In what is a sad development for Indian football aficionados, former national team midfielder Carlton Chapman breathed his last on Monday morning at the age of 49. Under his leadership, India won the 1997 South Asian Football Federation Gold Cup.
The cause of death is reportedly a heart attack.
Chapman was one of the leading midfielders in the country during his heydays. He was a product of the Tata Football Academy (TFA). He joined TFA in 1990 and after graduating he joined East Bengal in 1993. Most notably, he scored a hat trick for East Bengal against Al Zawra of Iraq in Asian Cup Winners Cup.
After winning hearts with his passing and control at the centre of the park in Kolkata, he left for JCT in 1995.
At JCT he won 14 competitions and his spell with the Punjab-based side remains his most fruitful one. Along with I M Vijayan and Bhaichung Bhutia, they even won the first edition of NFL (National Football League).
In 1997, he joined FC Kochin and after a year with the club, he returned to East Bengal.
In the 2000-01 season, East Bengal won the NFL by just a point over arch-rivals Mohun Bagan and Chapman was one of the instrumental figures in that squad.
After hanging up his boots, he joined TFA as an instructor. He remained there for six years before taking up the managerial role of Royal Wahingdo in Shillong. Under his tutelage, Wahingdo won three successive Shillong Premier League titles and the Bordoloi Trophy in 2011.
In 2017, he took up the role of the technical director of Quartz FC in Kozhikode.
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