'Why I've walked away from life as a pro footballer.' The 19-year-old who was a Rotherham United goalkeeper until last month opens up to the Advertiser

HE stood at the national stadium holding the Papa Johns Trophy silverware in front of thousands of cheering fans.
Josh ChapmanJosh Chapman
Josh Chapman

A  young pro living the dream.

“Being involved in a win and being up there on that balcony and touching that cup ... it was a day I’ll never forget,” says Josh Chapman, the substitute goalkeeper on the April afternoon Rotherham United triumphed at Wembley earlier this year.

“Just being on the bench, being on the pitch during the warm-up, will stay with me forever.”

Only it wasn’t enough.

Less than three months later, the 19-year-old decided to walk away from the sport, ending his career almost before it had begun.

“I’ve got other ambitions I want to fulfil,” he says. “I’ve got three or four goals and one of them was to be a professional footballer. I was a pro for a year and it was amazing, I loved every single minute of it. But there are other things I want to do now.

“I didn’t want to get to 40, look back and think: ‘I haven’t got to do those things because of football.’”

Worksop-based Chapman, who moved to the Millers in 2021 after leaving Sheffield United’s youth set-up, is a lovely, open lad. Intelligence and decency shine through and he’s a credit to an upbringing in which father Matt, brother Joe and his nan and grandad have all been important figures.

“It was really, really hard to stop playing,” he says. “My dad was a goalkeeper. He played at a good level, got to about the same age I am now and gave it up.

“He’s always said to me: ‘I don’t want you to have the regret I had.’ I think he’s scared of that. But I’m not scared because I know I’ve made the right decision.

“He did everything for me and my brother. My brother was at Sheffield United when I was there. Joe was there when he was five, I was there when I was eight.

“My dad would book days off work for my training sessions. He’s never, ever missed one of my games. My grandad came to every one as well.”

A month after Wembley, ‘Chappy’ was at the centre of the wild celebrations when the Millers won a last-day promotion at Gillingham and the dugout and away end erupted as an 89th-minute goal sealed the deal.

A  young pro living the dream.

“I can remember thinking as soon as Georgie (Kelly) hit it that it was going in,” Chapman says. “I was a sub and the lads around me were off the bench and near enough on the pitch.

“I just thought: ‘Right, I’ve got to go for it here.’ I joined in with everyone. It was one of those moments where you were doing things almost without thinking. It was so good.”

Only it wasn’t enough.

“I want to go travelling, to see the world,” he says. “There are things I want to do, things I want to be. Football would have restricted me in doing that.

“I felt like I was falling out of love with the game. People might say: ‘How can you think that? You’ve had an unbelievable year with Rotherham.’ It’s just how I felt inside.

“I’m going to start just after Christmas, I think. I want to begin with Europe — Venice, Amsterdam, Rome, places like that — and then I’ll work it so I go even further afield.

“My girlfriend, Ellie, is a professional dancer and she wants to be on one of the cruise ships.

“She’ll be going away for months at a time. It gives me chance to go away on my own or if she wants to come with me that’s absolutely fine.

“I’ll be working before then to save up some money. I’ve got mates who have work for me.”

Having been part of Rotherham’s rise up the league ladder, he’ll be looking at some stage to climb one of his own.

“After I’ve finished travelling I’ll be looking into the Fire Service,” he says. “I want something that keeps me active through life.”

Although the teenager never made a first-team appearance as he understudied for Viktor Johansson and Josh Vickers, he was in the matchday 18 for the final seven games of the promotion run-in and had done enough to earn an extension to his initial one-year contract.

His former Rotherham teammates say he was a quiet but very popular presence in the dressing room.

Manager Paul Warne, who was keen to keep a prospect he really rated, asked him to spend a week mulling over the enormity of what he was about to do before reaching a final conclusion.

Chapman did, but he wasn’t for turning.

Wembley, Gillingham ... they weren’t what he was wrestling with as he came to the growing realisation that he was ready to hang up his gloves.

“The thing I was worrying about at the time was letting my dad down because of everything he’s done for me,” he says. “He’s supported me all the way.

“Football is still something I love, it’s just not something I can commit to full-time because of the other things I want to do.

“If I play again in the future it will be only for pleasure: you know, matches with my mates. I’m totally comfortable with my decision.”

Unlike his dad, no regret.

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A YEAR AS A MILLER

“It was unbelievable. I can remember my first day. Vik took me under his wing, Josh did, Woody (captain Richard Wood) as well. All the lads were brilliant.

“I got along with them all. I got on with Fergie (Shane Ferguson) and Angus (MacDonald) really well.

“They’re all good people. No-one thinks they’re better than anyone else. All the staff are the same. Andy (goalkeeper coach Warrington) was unbelievable with me, absolutely unbelievable.

“It felt amazing. I thrived off improvement and Andy gave me that. The amount I improved was incredible. Vik and Josh pushed me so hard and Andy every single day was giving me 100 per cent. I’ll never forget it.

“Josh and Vik have got an unbelievable relationship. They support each other so much. That’s why they both play so well.”

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