Mark Chapman
Andrew Mark Chapman (born 11 October 1973) is a British sports presenter and broadcaster. He is BBC Sport’s lead presenter on Match of the Day following the departure of Gary Lineker, chief rugby league presenter on the BBC, and a presenter on BBC Radio 5 Live. He was previously best known to a wider radio audience as sports reporter and regular on-air contributor to The Scott Mills Show on BBC Radio 1, where he was nicknamed Chappers — or occasionally Chopper.
Quick facts
- Born: 11 October 1973, Wardle, near Rochdale, Lancashire
- Full name: Andrew Mark Chapman
- Education: Manchester Grammar School; BA French and Business Studies, University of Hull; postgraduate diploma in broadcast journalism
- Known for: Match of the Day, The Scott Mills Show, 5 Live Sport, Sports Report
- Spouse: Sara Chapman (m. 2001; died 2020)
- Children: 3
Early life
Chapman was born at Birch Hill Hospital in Wardle, near Rochdale, Lancashire, and spent most of his childhood in Sale, on the other side of Manchester. He attended Manchester Grammar School, where he developed an ambition to work at BBC Radio 1 from around the age of twelve. He went on to study French and Business Studies at the University of Hull, where his time in the city also gave him a lasting affinity with Hull as a sporting club.
Early career
After university, Chapman completed a postgraduate diploma in broadcast journalism and joined the BBC in 1996 as a continuity announcer, primarily working on BBC One and BBC Two. He took six months away from announcing to work as a cricket correspondent for BBC Radio North East, before returning and applying successfully for the role of sports presenter at BBC Radio 1, which he joined in September 1999.
Radio 1
The Scott Mills Show
Chapman joined Radio 1 as a Newsbeat sportsreader, initially working on Sara Cox’s Breakfast Show — where he spent around four and a half years — before becoming a regular fixture on The Scott Mills Show, where he was universally known on air as Chappers. He shared the birthday of 11 October with colleague Laura Sayers, a fact noted on air by the team.
He quickly became more than just a sports reporter. His sharp comic instincts and easy rapport with Mills made him a popular on-air presence in his own right, joining in conversations, features, and games that had nothing to do with sport. On his own description of a typical working day, he would arrive around 8.30am, spend the morning researching and editing sport bulletins, do the show from 4–7pm, then stay on for another couple of hours to remain across the evening’s sport before going home.
He became associated with several recurring bits, including the Car Alarm Game, Meal Or No Meal, and What Fish Am I? — the last of which he publicly described as “embarrassingly shocking.” He joined Laura Sayers and Scott for a live episode of Most Haunted at the Golden Fleece pub in 2005, was part of the judging panel on the One Night with Laura tour, and was a frequent target in the show’s long-running prank war — most notably the recipient of Beccy Huxtable’s Fabio Capello impersonation, which she performed using a studio voice changer, calling him on his work phone in character as the then-England football manager. The transcripts confirm Chappers was taken in, at least initially, each time.
When Scott was away, Chapman regularly filled in on the drive-time slot, noting in his Q&A for the site that he felt this made Scott seem “so much better when he returns.” The transcripts confirm that his absence from the show was frequently due to cricket reporting commitments — multiple episodes open with Scott announcing “Chappers is at the cricket” as a matter of course.
A lifelong Manchester United supporter, Chapman’s fandom was woven into the fabric of the show. He described his first ever game at Old Trafford: October 1981, for his eighth birthday — a 5–0 win over Wolves in which Sammy McIlroy scored a hat-trick and Bryan Robson signed on the pitch before kick-off. A 2012 transcript also captures him revealing he had been booked to DJ for the Manchester United squad that evening.
He was a devoted Coronation Street fan — this too became part of the show’s fabric. On one occasion he admitted unprompted to being familiar with eleven missing episodes.
Departure
Chapman left The Scott Mills Show on Christmas Eve 2009, moving to BBC Radio 5 Live on a full-time basis. He insisted on air he didn’t want a fuss made of his departure — asking Scott simply to play another record. Scott proposed he leave in the style of a departed Sugababe: “pop to the loo in an elaborate way and never come back.” Chapman agreed this had merit. Scott’s announcement to listeners was: “He’s going to be serious now for a living.”
Chappers and Dave
Alongside his work with Scott Mills, Chapman co-presented numerous programmes and live events with Comedy Dave, including a long-running series of live DJ gigs billed as the Chappers and Dave World Tour. Their most memorable tour appearance, by Chapman’s own account, took place on the back of an articulated lorry at an RAF base in Norfolk, performed in the pouring rain after extensive security checks, followed by fairground rides — all after consuming approximately nine cans of Boddingtons each. They also presented Chappers and Dave’s Football Annual on Boxing Day 2003, and ran a mile at all 20 English Premier League grounds in March 2008 in aid of charity.
When Chris Moyles described them as “the Bert and Ernie of Radio 1,” Chapman publicly disputed the comparison, suggesting “the Chemical Brothers of Radio 1” was more accurate.
Charitable work
Chapman and Comedy Dave ran a mile at all 20 English Premier League clubs and 12 Scottish Premier League clubs in March 2008. He completed the London Marathon for the children’s cancer charity CLIC Sargent in 2008 and again in 2010. In 2012, he cycled from Land’s End to John o’ Groats in aid of the Donna Louise Children’s Hospice Trust.
Later career
Chapman joined BBC Radio 5 Live to host 5 Live Sport on Monday evenings in 2010. He subsequently became the main stand-in presenter on Final Score and Match of the Day 2, co-hosted Pardon The Interruption on ESPN, and in August 2013 became the main host of Match of the Day 2 following Colin Murray’s departure.
He was appointed BBC Sport’s chief rugby league presenter in 2013, fronting the BBC’s coverage of the Rugby League World Cup through multiple subsequent tournaments. He has also presented BBC Radio 5 Live’s coverage of multiple Olympic Games from London 2012 onwards.
In May 2022, in addition to his BBC work, Chapman joined Sky Sports to present coverage of the Carabao Cup. Following Gary Lineker’s departure from the BBC, he became co-lead presenter of Match of the Day.
Writing and other work
Chapman wrote a regular column for Shoot magazine and in 2010 published his first book, Heroes, Hairbands and Hissy Fits: Chappers’ History of Modern Football. He became Chair of the Board for the Manchester Originals cricket team in The Hundred in July 2021, and in November 2022 became Non-Executive Director at Altrincham Football Club.
Personal life
Chapman married Sara in 2001; they had three children together and lived in Hale, Greater Manchester. Sara died from cancer in 2020.
Chapman is a Manchester United supporter and also follows Hull FC, owing to his university years in the city. He supports the Chicago Bears in the NFL. His preferred drink, mentioned unprompted across multiple on-air appearances, is Boddingtons.
Chappers spoke to Unofficial Mills back in the website’s infancy and answered some of our questions.