James Coppinger

James Coppinger (born 18 January 1981) is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Doncaster Rovers in League One.

James Coppinger
Coppinger in action for Doncaster in April 2007
Personal information
Full name James Coppinger[1]
Date of birth (1981-01-18) 18 January 1981[1]
Place of birth Guisborough, England
Height 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)[2]
Playing position(s) 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) 10 (3)
2001 → Queens Park Rangers (loan) 0 (0)
2001–2002 → Hartlepool United (loan) 14 (2)
2002–2004 Exeter City 82 (13)
2004– Doncaster Rovers 658 (62)
2012 → Nottingham Forest (loan) 6 (0)
National team
1997–1998 England U16 2 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:12, 7 September 2019 (UTC)

Coppinger is in his sixteenth season at the club, and is the only player to reach 500 total appearances for Doncaster. He is a former England under-16 international.

Playing career

Early career

Born in Guisborough, Cleveland, 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.[3] Coppinger struggled to make any impact while coming through the Newcastle ranks, playing just once as a substitute against Tottenham Hotspur in August 2000.[4]

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.[3]

Exeter City

He made his debut at Shrewsbury Town on 10 August 2002, netting his first goal two weeks later against Torquay United.[5]

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."[6]

Doncaster Rovers

Coppinger was bought by Doncaster manager Dave Penney for a reported £30,000[7] in May 2004[8] 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.[9] He scored an average of 5 goals in future seasons, his first goal eventually coming on 26 November 2005 in a 2–0 victory over Bristol City at Belle Vue.[9]

He scored a hat-trick, described as "three goals of the highest quality" by the TV commentary,[10] 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.[11] He was in Doncaster's starting eleven for the final, which Doncaster won, gaining promotion to the Championship.[12]

On 14 September 2010, Coppinger scored a hat-trick against Norwich in a 3–1 victory.[13]

On 21 July 2011, he signed a new contract at Doncaster which would keep him at the Keepmoat until 2014.[14] Doncaster were relegated at the end of the 2011–12 season and needed to offload 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.[15] After a few games, on 31 August, he was loaned to Nottingham Forest until January 2013 where he joined ex-Rovers players Simon Gillett and Billy Sharp under his former manager, Sean O'Driscoll.[16] Dissatisfaction with the lack of games at Forest[17] led him to return to Rovers after the loan spell.[18]

Coming on as substitute in the 2–1 win over Stevenage on 12 January 2013, Coppinger reached the milestone of 300 league appearances for Doncaster, one of only ten players to do so at the club.[19][20] 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.[21]

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 at Leicester City.[22]

On 9 September 2016, Coppinger won the Football League Two Player of the Month for the month of August.[23] The following day, he celebrated the remarkable milestone of reaching 500 Doncaster appearances by scoring in a 5–1 away victory over Morecambe.[24]

On 31 January 2017, Coppinger extended his contract until the end of the 2017–18 season.[25]

In May 2019 he signed a new one-year contract with the club.[26]

In July 2020, Coppinger signed another 1 year deal with the club. He also confirmed that after 16 years at the club, this would be his final season as a professional footballer.

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.[27]

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,[28][29] 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.[30][31]

Career statistics
As of match played 7 September 2019[2]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Newcastle United 1999–2000 Premier League 00000000—00
2000–01 Premier League 100000——10
2001–02 Premier League 00000000—00
Total 10000000—10
Hartlepool United (Loan) 1999–2000 Third Division 1030000—1[lower-alpha 1]0113
2001–02 Third Division 1420000—00142
Total 2450000—10255
Exeter City 2002–03 Third Division 4353010—2[lower-alpha 2]0495
2003–04 Football Conference 398———1[lower-alpha 3]1409
Total 82133010—318914
Doncaster Rovers 2004–05 League One 3102030—2[lower-alpha 2]0380
2005–06 League One 3652050—00435
2006–07 League One 3943021—4[lower-alpha 2]0485
2007–08 League One 3932010—4[lower-alpha 4]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 2]0436
2015–16 League One 3932020—1[lower-alpha 2]0443
2016–17 League Two 39100000—003910
2017–18 League One 3833210—00425
2018–19 League One 4345010—2[lower-alpha 2]0514
2019–20[32] League One 520000—1[lower-alpha 2]062
Total 55862323253—16363171
Nottingham Forest (loan) 2012–13 Championship 600000——60
Career total 672803532630020475390
  1. Includes match in the Third Division play-offs
  2. Includes matches in the EFL Trophy
  3. Includes match in the FA Trophy
  4. Includes 1 match in the EFL Trophy and 3 matches in the League One play-offs


Honours

Doncaster Rovers

Individual

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References
  1. Hugman, Barry J. (ed) (2008). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2008–09. Mainstream. ISBN 978-1-84596-324-8.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  2. "James Coppinger". Soccerbase. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
  3. "Exeter's Coppinger swoop". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  4. "Newcastle 2 Tottenham Hotspur 0". Newcastle United F.C. 26 August 2000. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
  5. "James Coppinger season details 2002/2003". Footy Mad. Archived from the original on 20 April 2013. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  6. Goodwin, Paul (5 February 2015). "James Coppinger: James Coppinger: 'I almost quit football'". Doncaster Free Press. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  7. "Coca Cola League 1". The Daily Telegraph. 5 August 2004. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  8. "Transfers – May 2004". BBC Sport. 5 August 2004. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  9. "James Coppinger appearances". Footy Mad. Archived from the original on 20 April 2013. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  10. Sky TV. "James Coppinger – Best Hat-trick Ever!". YouTube. Retrieved 14 January 2013.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  11. Edwards, Ian (16 May 2008). "Coppinger's hat-trick keeps Doncaster dreaming". The Times. Retrieved 17 May 2008.
  12. Lewis, Aimee (25 May 2008). "Doncaster 1–0 Leeds". BBC Sport. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  13. "Doncaster 3–1 Norwich". BBC Sport. 14 September 2010. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
  14. "Doncaster Rovers extend James Coppinger's contract". BBC Sport. 21 July 2011. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  15. "Doncaster Rovers' James Coppinger rejects Barnsley". BBC Sport. 23 August 2012. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
  16. "Nottingham Forest sign Billy Sharp and James Coppinger on loan". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  17. "James Coppinger reveals Nottingham Forest frustration". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  18. "James Coppinger returns to Doncaster Rovers from Forest". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  19. "Report: Stevenage 1–2 Rovers". Doncaster Rovers F.C. 12 January 2013. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  20. "Coppinger Closing in on 300!". Doncaster Rovers F.C. 8 January 2013. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  21. "Brentford 0–1 Doncaster". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  22. "Leicester City 1–0 Doncaster Rovers". BBC Sport. 3 May 2014. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
  23. "Doncaster Rovers: James Coppinger wins League Two Player of the Month". Epworth Bells. 9 September 2016. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
  24. "Morecambe 1 Rovers 5". Doncaster Rovers F.C. 10 September 2016. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
  25. "James Coppinger and Andy Butler sign contract extensions". The Star. 31 January 2017. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  26. "Doncaster Rovers: James Coppinger agrees new deal for next season". BBC Sport. 6 May 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  27. "Doncaster Rovers is fundraising for the NSPCC". Justgiving.com. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
  28. "Footballers Chopra, Coppinger & Wilson face race-fixing inquiry". BBC Sport. 14 January 2013. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  29. "James Coppinger denies horse racing betting charge by BHA". BBC Sport. 5 October 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  30. Wood, Greg (25 January 2013). "Michael Chopra given 10-year ban following corruption case". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  31. McGrath, Jim (25 January 2013). "Michael Chopra and James Coppinger found guilty following investigation into alleged corruption". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  32. "Games played by James Coppinger in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
  33. "J. Coppinger". Soccerway. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  34. "PFA teams of the year: Chelsea and Tottenham dominate Premier League XI". BBC Sport. 20 April 2017. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
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