Mark Chamberlain

Mark Valentine Chamberlain (born 19 November 1961) is an English former international footballer. He is the younger brother of Neville Chamberlain, and the father of former England international player Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and non-League player Christian Oxlade-Chamberlain.

He began his professional playing career with Port Vale in 1978, where he remained for four years before being sold to rivals Stoke City, having already been selected for the PFA Fourth Division Team of the Year in 1981–82. In 1985, he signed with Sheffield Wednesday before he moved on to Portsmouth three years later. He remained with "Pompey" until 1994, at which point he transferred to Brighton & Hove Albion. The following year, he joined Exeter City before entering into management at Fareham Town in 1997. Between 1982 and 1984, he won four caps for the England under-21s and eight caps for the senior team.

Club career Port Vale Chamberlain was born in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, to Banny and Anastasia, who emigrated to England from Jamaica in the 1960s. Chamberlain started his career with local side Port Vale, making his debut under Dennis Butler as a substitute in a 2–2 home draw with Scunthorpe United on 19 August 1978, aged 16. His full debut came on 14 April 1979 in a 3–2 win over Barnsley at Vale Park, and his first goal came two days later in a 3–2 defeat at Huddersfield Town. He turned professional the following month, having made eight appearances in 1978–79. He was the subject of a £100,000 transfer bid by Potteries derby rivals Stoke City in January 1982, which Vale chairman Don Ratcliffe described as "an insult... attempted robbery; it is a disgrace".

Stoke City He was sold to Stoke City in August 1982, along with Mark Harrison for a combined fee of £180,000. He proved to be a good signing for manager Richie Barker, and got the better of Arsenal's left-back Kenny Sansom. He replaced Paul Maguire on the left-wing and scored six goals in 39 appearances in 1982–83 as the "Potters" finished 13th in the First Division. Chamberlain scored seven goals in 46 games in 1983–84, helping the club to avoid relegation by two places and two points. However, he scored just twice in 32 appearances in 1984–85, as Stoke finished bottom of the division with a mere 17 points; they won just three of their 42 games and were 33 points short of safety. who went on to finish fifth in the top-flight under Howard Wilkinson in 1985–86, missing out on European football due to the ban imposed on English clubs following the Heysel Stadium disaster. The "Owls" finished 13th in 1986–87 and 11th in 1987–88, with Chamberlain playing 66 league games before transferring to Alan Ball's Second Division side Portsmouth in August 1988 for a fee of £200,000.

Later career The "Seagulls" finished 14th in the Second Division (the old Third Division) in 1993–94. Chamberlain moved on to Exeter City in the Third Division (the old Fourth Division). Peter Fox's "Grecians" finished bottom of the Football League in 1994–95, albeit level on goal difference with Scarborough, and only avoided dropping into the Conference because Macclesfield Town's Moss Rose did not meet the Football League's capacity standards. Chamberlain was converted to the right-back position. He also made a substitute appearance in the 1–0 home defeat to Denmark on 21 September 1983; this crucial result eventually led the Danes to win qualification to Euro 1984 ahead of England. He played in England's 2–0 win over Brazil at the Maracanã Stadium on 10 June 1984. He picked up a total of eight caps, though some believed he could have gone on to pick up many more, and Port Vale coach Graham Barnett in particular said that he was "like a bloody gazelle... a black jewel... he's got the bloody lot... he's class... so much better than John Barnes."

Style of play Chamberlain was a pacey winger with excellent ball control and decision-making.

Coaching career Chamberlain became player-manager of non-League Fareham Town after leaving the Football League in 1997. His sons Alex and Christian are also footballers, as was his older brother Neville. When the pair played together for Port Vale they used to swap shirts at half-time to confuse opposition players attempting to mark him. After making his England debut, he guest starred on The Sooty Show in 1983.

Career statistics

Club

International

Scores and results list England's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Chamberlain goal.

Honours Individual PFA Fourth Division Team of the Year: 1981–82