Background
Chaplin was born in Foleshill, Warwickshire.
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Fred Chaplin
Edit ProfileCareer
He played local football before joining Coventry City, then playing in the Birmingham & District League, in 1902. Chaplin"s reputation as a goalscorer and his performance in a representative match between the Birmingham and Scottish Junior Football Associations earned him a contract with First Division club Small Heath. He made his debut on 16 January 1904 in a 1–1 draw away at Aston Villa, and kept his place for the next three games.
Despite his goalscoring history, these four games were played in the half-back line, deputising in turn for centre-half Walter Wigmore and wing halves Harry Howard and Billy Beer.
At the end of the 1904-1905 season, Chaplin moved to Woolwich Arsenal, but after one season he returned to Coventry City without having appeared for the first team He was a Coventry player when they joined the Southern League.
