Ellis Chapman reckons the League of Ireland helped restore his love of football after “a rough couple of years” off the pitch. And the new Shelbourne recruit has revealed how he availed of therapy sessions to give him the confidence to kick on again in his career.
The Englishman was a League Two winner with Cheltenham Town in 2020/21 and also won the EFL Trophy with his hometown club Lincoln City in 2017/18. But Chapman - who spent four years at Cheltenham, with a loan at Oldham thrown into the mix - hit a rocky path just before his permanent move to Sligo Rovers in 2024.
Chapman was a big hit with the Bit O’Red, so much so that Shelbourne boss Damien Duff pounced for the attacking midfielder over the winter. He had planned to go back home to England, but knew he couldn’t turn down the offer from the Irish champions.
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“I absolutely loved my time in Ireland and I wanted to do another year. It was just about staying and enjoying your football,” he said ahead of tonight’s derby clash with Bohs. “That's the most important thing to me because I had a rough couple of years at Cheltenham before I came over to Ireland. Just in terms of stuff off the pitch and the mental side of it. I wanted to fall in love with football again and I did that last year.”
Chapman, 24, continued: “I don’t mind saying that when I was going through a tough period I ended up going to a few therapy sessions. That was from it affecting my life outside of football. It helped me massively, having little triggers and pinpoints in your own mental state to help you get through the day.
“As you get older you learn more from going through experiences. I’m 24 now, and still class myself as young, but I’m still learning from the past. Touch wood, I’ll never get back to that. I’ve been really happy with the year I had at Sligo Rovers. And here at Shelbourne I’m really happy, so long may it continue.
“I say it to people all the time that when you’re at your happiest is when you play your best football. If you get your on-the-pitch stuff right, and your off-the-pitch stuff right, you will give yourself a good chance to do well.”
Chapman played regularly for the first two years of his four-year Cheltenham Town stay, and it was a period when he was “madly in love” with the game. Then the former Leicester City youth picked up a bad injury and spent so long on the sidelines that he barely played again for 18 months.
But quitting was never an option and Chapman explained: “I’ve played football since I was four years old and I’ll always love the game. In those moments, mentally you can check out. But looking back on it, coming over to Sligo Rovers was the best decision of my career.”
Family and friends have been regular visitors to Ireland in the time he has been here. And the Damien Duff factor has only heightened their curiosity.
“They’ve got huge respect for the league. They mightn’t necessarily have heard much about it before I came over,” he said. “In the time I’ve been at Sligo Rovers and now Shelbourne they watched a lot of games and were nicely surprised by the standard. There’s very good teams and players.”
Chapman picked up a bad ankle injury in Derry last season, an artificial Brandywell playing surface that left the Englishman rolling his eyes when asked about it. Another injury issue in pre-season set him back with Shels but he feels that Reds fans are finally starting to see a true picture of him now.
Chapman said: “I had some catching up to do but I’m more like myself now. I didn’t feel like I’d be out of place here, it was something I wanted to be part of. It’s a funny thing, football. In order for you to be successful, it’s not about having all the talent in the world. It’s about doing all the basics and fundamentals and doing the right things day in, day out - that gives you the best chance to go on and be successful.”
Chapman would love to add a League of Ireland medal to his roll of honour, but is only focused on Bohemians for now. He added: “One thing I have learned about this league is that anybody can beat anybody and if you’re not at it every single week, you will get punished. There’s no fixture you look at and say ‘this is going to be an easy win’. You prepare as best you can and with a bit of luck tonight, you win the game.”
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