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Football club legends aren't made over night. They have to grow with the club; they have to rise and fall with the club; they have to live through everything the fans live through; they have to endure every pain and bask in every success and they have to create memorable moments that fans remember forever. There is only one player at Doncaster Rovers who currently fits that bill. Step forward Jamie Coppinger.
Copps has made over 440 appearances for Doncaster Rovers, a record only bettered by Colin "Duggie" Douglas. In the modern this is a record few will come even close to matching. During the last 11 years Jamie has also helped the club achieve more than it ever has done before.
Just a year after Copps signed, Rovers made it to the League Cup Quarter Finals. Beating Aston Villa and Manchester City along the way we cruelly lost on penalties to Arsenal. Two years later Jamie made the long trip to Cardiff, along with close to 25,000 Rovers fans, and after extra time helped the Rovers win their first major trophy in the club's history. Just one year after that Rovers were in the League One play-offs. After drawing at Roots Hall, Copps scored the most memorable Rovers hat-trick in living memory to propel us to the play-off final at Wembley against local rivals Leeds United, and we all remember 'that' day in May 2008. Fast forward five years and after a terrible previous season having finished bottom of the Championship, Rovers were now fighting for promotion straight back to the second tier. The entire season would come down to one extraordinary minute at Griffin Park, and of course it was Coppinger that slotted home the winner following a missed penalty by Brentford to ensure Doncaster were promoted again.
Jamie has grown year-by-year as a player at Doncaster Rovers; he has been with us through the good times and bad and his success and accomplishments have also grown side-by-side with those of the Viking Supporters Co-operative. Having seen the hard work and dedication of the its members and directors, Jamie recently joined the trust, which coincidently was only established just a few years prior to him joining Doncaster.
Like the VSC, Copps is always proud to help local charities. In 2011 he walked the 62 mile Inca Trek, helping raise almost £50,000 for the NSPCC. Bluebell Wood Children's Hospice and the Doncaster Rovers Foundation were named as the nominated charities for his testimonial year and by attending the game today you are helping raise money for both of these incredible charities. In recent weeks the VSC has helped raise money for Bluebell Wood by selling a limited edition mug, online (click here) and at home games, and at the time of writing we have raised over £200.
We hope you all have a fantastic day today, and cheer on Coppinger for the Doncaster Rovers legend that he is.
We are all Rovers Till I Die, and Jamie is definitely Rovers Till I Die.
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