DATE OF BIRTH: July 9, 1959
NATIONALITY: English

MANAGERIAL CAREER:
Oct 2003-present Reading
2002-03 Brighton
2001-02 Brentford
1999-00 Crystal Palace
1997-98 Crystal Palace
Oct 1996-Nov 96 Manchester City
1995-96 Crystal Palace
1984-93 Crystal Palace

HONOURS:
With Reading
Football League Championship 2006

PLAYING CAREER:
1975-82 Manchester United
1973-75 Tranmere Rovers

Capped 42 times by England (7 goals).

HONOURS
With Manchester United
FA Cup 1977

Steve Coppell was widely regarded as one of the most talented wingers of his generation before a serious knee injury forced him to retire aged just 28. Born and raised in Liverpool, Coppell joined local side Tranmere Rovers in 1973, aged 17, and scored ten goals in 38 appearances over the following two years. He moved to Tommy Docherty’s Second Division Manchester United in March 1975, where he went on to become an England international.

United were promoted a few months after his arrival and Coppell became a key player at Old Trafford, breaking a club record – which still stands today - for most consecutive appearances by an outfield player, playing 207 games from 1977-1981. However, soon after, Coppell would suffer an injury from which he would never fully recover. While playing for England against Hungary during a crucial World Cup qualifier, Coppell was the victim of a high challenge which badly damaged his knee.

After having an operation to temporarily fix his joint, Coppell played all three of his country’s group games during the World Cup, as well as the second round showdown with West Germany, before England were eliminated in the next round against Spain. Coppell returned to Britain to undertake a second operation and despite continuing to struggle with the injury, still managed 65 appearances for United before playing in the 1983 League Cup final defeat to Liverpool. After a reccurrence of his injury forced him to miss the FA Cup final win over Brighton in the same year, Coppell retired in October of 1983.

Aged just 29, Coppell became the youngest manager in the football league when he took over at second division Crystal Palace in 1984. Under Coppell’s management, the Eagles gained promotion to the top flight in 1989 before reaching the 1990 FA Cup final, where they were beaten 1-0 in a replay by former club Manchester United. Coppell led Palace to their highest ever league finish of third place in Division One before the club suffered a turnaround in fortunes and he resigned after their relegation in 1993.

Coppell took over at Manchester City, but lasted just 33 days before resigning and two more spells at Palace were followed by stints in charge of Brentford and Brighton. Coppell then succeeded Alan Pardew as Reading boss in 2003. Having come close to the play-offs the season before, Coppell’s Reading stormed away with the Championship in 2005-06, going on a run of 33 league games without defeat after losing their opening game of the season at home to Plymouth. They achieved promotion to the top flight for the first time in their history with two months left of the season and Coppell was voted as the League Managers Association’s Manager of the year. In May, Coppell signed a contract extension, agreeing to stay on to manage Reading in their first season in the Premiership, saying “We are looking forward to the next challenge which is infinitely bigger than the last one.”