We trained at a million miles an hour. They call it a full press but we did it in the ’70s
Steve Coppell on his rollercoaster ride at United, a devastating injury… and what he learned from Tendulkar!
AS Manchester United paid tribute to Bobby Charlton at Old Trafford before their derby against City, Steve Coppell was watching Brighton.
‘I sat with David Kemp. We realised we must’ve been the only people inside the Amex who’d actually played against Bobby, when he was finishing his career at Preston,’ smiled Coppell.
‘Dave said he’d nutmegged the great man. I couldn’t claim that, but I did face him for Tranmere and he trained with us at United after he’d retired. I was in awe of him, he’d demand high standards.
‘Occasionally one of the lads, not at his level, might mutter, “I thought he’d finished playing!” You could tell the huge respect everyone had from the moment he walked in.’
Coppell has many good tales, as you would expect from a fine career spanning 50 years. He hit the big time midway through taking an economics degree, won the FA Cup with United and played at a World Cup for England.
When injury ended his playing days at 28, he became a manager and gave Ian Wright and Gareth Southgate their professional debuts at Crystal Palace. Even the more recent years have been sprinkled with stardust.
One job took him to Kerala Blasters in India, founded by cricketing icon Sachin Tendulkar. Now 68, Coppell remains bright and unassuming, with a ready wit that is a product of his upbringing in Rainhill, just outside Liverpool.
He was always slightly different and still cannot work out why he chose to start out at Tranmere as an amateur, rather than get paid. Even when the chance to join United came in 1975, he was not sure.
‘I chatted to my dad and he told me firmly that you don’t turn down a club like Manchester United,’ recalls Coppell. ‘My issue was I wanted to complete my degree at Liverpool University. Fortunately for me, United were then managed by Tommy Docherty.
‘His exact words were, “Football will chew you up and spit you out. A degree is for life. We’ll work around it”. I was able to do both thanks to Doc, a special person in my career.
‘It all happened so fast. I didn’t have any boots for my United debut, I had to borrow a pair from Stuart Pearson. I set him up for a goal and we won 4-0.’
United won promotion back to the First Division in his first season, reached the FA Cup final in his second and lifted the trophy against Liverpool in 1977, Coppell helping deny his boyhood heroes the Treble. ‘We trained to play at a million miles an hour,’ he describes. ‘We squeezed up the pitch, won the ball high and my job as a winger was to get the crosses in. They call it a full press now, but we were doing it then.’
Between 1977 and 1981, Coppell played 206 consecutive league games for United, a club record.
For someone blessed with natural fitness, it was cruel irony that a terrible kick on his knee playing for England against Hungary in 1981 should ultimately finish his career prematurely.
‘It turned out to be a snapped cruciate, but we didn’t know at the time,’ Coppell said. ‘I remember driving back to Manchester after the game. My leg was killing me.
‘I carried on playing. Something wasn’t right, but I didn’t want surgery because it would cost me a place at the 1982 World Cup. I went to the tournament and did well but before the last game against Spain, the knee swelled up.
‘I took an injection the night before so I could play and there was a reaction, I started sweating and vomiting. The manager, Ron Greenwood, a caring man, said he wouldn’t put me out there.
‘I had three operations, I played occasionally but it wasn’t fixed. In October 1983, I had to accept it was the end. I remember being on the phone to my room-mate Ray Wilkins crying my eyes out.’
Coppell toyed with becoming an economics teacher, but during a three-month stint in Amsterdam for rehab, found himself keeping up with the football news. It was clear the itch was still there and he jumped at the chance to become
Crystal Palace boss in June 1984. ‘It took five years for us to be promoted into the First Division. A manager wouldn’t get that time nowadays,’ he reflects.
‘I’m hugely proud we went on to reach an FA Cup final and finish third in the First Division and proud to see what some of those players have done since.
‘I’m sure Ian Wright wouldn’t mind me saying he could barely finish a sentence without swearing when he first arrived. Now he’s got an OBE and is in huge demand on television. I’m thrilled — he’s used his opportunities brilliantly.
‘When I thought about which players would become managers, Alan Pardew was top, he was already running a Sunday League side, and Gareth near the bottom. I thought he was too sensible.
‘What he’s done with England is outstanding. I can’t think of anyone who could do that job better in representing the FA and the country. It shows having football common sense on top of overall common sense goes a long way.’
PALACE’S 1-0 defeat by Manchester United in the 1990 FA Cup final replay proved historic in giving an under-pressure Alex Ferguson his first major trophy in England.
‘We’d beaten United 2-1 at Old Trafford,’ explains Coppell. ‘Fergie was normally a good host after matches, but this time was different. Not much was said, he kept staring down at the carpet.
‘I thought he was a dead man walking. A month later, Mark Robins scored that FA Cup third round winner at Nottingham Forest and the rest is history.’
Coppell left in 1996, although he returned for two other spells and also managed Manchester City, Brentford, Brighton, Reading and Bristol City, as well as having director of football roles at Portsmouth and Crawley.
Then, in 2016, he took over at Kerala in India, the first of three clubs he managed on the Subcontinent.
‘I was bored going up and down the same motorways,’ he said. ‘I’d heard Peter Reid had gone out to India, so I thought, “Why not?”.
‘It was fantastic to experience a whole new way of life. Tendulkar was mobbed everywhere.
‘He was mild-mannered and charming but you were still aware of his influence. I wanted to send a couple of players home for disciplinary reasons. Sachin asked if he could deal with it. He met the players and there was no repeat!’
Coppell still loves attending games, even at the club nearest his home, Chipstead of the Isthmian League South-Central.
‘I went to see them play Guernsey. I was intrigued that there were 30 or 40 away fans from the island,’ he said. ‘After the match, Guernsey’s players went over, not just to give them a clap but to stop and have a chat. It’s the connection football brings that I really love.’