In his quest to find a new number one, gaffer Steve Evans turned to a stopper he knew all too well in the shape of Aaron Chapman. It was the third time that Evans had signed the 6’8″ goalkeeper; a sure enough sign, you’d think that he had a great deal of trust in the stopper. Boro’ signed Chapman from League One side Gillingham, which is one of the two clubs Evans had previously signed the lad. The other, in case you were wondering, was Peterborough United. And it was being released by the Gills at the end of the 2021-2 campaign that left Boro’ free to swoop in.
The problem for Chapman was that he couldn’t get much game time. He found himself as deputy to Fulham loanee Taye Ashby-Hammond. And not even an injury to his rival for the number one spot in late January 2023 gave him a chance to make the position his own. In the opening days of February, Boro’ confirmed that Chapman would be moving to pastures new; signing for Scunthorpe United. It’s not that he didn’t feature at all while here. Typically, his run outs would come in the cup competitions. But, for all parties involved, it was perhaps felt that first team football elsewhere was better.
Aaron Chapman: Before Boro’
A native of Rotherham, the career of Aaron Chapman started at Belper Town. His form in non-league quickly attracted a bit of attention; Chesterfield swooping in to sign him in summer 2013. As can be the case, however, chances didn’t show themselves right away with the Spireites. Three loan spells during his time with the Derbyshire side saw him pick up a bit of experience at Chester, Accrington Stanley, and Bristol Rovers respectively. The outcome of his time away wasn’t quite enough to convince Chesterfield to keep him on. But he clearly made enough of an impression while out on loan to earn a permanent switch to Accy in summer 2016.
Evans made his first move for Chapman two years later; the goalkeeper moving to Peterborough United. He didn’t make the best impact; earning a place on the transfer list at the end of the 2018-9 season. He remained at London Road – but an emergency loan spell at Tranmere Rovers was his only real source of first-team action. Posh allowed him to leave the club at the end of the 2019-20 season; a move that was somewhat expected. And it took Chapman onto a challenge he perhaps didn’t see coming; Scottish Premiership side Motherwell in October 2020. He saw out the 2020-1 season north of the border, before returning south to Gillingham.
