Sporting Bygones: FA Cup tie will present the chance for Arsenal and Huddersfield fans to unite and honour legendary figure of Herbert Chapman

Jacob Epstien's bust of Herbert Chapman used to adorn the marble halls of the old Highbury Stadium to commemorate his great achievements at Arsenal, but his success at Huddersfield Town bares comparison with the illustrious Londoners.

Chapman's record of two League championships and an FA Cup final win at Highbury in the 1930s is a duplicate of his record at Huddersfield Town 10 years earlier, both clubs achieving a hat-trick of title triumphs.

Chapman's success at two clubs remains unparalleled in the English game but his managerial career came perilously close to being ruined in his early days.

Following a successful spell in the top job at Northampton Town, Chapman became manager of Leeds City in 1912. He achieved moderate success during his tenure but his efforts to turn them around were scuppered by the outbreak of World War I in 1914.

However, it was after the war that Chapman became embroiled in one of the most infamous controversies to affect football.

After a former player reported the club over a contract dispute, Leeds City were accused of making illegal payments to players during the war and were subsequently charged by the Football League.

After failing to respond to a demand to surrender their books to the League for inspection, Leeds City were expelled from the League and five officials, including Chapman, were issued with lifetime bans.

Chapman, however, managed to get his ban overturned, arguing that he had been working at a coke factory in Selby during the war and had no knowledge of the alleged payments.

His appeal was backed by Huddersfield Town, who had approached him to become assistant to manager Ambrose Langley, a former team-mate of Chapman's during his playing career. He was employed in the position in 1921 and eventually took full control just a month later.

With this second chance, Chapman began sowing the seeds of an illustrious career.

In terms of innovation, Chapman was years, if not decades, ahead of his time.

He was among the first managers to take complete control of team matters. At many clubs in the post-war years the board of directors took on the responsibility of picking the team with the managers reduced to the role of coaching and administration.

Chapman insisted on assuming full charge of everything from the purchase of players to coaching tactics and his ideas brought immediate success.

Huddersfield won the FA Cup in Chapman's first full season (1921-22), defeating Preston in the final.

His first championship was not far away and after finishing a creditable third the previous season, Huddersfield were crowned champions in 1923-24, beating Cardiff City to the title by the narrowest of margins – 0.024 of a goal in the days before goal average was replaced by goal difference.

Huddersfield repeated the feat the following season and ultimately went on to deliver a third consecutive league title in 1925-26. Chapman, though, was not there to see the triumph.

His latent talents had not gone unnoticed in the football world and the lure of London and a double-your-money offer from Arsenal proved too much of an incentive for the ambitious Yorkshireman.

Chapman liked his sides to play fast, counter-attacking football and he began honing this idea to perfection at Highbury.

He was the first manager to dispense with the traditional 2-3-5 formation and base his tactics on a strong defence. The ethos of quick, crisp passing as opposed to individual ball skills began to prove unpopular with the footballing public with his side gaining the tag of 'boring Arsenal', a stigma that remains to this day.

Despite the bad feeling, Arsenal scored 127 goals in their first championship winning season in 1930-31, proving Chapman's ideas had their merits. They also won the FA Cup in 1930, defeating his former club Huddersfield in the final.

Arsenal were champions again in 1932-33 and went on to mirror Huddersfield's success and win three consecutive championships.

Sadly, as was the case at Huddersfield, Chapman did not see his plan bear the full fruits of his efforts. After watching an Arsenal third-team match suffering with cold, Chapman's illness developed into full-blown pneumonia.

There was to be no recovery for the mercurial manager and he died at his home in Hendon on January 6, 1934, aged just 55.

Both sides will be pre-occupied with FA Cup progression at the Emirates, but those with longer memories will wistfully reflect on the impact the former coal miner from Rotherham had on the history of both clubs and the footballing legacy his innovative ideas left on the modern game.