Born in 1875, Arthur Chadwick played football in his youth at both Church FC and Accrington FC. In the 1891 Census he was recorded as a Cotton Weaver. He started his seniorcareer playing for Burton Swifts (55 league appearances; seven goals) before moving on to Southampton in 1897.

A centre half, he helped the Saints to win the Southern League championship in 1897-98, 1898-99 and 1900-01. He also played in the FA Cup Final of 1900, as well as winning two caps for England against Wales and Scotlandrespectively. The latter game was played at Celtic Park in front of over 60,000 fans.

Arthur became the first Saints player to be sent off in a League match when playing against Sheppey. In his four seasons with Southampton, he made a total of 96 appearances, scoring 6 goals.

In May 1901 he moved to local rivals, Portsmouth, and was part of their side who won the Southern League title in 1901-02. He made 70 League appearances and scored 12 goals. However, he was on the move again in 1904, signing for Northampton Town.

Arthur then returned north to sign for Accrington Stanley in 1906; moving on to Haslingden in February 1908 before linking up with Exeter City in April 1908 as player manager. City had made the decision to turn professional and weresoon accepted into the Southern League for the 1908/9 season.

His first outing for the Grecians was a successful one, scoring in the 3-2 home win over Norwich City in September 1908. His performances drew praise with one local newspaper reporting that ‘Chadwick was once more the star performer...In defence and attack he is the artiste,and his generalship is indispensable’.

Chadwick was, by now, winding down his playing career, and in 1910 he hung up his boots and concentrated on training and managing.

Chadwick made his mark in a number of ways including:

Chadwick’s very long association with the club lasted until December 1922, His resignation was announced in the local press on the 16th December 1922.

"EXETER CITY'S MANAGER
Resignation of Mr. Chadwick

EXETER CITY'S MANAGER

Resignation of Mr. Chadwick

The resignation by Mr Arthur Chadwick of the post of manager of the Exeter City Association Football Club has been announced, but it will not become operative until after Christmas.

An observant and cool-headed North-countryman, Mr Chadwick has been through deep waters with Exeter City, and his un-sparing and inspiring efforts on behalf of the organisation in those early days will be remembered with both admiration and gratitude for many years to come.

A Remarkably Good Team.

After a distinguished playing career with Southampton in its palmiest Southern League and English Cup days, with Portsmouth and with Northampton, Arthur Chadwick, an English International centre half, left his home in Lancashire in the summer of 1908 to take over the player-managership of the new Exeter City professional club, and brought along with him a remarkably good team to set the ball rolling.

Many very fine players were secured by him in subsequent summers. If the club had had a better financial backing some of these men, no doubt, would be wearing the Grecians' colours today, for the pick of them were transferred for ridiculously small sums to keep the wolf from the club's door, and they have rendered fine service ever since to the teams of their adoption.

Only One Point Lost.

Re-starting operations after the war, Mr Chadwick once again built a capital team. They were at their best in the second half of the season, when only one point was conceded at Exeter.

Had the club realised fully the changes brought about by the war, it is probable that they would have spared no efforts to keep that team together. But the players were dispersed, and with greatly intensified competition now prevailing amongst the bigger clubs, the City found the vacant positions very hard to fill.

Substantial transfer fees for some of the finest players on the club's books enabled the Directors to purchase St. James's Park, but other valuable young men left with free transfers to seek employment elsewhere, and Exeter City suffered very badly from the playing point of view. And this, after all, is the only point of view that matters, for success on the playing field leads, quite naturally, to financial prosperity. Mr Chadwick has had the most difficult of tasks (how difficult probably he alone knows), and Exeter City owe him a very great deal that cannot be represented in terms of money.

He is too active a man to settle down in quiet retirement; the game of football is in his blood, and his future in Soccer will be watched with the keenest interest locally by the multitude, who cannot and would not forget his great services to the City club."

Arthur then moved to Reading as manager, but in October 1925, he resigned in order to take over as boss of his former club, Southampton. He found immediate success by guiding the Saints to the semi-final of the FA Cup in 1927.At the end of 1928-29 Chadwick grew disillusioned with the club, as they had sold their best players to survive financially, and he also became disillusioned with the game of football in general and he resigned on 16 April 1931, thereby ending a long association with the game.

Arthur had kept his house in Pinhoe Road, Exeter and returned here after the Southampton job. He died whilst sat in the grandstand at St James’ Park, while attending Exeter City’s game with Clapton Orient on 21 March 1936.

Writing at the time of Chadwick’s funeral a local football correspondent reflected that people described him as uncompromising but none questioned his integrity. Chadwick was, he wrote, a straight man and a fine manager held in the highest esteem throughout the realms of football. He then added ‘his views on the game were decided in character. Woe betide the footballer under his charge who banged the ball in the air when he could have kept it along the ground’.

Chadwick is buried in Higher Cemetery, Heavitree alongside his wife Winifred who died in 1949. The grave became overgrown and dilapidated but was restored by Exeter City FC Museum Trust in 2021 thanks to donations from City Supporter Groups (Grecian Goal, Senior Reds and Cans4City) and Southampton FC.

On 24 March 2023 the restoration was marked by a ceremony when Exeter City Manager Gary Caldwell and Alan Parkinson representing Accrington Stanley laid flowers on the grave.