Connor Chapman

He 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.

Connor Chapman (born 31 October 1994) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays for Melbourne Victory.

He has represented Australia at under-17, under-20, and under-23 level.

Chapman 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.

As a 14-year-old, Chapman received his first national team call-up to a Joeys training camp in Canberra and he subsequently played in two friendly matches against Japan.

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.

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, Chapman was offered a position at the club's academy, however, visa regulations resulted in that deal falling through.

When Chapman was 15, he left his home in Sydney to commence a two-year live-in football scholarship at the A.I.S. in Canberra.

Whilst at the A.I.S., he played a total of 32 A-League National Youth League matches during the 2010–11 and 2011–12 seasons.

He captained the A.I.S. National youth League team for 23 of those matches, and also captained the Australian U17 national team at the 2011 U17 World Cup in Mexico.

He made a second substitute appearance in the 2011–12 A-League season, appearing in the Newcastle Jets final match of the season against Sydney FC.

Chapman 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.

On 18 February 2012, he made his professional A-League debut at the age of 17, where he came on as a 79th-minute substitute against Perth Glory.

The 2012–13 A-League season saw Chapman make his break through into the Newcastle Jets first team, with fifteen starts and two substitute appearances throughout their twenty seven match A-League season.

Commitments with the Australian U20 national team, in preparation for the U20 World Cup, meant that he was unavailable for a number of Newcastle Jets matches during the 2012–13 A-League season.

In July 2013, Chapman received a 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.

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.

Chapman 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.

His 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.

Chapman was selected for the Australian U23 team that competed at the 2013 AFC U-22 Championship, in January 2014 in Muscat, Oman.

In total, Chapman 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.

The resulting travel commitments with the Australian U23 team meant that he 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.

On 9 May 2014, the Newcastle Jets announced that they had mutually agreed to terminate Chapman’s contract amid reports he was about to be signed by Melbourne Heart.

On 20 May 2014, Melbourne Heart announced that Chapman had been signed on a two-year contract.

It was speculated that he was the first signing under the new CFG ownership structure.

Within days of joining Melbourne City for the commencement of pre-season training, Chapman 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.

Despite this setback, he sought to repay the Club's faith by turning in some impressive displays, once available for selection.

His performances contributed to a nomination for the NAB Young Footballer of the Year award for the month of February, 2015.

Chapman commenced the 2015–16 A-League season in solid form as a regular within the Melbourne City starting eleven, however, in December 2015 he sustained a medial cruciate ligament tear during a match against Newcastle Jets which rendered him unavailable for selection until the last few matches of the season.

Chapman was a core member of the Melbourne City team crowned 2016 FFA Cup Champions, but at the commencement of the 2016–17 A-League season he found himself limited to just a handful of first team appearances.

Selection decisions aside, Melbourne City were not defeated in any of the matches that he played in during the 2016 FFA Cup competition and the 2016–17 A-League season.

During the January 2017 international transfer window, Incheon United tabled a transfer bid for Chapman and after several weeks of negotiation the transfer was accepted by Melbourne City.

Chapman’s international transfer to the South Korean K League 1 club Incheon United was completed in January 2017, ahead of the 2017 K League Classic season.