=154) |
| Career totals | 197 goals from 552 Football League appearances[1](https://greensonscreen.co.uk/gosdb-players2.php?pid=154) |
| Leeds United | 80 goals in 172 appearances over three and a half seasons; member of the 1989/90 promotion-winning and 1992 First Division title-winning squads[3](https://www.leedsunited.com/en/news/played-for-both-leeds-united-west-ham) |
| Premier League | 98 appearances, 23 goals, 6 assists[4](https://www.premierleague.com/en/players/16128/lee-chapman/stats) |
| International honors | One England B cap and one England Under-21 cap[5](https://www.leeds-fans.org.uk/leeds/players/452.html) |
| Retirement | Last club Strømsgodset (Norway); retired 10 June 1996[2](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/lee-chapman/profil/spieler/175862) |
## Early life and Stoke City
Chapman was born in Scorers Street, Lincoln, and raised in a footballing environment as the son of a Lincoln City professional; a 1981 match program described him, at 21, as one of the country's most exciting young strikers.[6](https://cdn.hattersheritage.co.uk/1981-82%2BSeason%2BDONE%2FMatches%2FM3498%2BSheffield%2BWednesday%2Bv%2BLuton%2BTown%2FProgramme%2FProgramme.pdf) He joined Stoke City on 1 June 1978 and scored 34 goals in 99 league games, with a short loan at Plymouth Argyle (4 games, no goals) in December 1978.[5](https://www.leeds-fans.org.uk/leeds/players/452.html) His early promise at Stoke included a hat-trick scored at [Elland Road](https://www.edgepedia.org/elland-road) that brought him national attention.[5](https://www.leeds-fans.org.uk/leeds/players/452.html)
## Arsenal, Sunderland, and Sheffield Wednesday
A £500,000 move to Arsenal in August 1982 coincided with a period of intense factionalism at the club and the dismissal of manager Terry Neill, and Chapman had an unhappy time at Highbury, scoring 4 goals in 23 league games before a December 1983 transfer to [Sunderland](https://www.edgepedia.org/sunderland), where he scored 3 goals in 15 games under his former Stoke manager Alan Durban, who was himself sacked during the spell.[5](https://www.leeds-fans.org.uk/leeds/players/452.html)
His next move finally suited him. Joining Sheffield Wednesday in August 1984, he played under [Howard Wilkinson](https://www.edgepedia.org/howard-wilkinson), whose long-ball game, in the words of one Leeds fan-site profile, suited the big striker down to the ground; he scored 63 goals in 149 league appearances over four seasons.[5](https://www.leeds-fans.org.uk/leeds/players/452.html)
## Nottingham Forest
A move to Nottingham Forest looked likely, but Chapman instead ended up in the middle of France at Niort, a club whose finances were shaky; he returned to England when Forest signed him in October 1988.[5](https://www.leeds-fans.org.uk/leeds/players/452.html) • [7](https://www.sporting-heroes.net/football/nottingham-forest-fc/lee-chapman-8223/biography-of-his-forest-playing-career_a11165/) Under Brian Clough, whose regime he later described as unlike any club he had known, so dominated was it by one person, Chapman scored 15 goals in 48 league games.[5](https://www.leeds-fans.org.uk/leeds/players/452.html) • [8](https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-the-man-whose-charisma-cast-a-shadow-over-the-city-ground-lee-chapman-who-played-for-nottingham-forest-from-1988-to-1990-before-moving-to-leeds-looks-back-at-his-spell-under-clough-s-regime-1457801.html) His most productive Forest display came in a 5-2 win over a London side at the [City Ground](https://www.edgepedia.org/city-ground) in front of 24,065, in which he scored four goals, and in the 1989 Simod Cup Final he scored a brace including the winning goal in a 4-3 win over Everton.[7](https://www.sporting-heroes.net/football/nottingham-forest-fc/lee-chapman-8223/biography-of-his-forest-playing-career_a11165/)
## Leeds United
With youngster Nigel Jemson emerging, Clough accepted a £450,000 bid from the [Yorkshire](https://www.edgepedia.org/yorkshire) club, and Chapman moved to Elland Road in January 1990 after 15 months at the City Ground.[7](https://www.sporting-heroes.net/football/nottingham-forest-fc/lee-chapman-8223/biography-of-his-forest-playing-career_a11165/) Re-signed by Wilkinson, who had by then taken over at Leeds, his 12 goals in the second half of the 1989/90 season helped make the difference between going up as Second Division champions instead of entering the play-offs.[5](https://www.leeds-fans.org.uk/leeds/players/452.html) • [3](https://www.leedsunited.com/en/news/played-for-both-leeds-united-west-ham)
Chapman then led the line through Leeds's rise to the summit of English football. In 1990/91 he scored 21 league goals in 38 games, a tally bettered only by [Alan Smith](https://www.edgepedia.org/alan-smith-footballer-born-1962), the First Division's leading scorer that season with 22 goals.[5](https://www.leeds-fans.org.uk/leeds/players/452.html) • [9](https://www.ilnostrocalcio.it/2022/05/06/lee-chapman-2/) • [12](https://www.footballsite.co.uk/Statistics/Seasons/1990-91/Div11990-91.htm) In 1991/92 Leeds won the First Division title, with Chapman, alongside [Gordon Strachan](https://www.edgepedia.org/gordon-strachan), Gary McAllister, Gary Speed, David Batty, and [Eric Cantona](https://www.edgepedia.org/eric-cantona), described by ilnostrocalcio as an absolute protagonist of the triumph.[9](https://www.ilnostrocalcio.it/2022/05/06/lee-chapman-2/) Across his Leeds career he scored 80 goals in 172 appearances over three and a half seasons, and he finished as the club's leading scorer each year before leaving in 1993.[3](https://www.leedsunited.com/en/news/played-for-both-leeds-united-west-ham) • [5](https://www.leeds-fans.org.uk/leeds/players/452.html) The Leeds United Historical Archive, counting all competitions over five seasons, credits him with 175 appearances and 80 goals.[10](https://lufchistory.com/players/lee-chapman-1959-12-05/) • [13](https://www.leedsunited.com/en/news/played-for-both-leeds-united-nottingham-forest) He returned for a brief loan in January 1996, playing against West Ham and Liverpool, a comeback soured when he was sent off against West Ham.[5](https://www.leeds-fans.org.uk/leeds/players/452.html)
## Later career
Chapman moved to London in September 1993, signing for West Ham United under [Billy Bonds](https://www.edgepedia.org/billy-bonds), and netted 11 times in 51 games for the Hammers.[3](https://www.leedsunited.com/en/news/played-for-both-leeds-united-west-ham) He then maintained his top-flight status by moving to Ipswich Town in November 1994 for £70,000, scoring a single goal in 22 games.[1](https://greensonscreen.co.uk/gosdb-players2.php?pid=154) In 1996 a move to his last Football League club, Swansea City, was completed, where he played seven matches and scored four times, before winding down his career with a five-game spell at Strømsgodset in Norway.[1](https://greensonscreen.co.uk/gosdb-players2.php?pid=154) His Premier League record across the competition's first seasons stands at 98 appearances, 23 goals, and 6 assists.[4](https://www.premierleague.com/en/players/16128/lee-chapman/stats)
## Playing style and recognition
Chapman was a classic target-man center-forward of about 1.88 m, valued for bravery, aerial strength, and consistent scoring rather than spectacle; a Leeds fan-site contributor judged that his bravery and commitment were never in doubt and that he was undeservedly the subject of derision simply for playing to his strengths.[2](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/lee-chapman/profil/spieler/175862) • [5](https://www.leeds-fans.org.uk/leeds/players/452.html) His league scoring rate over the whole career was 0.29 goals per game, rising to 0.45 in [FA Cup](https://www.edgepedia.org/fa-cup) football.[11](https://www.soccerbase.com/players/player.sd?player_id=1412) Despite this record he never won a full England cap, earning one Under-21 and one England B appearance, a point of recurring puzzlement among supporters.[5](https://www.leeds-fans.org.uk/leeds/players/452.html)
## Personal life
Chapman is married to the actress [Leslie Ash](https://www.edgepedia.org/leslie-ash), and after retirement he worked as an occasional television summarizer and owned several clubs and restaurants in partnership with her.[5](https://www.leeds-fans.org.uk/leeds/players/452.html)
## References
1. [GoS: Player Details, Lee Chapman, Greens on Screen](https://greensonscreen.co.uk/gosdb-players2.php?pid=154)
2. [Lee Chapman, Player profile, Transfermarkt](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/lee-chapman/profil/spieler/175862)
3. [Played For Both: Leeds United & West Ham, Leeds United FC](https://www.leedsunited.com/en/news/played-for-both-leeds-united-west-ham)
4. [Lee Chapman Stats This Season & Career Statistics, Premier League](https://www.premierleague.com/en/players/16128/lee-chapman/stats)
5. [leeds-fans.org.uk: Leeds United Player Profile: Lee Chapman](https://www.leeds-fans.org.uk/leeds/players/452.html)
6. [Sheffield Wednesday v Luton Town match programme, 1981-82 season, Hatters Heritage](https://cdn.hattersheritage.co.uk/1981-82%2BSeason%2BDONE%2FMatches%2FM3498%2BSheffield%2BWednesday%2Bv%2BLuton%2BTown%2FProgramme%2FProgramme.pdf)
7. [Lee CHAPMAN, Biography of his Forest playing career, sporting-heroes.net](https://www.sporting-heroes.net/football/nottingham-forest-fc/lee-chapman-8223/biography-of-his-forest-playing-career_a11165/)
8. [Football: The man whose charisma cast a shadow over the City Ground, The Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-the-man-whose-charisma-cast-a-shadow-over-the-city-ground-lee-chapman-who-played-for-nottingham-forest-from-1988-to-1990-before-moving-to-leeds-looks-back-at-his-spell-under-clough-s-regime-1457801.html)
9. [LEE CHAPMAN: il "manovale" del gol, ilnostrocalcio.it](https://www.ilnostrocalcio.it/2022/05/06/lee-chapman-2/)
10. [Lee Chapman, Leeds United Historical Archive](https://lufchistory.com/players/lee-chapman-1959-12-05/)
11. [Lee Chapman, Football Stats, Soccerbase](https://www.soccerbase.com/players/player.sd?player_id=1412)
12. [footballsite.co.uk](https://www.footballsite.co.uk/Statistics/Seasons/1990-91/Div11990-91.htm)
13. [Played For Both: Leeds United & Nottingham Forest - Leeds United](https://www.leedsunited.com/en/news/played-for-both-leeds-united-nottingham-forest)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Association football › Football people and teams › People › Men's footballers of the British Isles (modern era) › English footballers 1970–1989*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license