Chisnall was a schoolboy star inside-forward who in 1958 was snapped up by Manchester United where he played 47 games and scored ten goals from 1961-1964. Shortly after Chisnall featured for the u-23 England team against Germany in a 4-2 win at Anfield Shankly contacted his good friend Matt Busby and made a bid for his services. Chisnall, who had already tasted European action with United, made his second Reds' appearance in the club's first-ever European game against KR Reykjavik in Iceland and scored in a 5-0 victory. His League debut followed five days later in a 3-2 win over Arsenal at Anfield on the opening day of the season. He didn't play again in the League until in the last four games of the same season, which also saw his only League goal for the club in a 2-0 home victory over Chelsea. Chisnall recalled: “In the space of a year I played under Matt Busby, Bill Shankly and Alf Ramsey, who was manager of England u-23s at the time," Chisnall said. "At United we had Busby, who was the quiet type, and Jimmy Murphy who was the passionate Welshman. At Liverpool it was the other way around, with Shankly the passionate one and Bob Paisley the calming influence. Ramsey was different again, quite prim and proper." The following 1965/66 season Chisnall was stuck in the reserves where he scored 16 goals and made his last-ever appearance for the first team as a replacement for Geoff Strong in the first leg of the semi-final in the European Cup Winners' Cup against Celtic in Scotland on 14 April 1966. Liverpool lost 1-0 but progressed to the final where they lost 2-1 to Dortmund.

Chisnall did not make the grade at Anfield due to the sheer strength of the first 11, as he told the Liverpool Echo: "Things didn’t really work out for me but I didn’t regret joining Liverpool,” said Chisnall. "It was a great side with players like Ian St John, Ian Callaghan, Peter Thompson, Roger Hunt, Willie Stevenson, Gordon Milne and Tommy Smith so it was always going to be tough to get into the side.” Chisnall went on to play 160 games and score 31 goals for fourth division Southend from 1967-1971 before having one last season with Stockport County, retiring at 29 due to knee trouble. Chisnall is the last player who has been transferred straight from Manchester United to Liverpool. “No one else said much, even though I was moving between two big teams," Chisnall told the Echo. "Back then it was just a footballer moving from one club to another. I was able to go to Old Trafford and play for Liverpool and get a good reception from the crowd. The only person who was bothered was the missus. I told her I was going to play for Liverpool and it meant she had to take all the curtains down, pack up and move down the East Lancs Road. She wasn’t too pleased."

In October 2014 Chisnall suffered a stroke which has left him confined to a wheelchair and suffering from speech problems. He passed away aged 78 on 4th March 2021.