Frank Kopel (28 March 1949 – 16 April 2014) was a Scottish

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. Born in

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

, he had an 18-year professional football career, during which he played for

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

and

Arbroath Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( gd, Obar Bhrothaig ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the council area of Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast some ENE of Dundee and SSW of Aberdeen. The ...

. He then went into coaching, becoming assistant manager at Arbroath and

Forfar Athletic Forfar Athletic Football Club are a Scottish semi-professional football club from the town of Forfar, Angus. They are members of the Scottish Professional Football League and currently play in Scottish League Two. They play their home games a ...

with a spell on the Dundee United coaching staff in between.

Career

Kopel was born in

and was a Scottish schoolboy international before signing for

as a schoolboy in 1964. He turned professional in 1966 and made his debut as a substitute in a 2–2 draw at home to

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

on 9 September 1967. He made his full debut – and his only other appearance for the 1967–68 season – on 28 October 1967, playing at right-back in a 3–1 defeat away to

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

. Kopel made a further 10 appearances for Manchester United during the 1968–69 season, including his European debut against

Anderlecht Anderlecht (, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, and Saint-Gilles, as well as the ...

on 27 November 1968, but he spent most of the season as a back-up to the club's first-choice full-backs,

Shay Brennan Seamus Anthony "Shay" Brennan (6 May 1937 – 9 June 2000) was an Irish footballer in the 1960s. He was a full back for Manchester United. His first game for the club came in an FA Cup match against Sheffield Wednesday on 19 February 1958; this ...

and

Tony Dunne Anthony Peter Dunne (24 July 19418 June 2020) was an Irish footballer who played as a left-back. Born in Dublin, he began his career with youth side Stella Maris before signing for Drumcondra-based Shelbourne, with whom he won the FAI Cup in ...

. His final appearance for United was a 1–1 draw with

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

. Almost two months later, he transferred. Kopel's record during his time at Manchester United was out of his 12 appearances, they won two, drew two and lost five. He was sold to

for £25,000 in March 1969,. Kopel spent over two years at Blackburn before being released in December 1971. He joined

in January 1972; the first signing made by the club's new manager

Jim McLean James Yuille McLean (2 August 1937 – 26 December 2020) was a Scottish football player, manager and director. He managed Dundee United between 1971 and 1993, becoming the longest-serving and most successful manager in the club's history, winni ...

. Kopel would remain at

Tannadice Tannadice Park ( gd, Pàirc Thanachais), usually referred to as Tannadice, is a football stadium in Dundee, Scotland. It is the home ground of Dundee United F.C., who have played at Tannadice since the club was founded as Dundee Hibernian in 1 ...

for the next ten years, playing nearly 400 first team games, and picking up two

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

and two

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup, In 1982, he moved to

as player/coach, before retiring from playing in 1984. He returned to United to coach and his son,

Scott Scott may refer to: Places Canada * Scott, Quebec, municipality in the Nouvelle-Beauce regional municipality in Quebec * Scott, Saskatchewan, a town in the Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380 * Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, Saska ...

, was an apprentice at Tannadice before making a career at

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

Brechin City Brechin City Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the townDespite the name of the football club, Brechin is not an official city. Brechin was historically known as a city because it has a cathedral. of Brechin in Angus. The club w ...

and

Legacy

Kopel has a Dundee United Supporters Club named after him, Frank Kopel's Travelling Shindig. In 2011, he was inducted into Dundee United's official

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

Personal life

Kopel married Amanda in 1969. He arranged their first date to be at a football ground later telling friends: "Well, it was a cup tie!""Tears of sadness, and laughter, at funeral of Dundee United favourite Frank Kopel" The Courier
/ref> He was diagnosed as suffering

vascular dementia Vascular dementia (VaD) is dementia caused by problems in the supply of blood to the brain, typically a series of minor strokes, leading to worsening cognitive abilities, the decline occurring piecemeal. The term refers to a syndrome consisting ...

in 2008. He died at age 65 at his home in

Kirriemuir Kirriemuir, sometimes called Kirrie or the ''Wee Red Toon'' ( gd, An Ceathramh Mòr; IPA: nˈkʰʲɛɾəvmoːɾ, is a burgh in Angus, Scotland. It reaches back to earliest recorded times, when it is thought to have been a major ecclesiastical ...

on 16 April 2014. He was survived by his wife and their son, Scott.Dundee United legend Frank Kopel dies
Among attendees at the service at

Old Parish Church were ex United teammates,

Dave Narey David Narey (born 12 June 1956) is a former Scottish international footballer who spent 21 years with Dundee United. With Narey United were Scottish champions once and league cup winners twice. He also played in numerous cup runs in Europe in ...

Paul Hegarty Paul Anthony Hegarty (born 25 July 1954 in Edinburgh) is a Scottish football player and manager. He was captain of Dundee United during their most successful era in the 1970s and 1980s, winning the Scottish league championship in 1983 and the ...

Davie Dodds David Dodds (born 23 September 1958) is a Scottish former footballer who played for Dundee United, Aberdeen and Rangers in the 1980s. With United, he was a Scottish League champion in 1983 and was in their winning 1980 Scottish League Cup F ...

Hamish McAlpine Hamish Robert McAlpine (born 21 January 1948) is a retired Scottish footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played for Dundee United for twenty years, between 1966 and 1986. Whilst with the club, he won the Scottish Football League title once ...

and

Maurice Malpas Maurice Daniel Robert Malpas (born 3 August 1962) is a Scottish former football player and coach. He signed for Dundee United in 1979 and spent his entire professional playing career with the club until his retirement in 2000. With him, United w ...

. Also in attendance were former assistant manager

Walter Smith Walter Ferguson Smith (24 February 1948 – 26 October 2021) was a Scottish association football player, manager and director, primarily associated with his two spells as manager of Glasgow club Rangers. A defender, Smith's playing car ...

and ex Dundee players

Jocky Scott John Alexander "Jocky" Scott (born 14 January 1948) is a Scottish football coach and former player. During his playing career he played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Seattle Sounders and Scotland. An extensive management career followed with spells at ...

and

Bobby Glennie Robert "Bobby" Glennie (born 2 October 1957) is a Scottish former footballer, who played for Aberdeen, Dundee, Raith Rovers, Forfar Athletic, Arbroath and Elgin City. He made over 300 league appearances for Dundee and played in the 1980 Scottis ...

Honours

;Dundee United *

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...

(2): 1979–80, 1980–81

References

External links

Profile
at StretfordEnd.co.uk
Profile
at Dundeeunitedfc.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Kopel, Frank 1949 births 2014 deaths Scottish men's footballers Manchester United F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Dundee United F.C. players Arbroath F.C. players Footballers from Falkirk Men's association football fullbacks English Football League players Scottish Football League players Deaths from dementia in Scotland Deaths from vascular dementia