[6] Chatt was born in Barnard Castle, County Durham and played football for Cleator Moor and Middlesbrough Ironopolis before joining Aston Villa for a nominal fee in August 1893.

[1] In his first season with Aston Villa (where his teammates included James Welford and later Albert Evans, both also from Barnard Castle) he made seventeen appearances generally playing at left half, from where he scored five goals in league matches and four in the FA Cup.

[7] At the end of the season, Villa claimed their first Football League title by a margin of six points over Sunderland, having scored 84 goals in 30 games, with only five defeats.

In the FA Cup, Villa defeated Nottingham Forest 6–2 in the third round with two goals each from Chatt and Stephen Smith, to set up a semi-final against Sunderland.

[11] On the pitch, Chatt made 17 appearances in the league, as Villa took the title by four points over Derby County with Campbell top-scorer on 26 goals.

As Philip Gibbons pointed out in "Association Football in Victorian England": "Aston Villa had twice won the League Championship, as well as the FA Cup, during the three previous seasons, with a team generally acknowledged as the finest in the land.

During Villa's double winning season, Chatt made eleven league and one cup appearance, scoring a single goal, in a 2–1 victory at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Boxing Day.

Chatt continued in defence for one more season, when Villa finished in a disappointing sixth place, before retiring from professional football in June 1898.