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PLAYING CAREER Early days Coppell was a nippy, incisive wide player in his youth but despite interest from some top clubs, he chose to join lowly Merseyside club Tranmere Rovers F.C. as he wanted to study for a degree in Economics at Liverpool University . 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 F.C. made an offer of £ 60,000 for him. Coppell lied to Manchester United about his wages (after being asked to by his Tranmere manager) but his prospective new club instantly offered to double his supposed 'wage' anyway and Coppell signed. Coppell was able to complete his degree while charging up and down the right wing for Manchester United, making his debut as a Substitute in a 4-0 win over Cardiff City F.C. 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 under his belt 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 F.C. 's Anfield ground. He also won honours for the England under-23 side. The exciting young Manchester United team put together by manager Tommy Docherty progressed in the First Division and reached the FA Cup final, where they were strong favourites to beat Southampton F.C. , who were from the Second Division. But Manchester United's youthful side succumbed to nerves - Coppell included - and Southampton's more experienced professionals ran out 1-0 winners. Coppell had the first shot of the game, hitting a 25-yard drive straight at the Southampton Goalkeeper in the first two minutes. 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 . They 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 players on show who had lost so disappointingly the year before. Representing England Later in 1977, Coppell received a call-up to the England for the country's final qualifying game for the 1978 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 didn't miss a game. At Wembley awaiting them this time were Arsenal , who were similarly back for another go after surprisingly losing the previous year's game (a 1-0 defeat against Ipswich Town ) and it seemed as though Coppell was going to emerge a loser for the second time as Arsenal coasted into a 2-0 lead. With just four minutes left, Coppell took a free-kick which was diverted into the danger zone by Joe Jordan and swung home by defender Gordon McQueen . Taking heart from this, Manchester United stormed forward in search of an equaliser and when Arsenal were unable to clear the ball properly, Coppell lifted a delightful chipped pass over the defence for Sammy McIlroy to latch on to and beat two Arsenal players before stroking the ball home. With just a minute remaining, United seemed to have forced extra-time and Coppell would later say that he "had a vision in my head that we would win 4-2 in extra-time" - but it didn't happen. Arsenal charged forward from the restart and Alan Sunderland scored a goal which won the match. Coppell was a loser again. 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 Then tragedy struck Coppell while playing for England in a vital qualifier for the 1982 World Cup against Hungary . Coppell was the victim of a vicious high challenge 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 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 had continued to play for Manchester United as much as he could after suffering the injury, playing 36 times in the 1982 season and 29 times in the 1983 campaign, making two more appearances for England after the World Cup ended, scoring in the former as England destroyed 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 And 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. MANAGEMENT CAREER In 1984 Coppell became manager of Crystal Palace F.C. At 29 years of age he was the youngest manager 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. With this the team, fortunes greatly improved, and Palace won promotion to the top division through the play-offs in 1989. Palace stayed in the top flight for four seasons, and also reached the FA Cup Final in 1990, losing to Manchester United on 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 perhaps made up for the 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, their highest ever league finish, and won their first major trophy, the Zenith Data Systems Cup . The club's fortunes declined after that, and in 1993 Coppell resigned after they were relegated from the Premiership , albeit with the most points ever for a relegated club at the time. Coppell returned to Crystal Palace in 1995 as Director of Football, before leaving to become manager of Manchester City F.C. , a job that he would quit after only six games. In 1997 he returned to Palace again, securing another promotion via the play-offs, and he remained in charge of the club for the first seven months of the 1997-98 season. A boardroom takeover led to him again becoming Director of Football and the club being relegated again. January 1999 saw Coppell once again return to the Palace managers' hotseat. By that time the club had severe financial problems, and he could do no more than maintain league position. In mid-2000 Simon Jordan bought the club and replaced Coppell with Alan Smith . He was appointed manager of Brentford F.C. in 2001, and took them to the Division Two play-off final in 2002 after they had narrowly missed out on automatic promotion. After this, Coppell resigned citing the club's lack of finaces. After a brief stint as Assistant Manger at Swindon , Coppell took over as manager at Brighton , then struggling in Division One, but although their performance improved they were relegated at the end of the season. In October 2003, Coppell was appointed manager of Reading, succeding Alan Pardew (who had played under Coppell at Palace, in the early 1990s). In the 2005-06 season, Reading dominated the Championship , going on a run of 33 league games unbeaten, from the opening day of the season, when they lost at home to Plymouth Argyle F.C. , until the middle of February, when they were finally beaten at Luton Town F.C. On 25 March they clinched promotion to the top flight for the first time in their history thanks to a 1-1 draw away to Leicester City F.C. Steve Coppell's team continued with their fortunes the week after in a 5-0 drubbing of Derby County F.C. to claim the 2005-2006 Champions spot.
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