Football Career
Marples' Football League goalkeeping career spanned 1984 to 1995, beginning and ending with his local club, Chesterfield and also taking in spells with York City and Stockport County. He won a Fourth Division Championship medal in his first season with Chesterfield and was part of the club's 1994-95 squad that again won promotion from the fourth tier, this time via the playoffs. However, he broke his leg in two places during the course of the campaign.
Though this injury ended his career at the top level, he continued to play non-league football for several years, including with Emley and Ilkeston Town who he went on to manage for the 2001-02 season before a run of poor results led to his dismissal.
In 2005, he became assistant manager to Nicky Law at Buxton during a period which brought success for the club with the achievement of two consecutive promotions in the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons to reach the Northern Premier League Premier Division. He accompanied Law in a switch to Alfreton Town for the following season but resigned in April 2008 citing other commitments.
Read more about this topic: Chris Marples
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