David Chadwick was born in 1943 in Ootacamund, India where his father served in the British Army. In 1947, his father relocated the family back to England to live in Lymington, Hampshire where Chadwick started playing elementary school and club-level soccer. He played on various club teams, making the Count, Regional and England Youth teams before entering the professional world in 1960 when he signed to play for Southampton Football Club.
Chadwick played for the Saints from 1960 to 1966. He was then transferred to Middlesbrough Football Club. With both clubs he helped steer them from the 3rd to the 1st Division. In 1966, he was named Middlesbrough’s player of the year and then in 1970 was transferred to Halifax Town, where he again achieved player of the year honors. In 1972, he was transferred to AFC Bournemouth and played with them until 1974.
Throughout his 12 year career, Chadiwck played in over 300 English League and Cup matches. He was always interested in coaching, however, and coached many youth clubs and amateur teams. He was awarded the English Football Association Preliminary Coaching license in 1960 and then in 1973 gained the Football Association’s highest and most prestigious coaching license, the FA Full-Badge. In 1974, he became a free-agent and the fledgling North American Soccer League hired him to play for the Dallas Tornado from 1974 to 1976. He then was traded to the Tacoma Tides of the old American Soccer League as a player/assistant coach, and then returned to the NASL with the Fort Lauderdale Strikers as player/assistant coach helping them win their first divisional title. In 1978, he retired from playing professionally at age 35 and became a full-time assistant coach with the Strikers. His American playing career included more than 150 professional games.
In 1979, David became the assistant Coach of the Atlanta Chiefs of the NASL, owned by media mogul, Ted Turner. In 1980 he was promoted to Head Coach and led the team to two divisional titles (one indoor and one outdoor) and was named Coach of the Year for his efforts. After the demise of the Chiefs, Chadwick had a brief stint as General Manager/Head Coach of the Georgia Generals in the American Soccer League and then returned to South Florida to become Head Coach of the Fort Lauderdale Strikers. In 1983 he led the Strikers to a league championship semifinal. In 1979, Chaddy began his tenure with AFC Lightning in Fayetteville, Georgia as Director of Coaching and then Technical Director. He won numerous State Youth championships with teams from Lightning and coached their 18U boys to a National Championship. The 1980 18U Gold Boys team was the first youth team in Georgia Soccer history to win a National Championship.
In 1984, the NASL ceased operation so Chadwick returned to Atlanta with his family. He took on the head coaching responsibilities with the Datagraphic Soccer Club and led them to a National Final Four appearance. From 1985 to 2002, he was a member of the Georgia State Coaching Staff, coaching ODP, helping conduct “E, D and C” Coaching courses and was a member of the United States Coaching Staff. In 2002, he was inducted into the Georgia Soccer Hall of Fame.