Steve Coppell
Stephen James Coppell is an English professional football manager and former player.
As a player, Coppell was a highly regarded right winger known for his speed, technical ability and work rate. He won domestic honours with Manchester United and represented England at the World Cup. After a knee injury ended his playing career, he went into management.
Coppell has managed several English clubs, most notably Crystal Palace and Reading, both of which he took from the English second tier to achieve each club's greatest-ever successes in the top flight. He has also managed Manchester City, Bristol City, Brighton & Hove Albion and Brentford. He is credited with discovering Ian Wright, a striker he signed from non-league football, and who became a household name and international footballer.
Playing career
Early days
At the age of 18, Coppell attended Quarry Bank High School in south Liverpool, where musician John Lennon, footballer Joe Royle, and writer and filmmaker Clive Barker had previously been pupils. Just one year ahead of Coppell were Les Dennis and Brian Barwick, the chief executive of the FA from January 2005 until the end of 2008.Coppell was a nippy, incisive wide player in his youth but despite interest from some top clubs, he chose to join lower league Merseyside club Tranmere Rovers as he wanted to study for a degree in economic history at the University of Liverpool.
By 1974, Coppell was playing for Tranmere, studying for his degree and coaching the university team. But in 1975 his life changed when Manchester United made an offer of for him. His prospective new club instantly offered to double his wage and Coppell signed.
Coppell was able to complete his degree while playing on the right wing for Manchester United, making his debut as a substitute in a 4–0 win over Cardiff City on 1 March 1975, as his new club stormed back to the First Division after a season in the Second. Coppell ended that season with ten games and one goal.
The following season, Coppell played 39 times and scored ten goals, one of which was at the Kop end of his boyhood club Liverpool's Anfield ground. He also won honours for the England under-23 team.
The exciting young Manchester United team put together by manager Tommy Docherty progressed in the First Division and reached the 1976 FA Cup Final, where they were strong favourites to beat Southampton, who were from the Second Division. But Southampton won the final 1–0.
Afterwards, Coppell said: "I didn't feel too bad, as I appreciated being in the FA Cup final at all. It was only afterwards I realised it might have been the only chance I'd ever get. But the next season gave me another go."
In 1977, Manchester United fell short in the League but reached the FA Cup Final again, where this time they played Liverpool, who were chasing a "treble" of First Division championship, FA Cup and European Cup. Liverpool had already won the title by the time the two sides met at Wembley, but it was Manchester United who performed on the day and won 2–1. Coppell was one of nine United players in the team who had lost in the final to Southampton the year before.
Representing England
Later in 1977, Coppell received a call-up to the England team for the country's final qualifying game for the 1978 FIFA World Cup against Italy at Wembley. Coppell played and England won 2–0 but the damage had been done earlier in the campaign and England did not qualify for the finals. Coppell stayed in the plans of new England coach Ron Greenwood, playing in a number of friendly matches through 1978 and scoring the only goal of the game – his first for England – in a victory over Scotland at Hampden Park.Coppell remained a constant for club and country over the next 12 months, scoring for his country against Czechoslovakia and Northern Ireland while also adding goals from the wing for Manchester United, who reached another FA Cup final in 1979 following a season during which Coppell did not miss a game. Arsenal beat Manchester United 3–2 in the final.
A week later, Coppell had a better experience at Wembley as he scored one and made another as England beat Scotland 3–1. He continued to impress for his country while also remaining an ever-present for Manchester United for the next two years. His habit of scoring against Scotland continued in 1980 with a goal in a 2–0 win at Hampden prior to the 1980 European Championships, during which he featured in the opening two group matches, though England failed to progress further.
Injury
Tragedy struck Coppell while playing for England in a vital qualifier for the 1982 FIFA World Cup against Hungary. Coppell was the victim of a vicious high challenge from József Tóth which shattered his knee. Coppell said the effect was "like someone had put a firework in my knee and it had gone off" and underwent an operation which allowed him a temporary fix so he could carry on playing.Coppell nursed the injury through the 1982 World Cup in Spain, playing in all three of England's group games and the goalless draw against West Germany in the second pool. England went out in the next game against Spain and Coppell underwent a second operation.
He continued to play for Manchester United as much as he could after suffering the injury, playing 36 times in the 1981–82 season and 29 times in the 1982–83 campaign. He made two more appearances for England after the World Cup ended, scoring in the former as England beat Luxembourg 9–0.
Coppell was fit enough to play in the League Cup final of 1983 which – in a reverse of events in 1977 – opponents Liverpool won 2–1. But as Manchester United progressed also to the FA Cup final in the same year, Coppell's knee had broken down again and he missed the final against Brighton & Hove Albion, which ended 2–2 and ultimately concluded in a 4–0 victory for Manchester United in the replay.
Another operation followed but to no avail, and Coppell announced his retirement from the game in October 1983, aged just 28. He had broken the record for the most consecutive appearances for an outfield Manchester United player – 207 from 1977 to 1981 – which still stands to this day. His Manchester United career ended with 373 appearances and 70 goals; his England career had concluded with 42 caps and seven goals. He also scored the quickest recorded goal at under 18 level in a cup final against Notts County. The goal time was 12 seconds.
He has since stated that he recently discovered, thanks to advances in technology, that his ACL had only been connected at one end since the tackle, something which had been missed in previous surgeries. He has now had his ACL removed.
Managerial career
Crystal Palace (first spell; 1984–1993)
In June 1984, Coppell became manager of Crystal Palace. Aged just 28 years and 10 months upon his appointment, he became one of the youngest men to ever manage a club in the Football League. Coppell made budget signings of unwanted players from the First Division, as well as signing Ian Wright from non-league football. The club's fortunes greatly improved, and Palace won promotion to the top flight through the play-offs in 1989. Palace reached the FA Cup final in 1990, losing to Manchester United in a replay, after Coppell's inspired substitution of bringing on Ian Wright nearly won the first game for Palace. Their semi-final victory over Liverpool helped make up for the horrific 9–0 drubbing that they had received in a league match at Anfield early in the season.The following season, Crystal Palace finished in third place in the top flight and won the Full Members Cup. The club's fortunes declined after that, and in May 1993, Coppell resigned after they were relegated from the Premier League. However, his name was linked with the England national coach's job six months later when Graham Taylor resigned, but he swiftly ruled out any interest in the job. In May 1994, he was also linked with the manager's job at Middlesbrough, but the job went to his former Manchester United teammate Bryan Robson instead.
Crystal Palace (second spell; 1995–1996)
Coppell returned to Palace in June 1995 as Director of Football, with Ray Lewington and Peter Nicholas working alongside him as first team coaches. In February 1996, Dave Bassett was appointed manager and the club reached the final of the First Division Play-offs where they lost 2–1 to Leicester City after extra time.Manchester City (1996)
Coppell left Palace in October 1996 to become manager of Manchester City, a job that he would quit after only six games and 33 days in charge. He cited the pressure of the job as his reason for leaving the club. His reign at the club is the shortest of any City manager to date.Crystal Palace (third spell; 1997–1998)
After leaving Manchester City, Coppell returned to Palace as Chief Scout. Following the resignation of manager Dave Bassett in February 1997, Coppell was promoted once again to the role of manager. He secured another promotion via the play-offs after only 6 months in the job, and he remained in charge of the club for the first seven months of the 1997–98 season. Despite signing the likes of Attilio Lombardo and Tomas Brolin, Crystal Palace struggled. With relegation confirmed, a boardroom takeover by Palace fan Mark Goldberg led to him again becoming Director of Football, with Terry Venables being appointed first team manager.Crystal Palace (fourth spell; 1999–2000)
Following the resignation of manager Terry Venables in January 1999, Coppell once again returned as the manager of Palace. By that time the club had severe financial problems. High earners like Venables and Lombardo had been removed to try and cut spending, and the club was close to going bankrupt. With relegation seeming a realistic possibility, he guided the club to respectable finishes of 14th and 15th in the league. In the 2000 close season Simon Jordan bought the club and replaced Coppell with Alan Smith, who had taken over from Coppell on his first resignation seven years earlier. Jordan said Coppell had done a "fantastic job", but the club needed to "evolve or die".All in all, Coppell's exploits in SE25, from promotion to the Cup Final, to third place, even to First Division survival, made him a favourite, and in 2005, he was voted as the manager for Palace's Centenary XI.