Wilfred Copping (17 August 1909 – June 1980) was an English

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 ...

who played for

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

, Arsenal and the England national team.

Career

Leeds United

Copping was born in Middlecliffe, Barnsley,

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

, but was rejected by his local team Barnsley, and worked for a time in the pits while playing for Middlecliffe Rovers. He eventually joined

in 1929, and made his debut at the start of the 1930-31 season, soon becoming a regular in the Leeds half-back line. Together with his Leeds United teammate

Billy Furness William Isaac Furness (8 June 1909 – 29 August 1980) was an English professional footballer who played as an inside forward for Leeds United and Norwich City in the 1930s, making one appearance for England in 1933. Career Furness was born i ...

, he made his debut for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

on 13 May 1933. Copping played over 160 League games for Leeds in five seasons, and won six England caps during that time.

Arsenal

Copping was signed by Arsenal in the summer of 1934 for £8,000, as a replacement for

Bob John Robert Frederick John (3 February 1899 – 17 July 1982) was a Welsh football player and coach. Born in Barry, John played for Barry Town and Caerphilly, before joining English club Arsenal, who signed him, against stiff competition, in Jan ...

, and immediately took a first-team place at left half. He made his debut against

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

on 25 August 1934, and was an ever-present in his first season for the club, until suffering a serious knee injury in the third-last match of the season against Everton. Copping soldiered on and remained on the pitch to ensure Arsenal won the game 2–0; this ensured the club won the 1934-35 First Division title. Copping recovered from his injury to continue playing for Arsenal, making over 35 appearances in each of his first four seasons with the club. During his time at Highbury, Arsenal won 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 ...

in 1935-36, another League title in 1937-38, and two Charity Shields. His England career also continued, and he was one of seven Arsenal players to start England's match against Italy in November 1934 (the "

Battle of Highbury The Battle of Highbury was a football match between England and Italy that took place on 14 November 1934 at Arsenal Stadium, Highbury, London. England won 3–2 in a hotly contested and frequently violent match. Background This was Italy's firs ...

") - a game for which he named man of the match. In total he won 20 caps for England between 1933 and 1939. He remained a near-ever present for Arsenal until March 1939; with

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

looming, Copping put in a transfer request so that he could return to the North with his family. Arsenal duly complied, and Copping re-signed for Leeds United. In all he played 189 matches for Arsenal.

Return to Leeds United

Copping played out the rest of the 1938-39 season with Leeds United, but war broke out in September 1939 and all first-class football was cancelled. Copping joined the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

at the start of the war, and served in

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

, eventually becoming a

Sergeant Major Sergeant major is a senior non-commissioned rank or appointment in many militaries around the world. History In 16th century Spain, the ("sergeant major") was a general officer. He commanded an army's infantry, and ranked about third in th ...

. He played the occasional wartime game for Leeds, but retired from playing football in 1942. Copping was known as a hard and strong player; his most famous quote was "the first man in a tackle never gets hurt". Despite his nickname of "The Iron Man", and his image (he took to the field unshaven, a remarkably unusual practice at the time), Copping was never booked or sent off in his career.

Later career

After the war ended, Copping became a trainer and coach at various clubs, including Beerschot in Belgium,

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

and

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed t ...

. He retired to live in

Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...

. He died in 1980, aged 70. In 1998,

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

, as part of its centenary season celebrations, included Copping on its list of 100 League Legends.

Honours

; Arsenal *

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...

* Football League: 1934–35, 1937–38 * FA Charity Shield:

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 Nepal–Bihar earthquake strikes Nepal and Bihar with a maxi ...

, 1938

References

External links

Leeds United profileProfile on www.englandstats.comProfile on www.englandfc.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Copping, Wilf 1909 births 1980 deaths Arsenal F.C. players English footballers England international footballers England wartime international footballers Association football central defenders Leeds United F.C. players Arsenal F.C. wartime guest players English football managers English Football League players English Football League representative players English expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Belgium Footballers from Barnsley British Army personnel of World War II British Army soldiers FA Cup Final players Military personnel from Yorkshire