James William Chappell (3 March 1915 – 3 April 1973) was a British

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

player who played in the

English National League The English National League was an early ice hockey league in England. It was founded in 1935 by most of the teams who had previously competed in the English League (ice hockey), English League. It was suspended during the Second World War, but ...

(ENL). He is known for playing for the

Great Britain national ice hockey team The Great Britain men's national ice hockey team (also known as Team GB) is the national ice hockey team that represents the United Kingdom. A founding member of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) in 1908, the team is con ...

which won the gold medal at the

1936 Winter Olympics The 1936 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1936, were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 16 February 1936 in the market town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Nazi Ger ...

. He is a member of the

British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame The British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame was founded in 1948 and is the third oldest ice hockey Hall of Fame in the world, behind the Russian and Soviet Hockey Hall of Fame (also founded in 1948) and the International Hockey Hall of Fame (founded in 19 ...

Career

Although born in

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, Chappell's family emigrated to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

when he was 10 years old. He learned to play ice hockey while living in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

where he progressed through the

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

ranks to play with the Oshawa Collegiates and the Whitby Intermediates between 1931 and 1934.

Club

Chappell returned to England in 1935, when he joined the

Earls Court Rangers Earls Court Rangers were an early English ice hockey team that played in the English National League. They were formed in 1935 and disbanded in 1953. They played their home games at the Earls Court Exhibition Centre, Earls Court Arena in west Lo ...

for their inaugural season in the ENL. He stayed with Earls Court for three seasons before joining the

Fife Flyers The Fife Flyers are a Ice hockey in Scotland, Scottish professional ice hockey team in Kirkcaldy, Fife. Established in 1938, the Flyers are the oldest still-extant club in the country. The Flyers play their home games at Fife Ice Arena, which ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

for their inaugural season in 1938–39. He again joined a club for their inaugural season when he joined the Dunfermline Vikings for the 1939–40 season. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

– in which he took part in the

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

landings at

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

– Chappell joined the

Brighton Tigers The Brighton Tigers were an English ice hockey club based in Brighton. The team existed from 1935 until 1965 and were one of the United Kingdom's most successful sides during that period. The club was based at the Brighton Sports Stadium (ofte ...

for the 1946–47 season staying with them until he retired following the 1948–49 season.

International

Chappell played for the GB national team at the 1936 Winter Olympics, where he scored two goals in the six games he played and helped the team win the gold medal. Chappell also played for the GB national team in the 1937 and 1938

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

. In the 1937 championships he helped the team to the silver medal and, as the highest-placed European team, the gold medal in the European Championships at the tournament. In the 1938 championships, he again helped the team to a silver medal. In 1948, Chappell again appeared for the GB national team at the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

held in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

when the team finished in sixth place.

Retirement

After retiring from ice hockey, Chappell continued to contribute to the game for a while as a

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other title ...

. He then returned with his family to Canada where he was successful in business before he died suddenly while on holiday in

Pinellas County Pinellas County (, ) is located on the west central coast of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 959,107, making it the seventh-most populous county in the state. It is also the most d ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

in 1976.

Awards and honours

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

gold medalist in 1936. *

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

silver medalist in 1937 and 1938. *

European Championship A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

gold medalist in 1937. *Inducted to the

in 1993.

External links

*
British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chappell, Jimmy 1915 births 1973 deaths Brighton Tigers players British Army personnel of World War II British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame inductees English ice hockey centres English Olympic competitors Ice hockey players at the 1936 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 1948 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1936 Winter Olympics Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Olympic ice hockey players for Great Britain Olympic medalists in ice hockey