The Big Interview with Geoff Chapple – Part 2

In this final part of my interview with Geoff Chapple, Geoff discusses some further giantkillings that he masterminded and other parts of his career.

Would you have sacrificed all of your giant-killings for one season in the Football League with Woking?

We came mighty close to getting in the Football League, it was always our aim as a club.  We finished second two seasons running and third the next.  It was a bitter pill to swallow.
Therefore, I guess my answer would be yes, I would have sacrificed all of the giant-killings for a Football League place.


I remember watching you beat Millwall and Swindon  in the FA Cup who were both Football League clubs.  Which of the giant-killings are your favourite and why?

My most memorable giant-killing (as manager) would have to be West Bromwich Albion, simply because of the massive difference in League placings at the time.  West Brom were in the Second Division (Championship nowadays) and we were just an Isthmian League club.
Although that victory took us to the Fourth Round of the Cup, I very nearly made it to the Fifth Round as Kingstonian manager.  We drew 1-1 at City’s ground Ashton Gate before losing the replay 1-0.  The winners went on to play Leicester City in Round Five.


Woking famously drew 1-1 at Premiership Coventry City when you were in charge before losing the replay at home.  That too was a fantastic result.  Where is this in your list of great results against higher opposition?

Woking became the first non-league club to hold a Premiership when we drew 1-1 at Coventry.  In the replay at our ground, we were very unlucky to lose, had we won, it may very well have been my greatest giant-killing ever.  But I would say (as above) that West Brom was the most memorable.

Geoff celebrates taking Premiership Coventry City to a replay with goalscorer Steve Thompson

You then moved on Kingstonian and managed to get them promoted the Conference which was an achievement given the size of the club.  You won the FA Trophy with them twice, beat a couple of Football League teams and nearly reached the Fifth Round of the FA Cup.  How did you manage to continually get results against bigger clubs and take teams up the non-league pyramids against the odds?

I moved to Kingstonian in 1997 after 13 very successful years at Woking.  Getting promoted to the Conference in my very first season was a massive achievement, as was beating Woking in the final of the Surrey Senior Cup (albeit after a replay).
Our magical FA Cup run in 2000/01 season began with a great win at Football League Brentford, followed by away wins at Southport and yet another Football League at Southend United in the Third Round.
We were winning 1-0 at Bristol City when they were awarded a corner with three minutes and thirty five seconds over the allotted three minutes of added time and hey presto, in went their equaliser.
We lost the replay 1-0, Bristol City went into the Fifth Round, losing 3-0 to Leicester City.


What is the secret to your success then Geoff?  How did you manage to mastermind these victories and cup runs?

I’ve been asked many times how I did it.  Well, I was known a “picture-painter” and would always get my players to envisage the “seeds” that I was implanting in their minds.
For my FA Trophy matches, I remember asking my teams if they could imagine playing at Wembley in front of thousands watching, not only at the stadium but across the globe.

I spoke so quietly (on purpose) just to make sure that they took it all in.  For FA Cup matches, I would do exactly the same, paint the same pictures and get them all to imagine that they were appearing at Old Trafford and the like.  I would get the players to believe that the “impossible is possible” on any given day.  There was no magic formula, but it worked!