Ronnie Cope
| Ronnie Cope | ||
| Personnel | ||
|---|---|---|
| Surname | Ronald Cope | |
| birthday | October 5, 1934 | |
| place of birth | Crewe , England | |
| date of death | August 27, 2016 | |
| position | Middle runner | |
| Juniors | ||
| Years | station | |
| Crewe Alexandra | ||
| 1950-1951 | Manchester United | |
| Men's | ||
| Years | station | Games (goals) 1 |
| 1951-1961 | Manchester United | 93 (2) |
| 1961-1963 | Luton Town | 28 (0) |
| Northwich Victoria | ||
| Stations as a trainer | ||
| Years | station | |
| 1965-1966 | Northwich Victoria | |
| 1 Only league games are given. | ||
Ronald "Ronnie" Cope (born October 5, 1934 in Crewe ; † August 27, 2016 ) was an English football player . In the 1950s he was one of the “Busby Babes” of Manchester United , but was not used regularly in the first team until 1958 after the Munich plane crash .
Athletic career
Cope joined Manchester United in 1950 as a young talented footballer, having previously played for Crewe Alexandra and for the English selection of students in his hometown . The following year United coach Matt Busby provided him with a professional contract and at the age of 18, Cope led the youth team as captain to victory in the first-ever FA Youth Cup . In the following three years he continued to develop athletically mostly in the reserve team and together with players like Bobby Charlton , Wilf McGuinness and Billy Whelan he won the championship in the Central League .
Ultimately, it turned out to be problematic for Cope that Manchester United was well occupied in his favorite position as a center runner. Especially Mark Jones and Jackie Blanchflower blocked his way to the first team for a long time and it was not until September 29, 1956 that Cope made his league debut against Arsenal (2-1). He remained a regular player in the reserve team in the following years before he was scheduled for the away game in the European Cup in Belgrade in February 1958 due to injury problems in the first team . At short notice, however, Geoff Bent was preferred to him, who was ultimately one of the fatally injured victims on departure from the return flight stopover in Munich.
Busby's assistant Jimmy Murphy had to put the team together again after the plane disaster and suddenly Cope was also a regular at Manchester United in the defense center. He played both games in the European semifinals against AC Milan and the FA Cup final against Bolton Wanderers (2-0) and although the games were lost, he performed well. Cope remained a constant at the club for the next two years before Bill Foulkes ousted him. In August 1961 he left "United" for Luton Town , the transfer fee was 10,000 pounds. For the then second division team, he completed another 28 league games, after which he returned to his homeland to Cheshire and there ended his active career outside of professional football at Northwich Victoria - in the 1965/66 season he also briefly coached this club.
Cope died on August 27, 2016 at the age of 81.
Title / Awards
- FA Youth Cup (1): 1953
Web links
- Statistical data from the Post War English & Scottish Football League AZ Player's Database
- Ronnie Cope in the barryhugmansfootballers.com database. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
Individual evidence
- ^ Ponting, Ivan: Manchester United Player by Player . Hamlyn, London 1998, ISBN 0-600-59496-3 , pp. 45 .
- ↑ "Obituary: Ronnie Cope" (Manutd.com)
- ↑ "COPE RONALD: Obituary" (bmdsonline.co.uk)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Cope, Ronnie |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Cope, Ronald |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | English soccer player |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 5, 1934 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Crewe , England |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 27, 2016 |