For those who saw him play, what did you think of him? Could he only play on the right? What kind of player was he? Was he a natural winger?
Steve Coppell
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) and Jamie (@Vault Dweller) are here to talk about United's dreadful home defeat at the hands of Big Ange's Tottenham Hotspur. Should this have been the end of Ten Hag? How long does he actually have left? And does Nik finally want ETH out?!
Saw the 77 FA cup final against the scum recently, and Coppell played pretty well. Decent pacey winger, with a pretty good footballing brain. 1 game sample, mind you.
He had much longer hair back then.
Could he play on the left and play on the riiiighhhhhhhhhhtttttt?
Did he make england look shite?
Who didn't
Who didn't
He was quality. He and Gordon Hill on the wing made United the attractive footballing side they were in the 70's.
In the history of United this two had a huge important impact. This was a bad time for United and Coppell's and Hill's skill and attacking verve helped keep the United footballing philosophy alive in those bad times.
In the history of United this two had a huge important impact. This was a bad time for United and Coppell's and Hill's skill and attacking verve helped keep the United footballing philosophy alive in those bad times.
Yeap! Classic British style wingers - both of them. And both a sight to behold when in full flow. It's a pity that Coppell's career was cut short with injury.
It's players like Coppell that continued to maintain the image of a club playing attractive attacking football that could not be viewed elsewhere.
SAF would have loved him; he was his kind of player: talented, hard-working and very private lifestyle. Those qualities are still evident in the man now. He also (if I remember well), did a law degree while playing for United. You don't see that kind of thing nowadays.
Gordon Hill was a spectacular volley-er of the ball. Pace, excellent technique of scoring spectacular goals like Sparky Hughes except that Hill was a left footer who played on the wing; thus his volleys came usually from acute angles...lovely player to behold. All this come form videos of course. I was born only in 1981
Coppell was a great player. Dave Sexton was sacked for using him as an auxilliary full back!
Never seen him myself but I hear he played on the left, he played on the right and made England look shite.
I'm biased slightly in that Coppell was my footballing hero growing up. A legend for sure. People forget that he still holds the record for most consecutive matches for the club, which will never be beaten (207 games).
Though he was a very direct winger, he is credited as being the first winger to track back and help out his full back. It wasn't the thing then, but he broke that mould and now it's seen as the norm. He was as good a crosser of a ball as Beckham, and contributed with many a goal. If we are talking of modern United players who resemble Coppell, I'd go with Kanchelskis, though Coppell wasn't as fast as the Russian, he was a more consistent crosser of the ball.
Of course Coppell was the holder of the number 7 shirt till Robson arrived, and I'll never forgive Atkinson for taking that shirt from him. I would say that around 78-81 before he got injured, he was probably Europe's best winger. That's taking into account that Cruyff was at the end of his career and playing in America at that point. He wasn't blessed with the skills of Ronaldo, but like the wingers of yesteryear he had the knack of putting the ball beyond the full back and hitting a perfect cross into the area. I'd love to see how many assists he got during his United career. 53 goals from 322 games isn't that much compared to say Ronaldo, but at the time wingers only added maybe 10 goals a season as such, the strikers were there to score the goals.
As previously stated he also made up half of a lethal wing partnership. Where as Hill was the skilled winger full of tricks, Coppell was a more straight forward player, but that worked and boy did it entertain, not only bringing us back up from the second division, but once we were back in the top flight. Till the era of Giggs and Kanchelskis and to the modern day, it was probably the best wing partnership I'd ever seen.
Though he was a very direct winger, he is credited as being the first winger to track back and help out his full back. It wasn't the thing then, but he broke that mould and now it's seen as the norm. He was as good a crosser of a ball as Beckham, and contributed with many a goal. If we are talking of modern United players who resemble Coppell, I'd go with Kanchelskis, though Coppell wasn't as fast as the Russian, he was a more consistent crosser of the ball.
Of course Coppell was the holder of the number 7 shirt till Robson arrived, and I'll never forgive Atkinson for taking that shirt from him. I would say that around 78-81 before he got injured, he was probably Europe's best winger. That's taking into account that Cruyff was at the end of his career and playing in America at that point. He wasn't blessed with the skills of Ronaldo, but like the wingers of yesteryear he had the knack of putting the ball beyond the full back and hitting a perfect cross into the area. I'd love to see how many assists he got during his United career. 53 goals from 322 games isn't that much compared to say Ronaldo, but at the time wingers only added maybe 10 goals a season as such, the strikers were there to score the goals.
As previously stated he also made up half of a lethal wing partnership. Where as Hill was the skilled winger full of tricks, Coppell was a more straight forward player, but that worked and boy did it entertain, not only bringing us back up from the second division, but once we were back in the top flight. Till the era of Giggs and Kanchelskis and to the modern day, it was probably the best wing partnership I'd ever seen.
Excellent post. Coppell was my favourite player when I started watching United, and I remember being distraught when my Dad explained to me that some no-mark called Bryan Robson had taken his No.7 shirt and he now had to play No.11
As you say, the closest player in recent times to him was Kantchelskis - Coppell was very quick, very direct and had an eye for goal. But his crossing
was better and he worked harder than Andrei.
EDIT: I liked him so much I named one of my Teddy Bears after him. From recollection my Bears were called, Big Bear, Little Bear, Happy Bear, Katie Bear and Steve Coppell!
Never had the pleasure of watching him, just too young.
A great player and like a couple of others who have posted already he was my first United hero. He wasn't flashy like Hill but far more effective nonetheless. He was United's best player from the late 70's through to Robbo's arrival in 1981. I was devestated when he had to retire due to injuries, I think he was only in his late 20's when he finished.
And to think he is a scouser..
And to think he is a scouser..
He was in the team for a long time though - didn't miss a game for more than 2 years!
Retired before I started watching football, but I saw some old clips in the late 80s, only a few years after he retired.
Retired before I started watching football, but I saw some old clips in the late 80s, only a few years after he retired.
I preferred the more flamboyant Gordon Hill to Coppell.
To be fair, Compared to other wingers Coppell did a lot of work tracking back, and as someone has already stated he was a very intelligent footballer.
It was a great time to watch United with two wingers in full flow after a few dour years.
To be fair, Compared to other wingers Coppell did a lot of work tracking back, and as someone has already stated he was a very intelligent footballer.
It was a great time to watch United with two wingers in full flow after a few dour years.
same here. fun to watch because he worked hard and had the skill needed.
Nice thread.
Alot of United players from the 70s are overlooked and extremely under-rated. Alot of younger fans wouldn't know much about Martin Buchan for example.
Similar to another poster, my knowledge of the 70s United is from books, video and listening to older United fans. Born in '75.
It was a tough decade for the club, but interesting and it still had alot of quality players in the side.
Alot of United players from the 70s are overlooked and extremely under-rated. Alot of younger fans wouldn't know much about Martin Buchan for example.
Similar to another poster, my knowledge of the 70s United is from books, video and listening to older United fans. Born in '75.
It was a tough decade for the club, but interesting and it still had alot of quality players in the side.
I know where you're coming from....
Steve Coppell was a particular favourite of mine,also.......
I sold a flightbag to Martin Buchan when I worked at Debenhams in Manchester.
He was a very intelligent,polite,modest man...
I got an autograph ,even though you weren't supposed to ask when on duty.
Stuart "Pancho" Pearson was my favourite player from the 1970's era....
Ralphie:I STILL have a teddy bear called Stuart Pearson.
From Wikipedia
"At the age of 11 Steve went to Quarry Bank Grammar School in South Liverpool, where musician John Lennon and footballer Joe Royle had previously been pupils. Just one year ahead of Steve were Clive Barker, Les Dennis (Hezeltine) and Brian Barwick, the Chief Executive of the FA since January 2005."
Kinell , I thought Barwick was much older than that!
"At the age of 11 Steve went to Quarry Bank Grammar School in South Liverpool, where musician John Lennon and footballer Joe Royle had previously been pupils. Just one year ahead of Steve were Clive Barker, Les Dennis (Hezeltine) and Brian Barwick, the Chief Executive of the FA since January 2005."
Kinell , I thought Barwick was much older than that!
The Keano before Keano. My dad's favourite player.
Steve Coppell and Gordon Hill were the thing that made being a young United fan so exciting for me in the Seventies and attempting to emulate them in the playground would often result in running head first into a wall trying to make a cross!
fancied himself as a thinking footballer
was good but never fulilled his potential due to that injury
was good but never fulilled his potential due to that injury
My first favourite player aswell. I was always Coppell when I played with me mates. When he was forced to end his career I became Magnus Stapleton. Strange why it wasn´t Robbo, I was a centre-mid meself. As I grew older though there was only Robson and occaisionly Big Norm. Happy days
Harry Gregg blamed Cavanagh, the coach for making Coppell more defensive. Apparently, he made his life a misery in the Sexton era. Coppell went 4 years from '77 without missing a game.
Exactly what klebersome said - like many above he was my Favourite player and I was devestated when he had to retire.
Wolfshead - "Never fulfilled his potential" ???? How do you make that out
He used to drop his shoulder, beat the full back and then he had this knack of scooping the ball from the line into thre penalty area.
My favourite player as a youngster as well, I saw well over half the games he played for United and he is a true United legend.
I also fully agree with the previous comments about his work ethic which was strange in those days as wingers were line hugging players who rarely went looking for the ball and never tracked back.
I also fully agree with the previous comments about his work ethic which was strange in those days as wingers were line hugging players who rarely went looking for the ball and never tracked back.
"Another key player, whom I consider my best buy at the club, was Steve Coppell (who'd been rejected by Everton and Liverpool). He signed from Tranmere Rovers in Feb 1975 for £30,000, when he was 19. Coppell had been recommended by my old friend, the ex-Liverpool manager Bill Shankly, and after Tommy Cavanagh watched him play for Tranmere, he said; 'Sign him Doc, he's another Ian Callaghan!' By the end of that first season Coppell had established himself as a regular. Steve was skilful, intelligent and always showed real determination. If he was beaten nine times by a defender, he'd keep going until he'd beaten him at the tenth attempt. He would run a full back to exhaustion. Added to that, he is as bright as a button and his subsequent success as manager of Crystal Palace has not come as a surprise. Originally I'd earmarked Coppell as a future replacement for Willie Morgan, but Morgan actually left the club in June 1975."
Tommy Docherty circa 1991.
Tommy Docherty circa 1991.