coupar_james
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| Name: James "Jimmy" Coupar |
Nationality: Scotland |
| Position: forward |
Signing Information: Transferred from: Dundee Our Boys, 06/1892, £. 2nd Spell, Transferred from: Swindon Town, 09/1901, £ |
| Birthdate: 03-03-1869 |
Years at Club: 1892-1894, 1901-1902 |
| Age: (155) |
Debut: 03/09/1892 v Blackburn Rovers (A) 3-4 (League Division One) |
| Birthplace: Dundee, Scotland |
Previous clubs: Dundee Our Boys, St. Johnstone, Rotherham Town, Luton Town, Swindon Town, Linfield |
| Height: 5' 6" (1.68m) |
Farewell to Manchester United: 1st Farewell Transferred to Rotherham Town, 10/1894, £, Final Farewell Transferred to ?, 04/1902, £ |
| Weight: 10st 4lbs (65.32kg) |
Passed Away: 30/01/1953 |
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Possibly the player with the strangest Newton Heath career was Jimmy Coupar, an inside-forward whose "cleverness was almost proverbial". Although only 5'6", he packed a terrific shot to go with his speed and superb ball control. Alas, his time in Manchester was characterized by frequent fits and starts.
Coupar had come through the ranks at Dundee Our Boys, Dundee's predecessors, around 1887 and had become captain by 1891-92, going by the nickname of "Peem"! In June 1892, he was one of three Dundonians who impressed at the club's annual sports and got headhunted by Newton Heath as the Mancunians prepared to enter the Football League.
Jimmy was actually in the very first lineup and even scored against Blackburn Rovers on September 3rd, 1892. He went on to play in 40 overall games that season while cementing his place as a popular player with the Heath fans. Coupar also spent some time in the reserve team and that enabled him to gain selection for the Lancashire Combination XI to face their NE Lancashire League counterparts in April.
After one reserve team outing in September 1893, however, Coupar suffered a bad knee injury. A month later, he was ordered to take a full year off to recover, so he headed back home to Dundee while pocketing 25s a week from Newton Heath. While recuperating, Coupar refereed the odd junior game in town then played briefly for St. Johnstone and Dundee, albeit in friendlies only.
Having returned to Manchester at the start of 1894-95, Jimmy only played in a couple of friendlies before moving to Rotherham Town in October. He excelled for the Division Two outfit, scoring 12 goals in 19 outings that season. He was soon on the move again, signing for Luton Town in the Southern League and continuing to net regularly, totaling 14 goals in 18 appearances.
Coupar's efforts helped earn Luton entry into the Football League in 1897-98 but, after just one season there, he returned to the Southern League to serve Swindon Town. He spent a couple of seasons with them - interrupted by a brief stint in Ireland with Linfield in August 1899 - and managed to lead their scoring charts in 1898-99.
Intriguingly, Jimmy returned to Newton Heath in 1901-02, some seven years after his last appearance for them. By now he was not a regular in the front line, amassing almost as many games in the reserve team. He did, however, make a poignant contribution on April 23rd, 1902, when he scored in Heath's last ever league game (before the name change to Manchester United), just like he had scored in their first ever league fixture back in 1892.
Also, much like in 1892-93, Coupar also bagged a Manchester Senior Cup winners' medal when the Heathens fulfilled their last ever outing of any kind by defeating Manchester City in the final on April 26th. This was the end of Jimmy's career in senior football as he was soon reinstated as an amateur and did not stay on with the reformed club.
Having been educated at Wallacetown School, Jimmy served an apprenticeship as an engineer at Lilybank Foundry. He migrated to America in 1925 only to return to Dundee in 1931 and live in a house at 16 Watson Street. After retiring, he took up gardening as a pastime, and had moved to Walney in Barrow-in-Furness by the time he passed away, aged 84, in 1953..
DOB provided by the Coupar Family & Lisa Sparks. FACT: James Coupar scored Newton Heath's 1st & indeed last goal, in the Football League. Biography kindly provided by Charbel Boujaoude. |
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League Cup |
FA Cup |
Charity Shield |
European Cup |
Europa League |
Super Cup |
Cup Winners Cup |
Inter-Continental Cup |
World Clubs Cup |
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Season |
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Season
Goals |
Season
Apps |
| 1 |
1892-1893 |
6 |
23 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
23 |
| 2 |
1901-1902 |
4 |
11 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
11 |
| TOTALS |
10 |
34 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
10 |
34 |
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