Matthew Chapman

Matt Chapman was born in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, in 1985. He learned to love Leeds United, at the time one of England’s top teams, after spending virtually every Saturday afternoon (shouting until his voice gave out) at Elland Road stadium (with his Dad) for the best part of three years. Those blissful years weren’t to last, however, and he was forced to move to then-soccer-wasteland America with his family in 1998, spending three years in Illinois and three in Connecticut. Returning to England in 2004, he attended the University of Warwick, graduating in 2007. He then spent several months in South America (acquiring a love of Peruvian team Club Sportivo Cienciano in the process) before returning to Belgium, where he’s currently killing time before starting an MA at the University of Sheffield later this year.

Matt supports two teams: Leeds United (obviously) and Club Sportivo Cienciano, a plucky Peruvian side surviving on grit, determination, and a stadium so high in the Andes that most opponents can’t manage 30 minutes before succumbing to altitude sickness and being stretchered off for oxygen.

He blogs about Leeds United for TheOffside.com and about the English national team for its sister site, WorldCupBlog.org

You can find his personal site at MattChapman.co.uk, if he keeps paying his bills and gets around to finishing it.

The photo was taken in El Estadio, the brilliant football-dedicated restaurant and bar in Lima and arguably the best restaurant in South America. If only because it boasts an entire wall dedicated to Leeds United. If you ever eat there, Matt recommends the creole duck and the nougat.