english football player
For other people named Mark Chamberlain, see Mark Chamberlain ( disambiguation )
Mark Valentine Chamberlain ( hold 19 November 1961 ) is an english early external football player. He is the younger brother of Neville Chamberlain, and the forefather of Liverpool and England international player Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Aldershot Town ‘s christian Oxlade-Chamberlain.

He began his professional play career with Port Vale in 1978, where he remained for four years before being sold on to rivals Stoke City, having already been selected for the PFA Fourth Division Team of the year in 1981–82. In 1985, he signed with Sheffield Wednesday, before he moved on to Portsmouth three years late. He remained with “ Pompey ” until 1994, at which point he transferred to Brighton & Hove Albion. The surveil year he joined Exeter City, before entering into management at Fareham Town in 1997. between 1982 and 1984 he won four caps for the England under-21s and eight caps for the senior team .

Club career [edit ]

Port Vale [edit ]

Chamberlain was born in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, to Banny and Anastasia, who emigrated to England from Jamaica in the 1960s. [ 4 ] [ 5 ] Chamberlain started his career with local anesthetic side Port Vale, making his debut under Dennis Butler as a substitute in a 2–2 family draw with Scunthorpe United on 19 August 1978, aged 16. [ 1 ] His full introduction came on 14 April 1979 in a 3–2 winnings over Barnsley at Vale Park, and his first goal came two days later in a 3–2 kill at Huddersfield Town. [ 1 ] Chamberlain said : “ It was a bonus excessively, to find the internet. Neil Griffiths encouraged me to ‘hit it ‘, after I had nipped in before the fully spinal column, and the ball flew in. ” [ 6 ] He turned professional the following calendar month, having made eight appearances in 1978–79. [ 1 ] Chamberlain then made eleven scoreless appearances in 1979–80, whilst his brother was the club ‘s top-scorer in what was Vale ‘s worst season in the Fourth Division. [ 1 ] He became a first team regular from October 1980 under John McGrath and scored 10 goals in 36 games in the 1980–81 crusade. [ 1 ] He was an ever-present in the 55 game 1981–82 season, besides being selected in the PFA Fourth Division team and chosen as The Star’ second best player of the division. [ 1 ] He scored eight goals during the crusade, most memorably when he stood off the sales talk at Field Mill to avoid being caught offside, then returned to tackle a startle Rod Arnold and tap the testis into an empty web. [ 7 ]

Stoke City [edit ]

He was sold to local rivals Stoke City in August 1982, along with Mark Harrison for a unite fee of £180,000. [ 1 ] His brother besides made the switch late in the temper. Asked if this move caused him to receive any “ adhere ” from his friends, he replied : “ No not truly. Mind you I would n’t, I did n’t in truth have any mates. ” [ 8 ] He proved to be a good sign for director Richie Barker, and got the better of Arsenal ‘s left-back Kenny Sansom. [ 9 ] He replaced Paul Maguire on the leftist and scored six goals in 39 appearances in 1982–83 as the “ Potters ” finished 13th in the First Division. [ 10 ] Chamberlain scored seven goals in 46 games in 1983–84, helping the golf club to avoid relegation by two places and two points. however, he scored just twice in 32 appearances in 1984–85, as Stoke finished bottom of the division with a bare 17 points ; they won equitable three of their 42 games and were 23 points light of condom. [ 10 ] Barker had abandoned Chamberlain and the midfield in party favor of desperate long ball tactics. [ 9 ] New coach Mick Mills stabilised the club in the Second Division in 1985–86, but let Chamberlain go as he wished to build his own team .

“ We had truly good players like McIlroy, O’Callaghan and Dave Watson. Barker tried to coach us into the long-ball game after going on courses with the likes of Howard Wilkinson, but it precisely did n’t suit us. We had a good nucleus of old pros and youngsters like myself, Paul Bracewell and Steve Bould. The older players left when they saw what was happening. ”Chamberlain speaking to Harry Redknapp in 2020.[4]

Sheffield Wednesday [edit ]

In September 1985 he moved on to Sheffield Wednesday, [ 11 ] who went on to finish fifth in the top-flight under Howard Wilkinson in 1985–86, missing out on european football ascribable to the ban imposed on English clubs following the Heysel Stadium catastrophe. The “ Owls ” finished 13th in 1986–87 and 11th in 1987–88, with Chamberlain playing 66 league games before transferring to Alan Ball ‘s Second Division side Portsmouth in 1988 .

portsmouth [edit ]

“ pompey ” finished two places above the drop in 1988–89, before 12th and 17th finishes in 1989–90 and 1990–91. He then helped Jim Smith ‘s side to the FA Cup semi-finals in 1991–92, and featured in the 1–1 draw with Liverpool at Highbury, but not in the replay at Villa Park. The club finished in third-place in 1992–93, missing out on automatic rifle promotion by goal dispute, and were beaten by Leicester City at the play-off semi-final degree. They then finished a disappointing 17th in 1993–94, and Chamberlain moved on to Liam Brady ‘s Brighton & Hove Albion in August 1994, having played 167 games in his six years at Fratton Park. [ 12 ]

by and by career [edit ]

The “ Seagulls ” finished 14th in the Second Division ( the old Third Division ) in 1993–94, and Chamberlain moved on to Exeter City in the Third Division ( the erstwhile Fourth Division ). Peter Fox ‘s “ Grecians ” finished penetrate of the Football League in 1994–95, albeit level on goal remainder with Scarborough, and only avoided dropping into the Conference because Macclesfield Town ‘s Moss Rose did not meet the Football League ‘s capacity standards. Chamberlain was converted to the right-back place. [ 9 ] Exeter rallied to a 14th-place finish in 1995–96, though Chamberlain left St James Park after the club finished third-from-bottom in 1996–97, ahead of rock bottom Hereford United by equitable the one bespeak .

International career [edit ]

An England under-21 external, Chamberlain broke into the England senior police squad under Bobby Robson during his first season at Stoke City, scoring on his debut against Luxembourg at Wembley on 15 December 1982, at age 21. [ 10 ] During the match, teammate Luther Blissett became the inaugural black player to score for England, having bagged two of his three goals before Chamberlain found the internet. [ 13 ] He besides made a substitute appearance in the 1–0 home get the better of to Denmark on 21 September 1983 ; [ 14 ] this crucial result finally led the Danes to win qualification to Euro 1984 ahead of England. He picked up a total of eight caps, though some believed he could have gone on to pick up many more, [ 15 ] and Port Vale coach Graham Barnett in particular said that he was “ like a bloody gazelle … a black jewel … he ‘s got the bloody lot … he ‘s class … indeed much better than John Barnes. ” [ 16 ]

style of play [edit ]

Chamberlain was a pacey winger with excellent ball control and decision produce. [ 10 ] Stoke City fan and writer Simon Lowe wrote that “ His reduce, athletic build made him seem taller than his modest 5ft 9in height. But his dribble expressive style was upright, chest puff out, with the musket ball in battlefront being about toe-ended on by his right animal foot, while his arms worked like pistons. A favorite trick saw Chamberlain wave his impart infantry over the ball and wiggle his hips before jagging it past the defender with the outside of the correct foot. ” [ 6 ] Former Port Vale teammate Robbie Earle wrote that “ He could do it all : Run, pass, shoot, make goals and score them. Chambo was the arrant broad man who could play on either flank and delighted in making chances for his teammates ”. [ 17 ]

Coaching career [edit ]

chamberlain became player-manager of non-league Fareham Town after leaving the Football League in 1997. In 2008, he joined the coach staff at Portsmouth to coach the U13s .

personal life [edit ]

Chamberlain lives with his family in Port Solent. His sons Alex and Christian are besides footballers, [ 18 ] as was his older brother Neville. When the pair played together for Port Vale they used to swap shirts at half-time so as to confuse confrontation players attempting to mark him. [ 19 ] After making his England debut he guest starred on The Sooty Show. [ 4 ]

career statistics [edit ]

clubhouse [edit ]

International [edit ]

Appearances and goals by national team and year[21][22]
National team Year Apps Goals
England 1982 1 1
1983 1 0
1984 6 0
Total 8 1
Scores and results list England’s goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Chamberlain goal.
List of international goals scored by Mark Chamberlain
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition
1 15 December 1982 Wembley Stadium, London, England 1  Luxembourg 5–0 9–0 UEFA Euro 1984 qualifying

Honours [edit ]

Individual

References [edit ]