Steve Coppell resigned as manager of Reading on Tuesday night after his club’s failure to reach the Coca-Cola Championship play-off final.
The Berkshire side were beaten 2-0 at the Madjeski Stadium by Burnley, 3-0 on aggregate, coming just a week after Reading failed to gain the home victory over Birmingham City that would have given them automatic promotion to the Premier League.
It was known that Coppell, very much his own man, had been considering his future even before last night’s result. He once walked away from the manager’s job at Manchester City in 1996 after six games and 33 days in charge.
Coppell had been manager at Reading since October 2003, gaining promotion to the Premier League after winning the Championship title in 2005-6. Reading were relegated to the second tier after two seasons in the top-flight, although a petition by fans concerned that their manager might feel honour-bound to resign convinced Coppell to stay. Coppell had been in management since 1984, starting with Crystal Palace, where he would end up having four different spells in charge.
Coppell was named the manager of Palace’s centenary XI by the fans, got Reading promoted to the Premier League and was so loved by supporters of the Berkshire club that they launched a successful petition begging him not to resign after the Royals were relegated back to the Championship.
He also spent time at Brentford and Brighton before taking charge at the Madejski Stadium. In all that time he has only been sacked once, instead choosing to walk away on his own accord on numerous occasions.
Coppell was a great servant for the club while a player at Manchester United, and steps away from Reading with a tremendous reputation among his peers and fans.
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