James Coppinger

James Coppinger
Personal information
Full name James Coppinger
Date of birth (1981-01-18) 18 January 1981
Place of birth Guisborough, England[1]
Height 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Playing position Attacking midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Doncaster Rovers
Number 26
Youth career
1997–1998 Darlington
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–2002 Newcastle United 1 (0)
1999–2000 → Hartlepool United (loan) 11 (3)
2001 → Queens Park Rangers (loan) 0 (0)
2001–2002 → Hartlepool United (loan) 14 (2)
2002–2004 Exeter City 82 (13)
2004– Doncaster Rovers 451 (49)
2012 → Nottingham Forest (loan) 6
National team
1997–1998 England U16 2 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23:56, 28 November 2016 (UTC).


James Coppinger (born 18 January 1981) is an English professional footballer who currently plays as an attacking midfielder for Doncaster Rovers in League Two. He is in his 13th season at the club, and is the only player to reach 500 first-class appearances for Doncaster. He is a former England U16 international.

Playing career

Early career

Born in Guisborough near Middlesbrough, Coppinger started his career as a trainee for Darlington in 1998, though he was signed by fellow North-East side Newcastle United before he even made an appearance. He moved to Newcastle in a £500,000 joint deal with 17-year-old with Paul Robinson in March 1998 when Kenny Dalglish was manager.[2] Coppinger struggled to make any impact while coming through the Newcastle ranks, playing just once as a substitute against Tottenham Hotspur in August 2000.[3]

After two loan spells at Hartlepool United and Queens Park Rangers, Coppinger's contract at Newcastle was ended by mutual consent and in July 2002 he moved to Exeter City.[2]

Exeter City

He made his debut at Shrewsbury Town on 10 August 2002, netting his first goal two weeks later against Torquay United.[4]

Coppinger admitted in 2015 that when Exeter were relegated, he was very close to quitting football. He said “I had a lot of negative things going on in my life. I had a fear of failing – and also a fear of success. The way I was going and the way I was thinking, before I met Terry [Gormley, a motivational speaker], it was only a matter of time before I came out of football.”[5]

Doncaster Rovers

Coppinger was bought by Doncaster manager Dave Penney for a reported £30,000[6] in May 2004[7] as he looked to strengthen the squad following promotion to League One. He was a constant feature in the side from the start, though in that first season, he failed to score in his 38 appearances.[8] He scored an average of 5 goals in future seasons, his first goal eventually came on 26 November 2005 in a 2–0 victory over Bristol City at Belle Vue.[8]

He scored a hat-trick, described as "three goals of the highest quality" by the TV commentary,[9] in the 2008 play-off semi-final against Southend United in a 5–1 victory which secured a place in the League One play-off final at Wembley against Leeds United.[10] He was in Doncaster's starting eleven for the final, which Doncaster won, gaining promotion to the Championship. On 14 September 2010, Coppinger scored a hat-trick against Norwich in a 3–1 victory.[11]

On 21 July 2011, he signed a new contract at Doncaster keeping him at the Keepmoat till 2014.[12] Doncaster were relegated at the end of the 2011–12 season and needed to off-load players to reduce the wage bill. As a result, he became a subject of interest from several Championship clubs including Barnsley, who he rejected a move to. He apparently had other bids for him, but this is unconfirmed.[13] After a few games, on 31 August, he was loaned to Nottingham Forest until January 2013 where he joined ex-Rovers Simon Gillett and Billy Sharp under his former manager, Sean O'Driscoll.[14] Dissatisfaction with the lack of games at Forest[15] led him to return to Rovers after the loan spell.[16]

Coming on as substitute in the 2–1 win over Stevenage on 12 January 2012, Coppinger reached the milestone of 300 league appearances for Doncaster, one of only ten players to do so at the club.[17][18]

On 27 April 2013, in an incredible final match of the season at Griffin Park, Coppinger scored the winning goal in a 1–0 away victory over Brentford in the final seconds of 5 minutes of added time just moments after Brentford's Marcello Trotta had hit a penalty against the crossbar. If Brentford had won, they would have been promoted and Doncaster would have had to compete in the play-offs. As it was, his goal put Doncaster one point above Bournemouth and they were crowned champions.[19]

Coppinger became only the fifth Rovers player to reach 350 league appearances when he turned out to play right wing-back against Nottingham Forest in a 0–0 draw at the City Ground on 15 March 2014. Doncaster were relegated back to League One on the final day of the 2013–14 season following a 1–0 defeat to Leicester City.[20]

On 4 March 2016, Coppinger extended his contract until the end of the 2016–17 season.[21] On 9 September 2016, Coppinger won the Football League Two Player of the Month for the month of August.[22] The following day, he celebrated the remarkable milestone of reaching 500 Doncaster appearances by scoring in a 5–1 away victory over Morecambe.[23]

Personal life

Doncaster Rovers have worked with the NSPCC since the beginning of 2009. In June 2011 Coppinger, along with Mark Wilson, James O'Connor, other Rovers staff and local Doncaster businessmen David Plant and Brian Butcher walked the 62-mile Inca Trek raising almost £50,000 for the charity.[24]

In January 2013, along with several other people, including fellow footballers, Coppinger faced a race-fixing inquiry with allegations of corruption in gambling on horses to lose on Betting exchanges in nine races between 1 November 2010 and 31 March 2011. He strongly denied the charges,[25][26] though was found guilty of corrupt and fraudulent practices by the British Horseracing Authority and given a three-year ban from any dealings with registered racing individuals.[27][28]

Career statistics

As of match played 17 September 2016[29]
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Europe Other Total
Division AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals Apps Goals Apps GoalsAppsGoals
Newcastle United 1999–2000 FA Premier League 00000000—00
2000–01 FA Premier League 100000——10
2001–02 FA Premier League 00000000—00
Newcastle United total 10000000—10
Hartlepool United (Loan) 1999–2000 Third Division 1130000—00113
2001–02 Third Division 1420000—00142
Hartlepool United total 2550000—00255
Exeter City 2002–03 Third Division 4353010—2[lower-alpha 1]0495
2003–04 Football Conference 398———1[lower-alpha 2]1409
Exeter City total 82133010—318914
Doncaster Rovers 2004–05 League One 3102030—2[lower-alpha 1]0380
2005–06 League One 3652050—00435
2006–07 League One 3943021—4[lower-alpha 1]0485
2007–08 League One 3932010—4[lower-alpha 3]3466
2008–09 Championship 3254010——375
2009–10 Championship 3942011——425
2010–11 Championship 4072000——427
2011–12 Championship 3821010——402
2012–13 League One 2520020—00272
2013–14 Championship 4140020——434
2014–15 League One 3444131—2[lower-alpha 1]0436
2015–16 League One 3932020—1[lower-alpha 1]0443
2016–17 League Two 840000—0084
Doncaster Rovers total 44147241233—13350154
Nottingham Forest 2012–13 Championship 600000——60
Career total 555652712430016462273
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Includes matches in the EFL Trophy.
  2. ↑ Includes matches in the FA Trophy.
  3. ↑ Includes 1 match in the EFL Trophy and 3 matches in League One play-offs.


Honours

Club

Doncaster Rovers

References

  1. ↑ Hugman, Barry J. (ed) (2008). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2008–09. Mainstream. ISBN 978-1-84596-324-8.
  2. 1 2 "Exeter's Coppinger swoop". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  3. ↑ "Newcastle 2 Tottenham Hotspur 0". nufc.com. 26 August 2000. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
  4. ↑ "James Coppinger season details 2002/2003". Footy Mad. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  5. ↑ "James Coppinger: 'I almost quit football'". Doncaster Free Press. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  6. ↑ "Coca Cola League 1". The Telegraph. 5 August 2004. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  7. ↑ "Transfers – May 2004". BBC Sport. 5 August 2004. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  8. 1 2 "James Coppinger appearances". Footy Mad. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  9. ↑ Sky TV. "James Coppinger – Best Hat-trick Ever!". YouTube. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  10. ↑ Edwards, Ian (16 May 2008). "Coppinger's hat-trick keeps Doncaster dreaming". The Times. Retrieved 17 May 2008.
  11. ↑ "Doncaster 3–1 Norwich". BBC Sport. 14 September 2010. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
  12. ↑ "Doncaster 3–1 Norwich". BBC Sport. 21 July 2011. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  13. ↑ "Doncaster Rovers' James Coppinger rejects Barnsley". BBC Sport. 23 August 2012. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
  14. ↑ "Nottingham Forest sign Billy Sharp and James Coppinger on loan". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  15. ↑ "James Coppinger reveals Nottingham Forest frustration". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  16. ↑ "James Coppinger returns to Doncaster Rovers from Forest". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  17. ↑ "Report: Stevenage 1–2 Rovers". Doncaster Rovers F.C. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  18. ↑ "Coppinger Closing in on 300!". Doncaster Rovers F.C. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  19. ↑ "Brentford 0–1 Doncaster". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  20. ↑ "Leicester City 1–0 Doncaster Rovers". BBC Sport. 3 May 2014. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
  21. ↑ "Copps Commits!". Doncaster Rovers F.C. Retrieved 2016-03-04.
  22. ↑ "Doncaster Rovers: James Coppinger wins League Two Player of the Month". Epworth Bells. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
  23. ↑ "Morecambe 1 Rovers 5". Doncaster Rovers F.C. 10 September 2016. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
  24. ↑ the NSPCC. "Doncaster Rovers is fundraising for the NSPCC". Justgiving.com. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
  25. ↑ "Footballers Chopra, Coppinger & Wilson face race-fixing inquiry". BBC Sport. 14 January 2013. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  26. ↑ "James Coppinger denies horse racing betting charge by BHA". BBC Sport. 5 October 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  27. ↑ "Michael Chopra given ten-year ban following corruption case". The Guardian. 25 January 2013. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  28. ↑ "Michael Chopra and James Coppinger found guilty following investigation into alleged corruption". The Telegraph. 25 January 2013. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  29. ↑ "James Coppinger Career Stats". Soccerbase. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
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