Doncaster Rovers stalwart James Coppinger happy to prove his worth in off-field role as club targets promotion

That’s what 17 seasons of sterling service for the city’s football team does for you.

But that did not stop one or two dissenting voices piping up earlier this year.

When the Doncaster Rovers playing legend turned club ambassador was named as head of football operations in April – after the post was advertised publicly – the phrase ‘jobs for the boys’ did the rounds among some supporters.

It was a fanbase decidedly weary and understandably grumpy after witnessing a rough past year or so in terms of on-pitch underachievement.

Some saw it as a sentimental decision to appoint the club’s all-time record appearance maker.

Mention that to Coppinger and the 41-year-old understands why some may have chosen to say that before issuing a quick response.

He’s vehement and unequivocal that nothing has ever been handed to him on a plate in terms of the club he loves and here’s why.

Whether it be as a player or in his second career at Rovers.

Coppinger told The Yorkshire Post: “I think that is going to be said. I cannot prevent people thinking that.

“When you come to over 35 (as a player), people always say ‘Your legs are gone, you are too old.’ It’s the same with this (role).

“You are never going to stop people saying ‘He’s only walked into this job because he’s at Doncaster.’ I get that and expect that.

“It is then for me to prove that is not the case. I was never ever given anything by this football club without me working for it.

“From 35 to 40, I was given contracts for a year. Every year, I had to justify why I deserved another contract.

“At 36, 37 and 38, I got player of the season and in the EFL team of the season at 37. So I will never take anything for granted, ever.”

Coppinger’s preparation for his new role – he oversees the whole of the club’s football operation – began in earnest several years ago as he started making plans for life after hanging up his boots.

In its own way, it has served as an apprenticeship for his new post in broadening his business knowledge in particular.

It also points to a prodigious work ethic with the north-easterner combining his playing duties with Rovers with other commitments he’d taken on.

On his new Rovers role, he added: “It is definitely something I’d thought about for the last three or four years.

“I always felt like Doncaster were missing someone in that role – definitely as we transitioned into a self-sustainable club – to be a ‘bridge’ between business and football.

“So when it came up, it was something I’d almost been working towards subconsciously.

“I’d owned and ran my own businesses and learnt to buy businesses.

“I spent 18 months learning how to buy businesses and took myself out of my comfort zone for that reason.

“I’d always been planning for things after football, but never wanted to be a coach, really – although I’d coached my kids’ teams from under-sevens to under-15s.

“You usually retire at 35 and I ended up playing for that five years. In that five years, I have project-managed my own house build, which was really interesting as you are managing people and working around budgets, time-scales and business and what does that look like with turnover and profit.

“It was learning about all the things you can as you don’t get the opportunity when you are (just) playing football.

“It is being able to implement that. Now in my role, it is not like ‘oh my God, what is that?’ A lot of what I’ve done has given me a great platform into this role.

“Unless you are playing at the top level and have millions of pounds, when you retire from football, you’re going to have to do something. Personally, I’m quite proactive with planning.

“A lot of players don’t do that and retire and think ‘What am I going to do?’ For me, it was the other way around, I did not want to have that feeling. I have a family; I’ve got three kids and wanted to make sure I was prepared for that.”

Coppinger’s family home may be back in North Yorkshire, but Doncaster has been the pivotal place for most of his working life and will continue to be.

Rovers are ‘his’ team and the passion, hunger and drive he has for his new role simply cannot be manufactured and should not be understated either.

He also knows what the club were capable of at its best after having a front-row seat during those times of plenty during the golden years under John Ryan.

Rovers do things differently these days, but Coppinger can vouch for the club and city’s potential. Success will see those who have been disconnected start to re-engage again, he feels.

Coppinger said: “I have spent almost half my life here. Two of my kids were born in Doncaster and my wife worked here for 10 years and we lived here for 10 years and I am here every single day. This is a big part of my life.

“I did the half-marathon (recently) and you just see the energy of the people. I just love the place. I know it is a cliché to say, but there is a real positive energy about Doncaster.

“It’s the second year of the half-marathon and there were 1,500 (runners) and then they want to do 5,000 next year. I am liking that to what we are trying to do, you have to start somewhere.

“I don’t think the players and staff will like the fact that I want to try and get them to do the half-marathon next season!”

Coppinger’s motivation also takes on a personal element from witnessing what another club who play in red and white meant to his grandfather.

“What drives me and is a personal motivation is seeing fans happy and people associated with the club happy,” he continued.

“My grandad supported Middlesbrough Football Club for 60 or 70 years and it was his life.

“When I go to funerals of people who supported Doncaster and when I do half-marathons, I see what this club means to fans. That is what motivates me.

“My grandad was a supporter and he never saw Middlesbrough play a bad game because he supported them through thick and thin.

“I know all supporters are not all like that. We are going to have spells where we don’t win games and have disappointing performances, but it does not mean annihilating everything associated with the club. It means staying with it and be positive and look to the future.”

Some degree of stoicism is likely to have its place, certainly in the short-term, as Rovers aim to get back on the straight and narrow after a very difficult past season-and-a-half when results have been consistent for all the wrong reasons.

After a fraught final third of 2020-21, there was a general realisation that last season would be one of transition.

Unfortunately, everyone connected with the club got more than they bargained for, with the tone for Rovers’ disastrous 2021-22 campaign set early on as they struggled to get out of a torrid cycle of bad results.

Two individuals who have grown to care deeply about the club in Coppinger and manager Gary McSheffrey are busy picking up the pieces, alongside a number of good people at the Eco-Power Stadium.

There is genuine hope that things will start to turn in the new season, but not overconfidence either.

Some shrewd-looking acquisitions have aided that feeling, while some players who seriously under-performed last season have also been moved on.

Coppinger said: “We are saying we want to get promoted and feel like we have got the squad that can compete and get promoted.

“It doesn’t mean we are going to walk the league or finish in automatic. But it’s about feeling we are strong enough to get promoted.

“If we didn’t, then for me personally, I don’t think that is acceptable with the squad we have got.

“We are in a better position than we were last season. I don’t think we are going to shy away from that. But it is making sure we back it up every day to give ourselves the best chance.”

For Coppinger, every single day matters.