Well, we just couldn’t hold it off any longer. Come with us, away from all this, to Saturday 27 April 2013, and to Griffin Park. The League One promotion race has come down to a 90 minute final day showdown between 3rd place Brentford and 2nd place Doncaster Rovers at Griffin Park. Only one team can go up. It couldn’t be any more dramatic than that… or could it? Continue reading “podular STAND podcast: the Brentford episode”
In mid April with Doncaster Rovers still in pursuit of a place in the League One play-offs, popular STAND fanzine editor Glen Wilson sat down with the man who has come to define Doncaster Rovers; James Coppinger.
In the last year or so, I have ceased to be a man of ritual. Saturday afternoons are not always the time of the match. Not for me. But that doesn’t mean I’ve taken leave. I may be on a train or at a desk, in a pub or perhaps a gallery, but no matter what the main distraction, come 2pm my hand inevitably fumbles for my phone. Who’s starting? But I’ve realised lately I don’t fully ingest what I find – meaning minutes later I have to look once again to check the full line-up. That’s because in truth I’m only scanning the starting XI for one name; that of James Coppinger. Continue reading “A tribute to James Coppinger: on 600 Doncaster Rovers appearances”
Last Christmas, we gave you a card, but the very next day it fell down the back of the dresser. This year, to save you from tears, we’ve recorded you a festive edition of podular STAND, the football podcast for the likes of Doncaster Rovers. Continue reading “podular STAND podcast: the Christmas episode”
250 words are more than is truly needed when you could sum James Coppinger up in just one, Legend. Everything about this game went to script, but in reality there was no need for a script at all.
From start to finish Coppinger ran the show, his corner led to the opener – Andy Butler turning the ball home – shortly followed by John Marquis dancing around the Morecambe defence for 2-0. Even Cole Stockton’s well taken volley before half-time couldn’t steal the limelight.
After the break it was all Coppinger. A classic run down the right, cutting and weaving past player after player, didn’t quite have the glorious end product for Coppinger, but Marquis was more than happy to tap in for 3-1.
Matty Blair went one better as he made his own terrorising run down the Rovers right, before poking home the fourth goal.
But on his 500th game, there was only one way the game would end. Coppinger letting fly to find the bottom corner from 25 yards to the delight of the travelling support.
There have been some special moments over the last 12 years, but few will have topped that one. There will never be another player like Coppinger at Rovers, or any club. He’s the last of a special breed of player and one that epitomises everything Doncaster Rovers. It’s for this that he is a hero of mine, and of many others.
As I said, there really was no need for a script.
Some thoughts and words on what James Coppinger means to me, on the day he becomes Doncaster Rovers all-time record appearance holder. Continue reading “On watching James Coppinger”
It’s quite easy, particularly in the hyperbolic world of modern football, to oversell something, to exaggerate it’s standing or importance. However, even with that in mind, it is no exaggeration to call Jamie Coppinger’s departure from Doncaster on Friday night (hopefully temporarily we must add), the end of an era. Coppinger has been with Rovers since 2004, when they were beginning life in the third tier off the back of consecutive promotions, and has been central to everything the club has achieved since. Continue reading “Jamie Coppinger’s Team-Mates – All 137 Of Them”
