Kirrie Thistle’s silent tribute to Frank Kopel before their game against Dundee Violet at Westview on Wednesday night summed up perfectly the esteem in which the former Dundee United stalwart was held.
He never played for the junior outfit, but lived in Kirriemuir and the little Angus town was proud of that.
The United team Frank turned out for boasted Scotland internationalists Davie Narey, Paul Sturrock, Paul Hegarty, Richard Gough and Eamonn Bannon. Kopel never got beyond playing for Scotland Schoolboys, but he was every bit as important to United.
His dry humour was never far away, as I once discovered when I asked him what would constitute the perfect game for him.
He replied: “Playing left back in the first half, and right back in the second half if it meant I spent the entire 90 minutes on the opposite side from the dug-out!”
This would keep him as far away as possible from Jim McLean and not have to deal with his manager’s constant stream of instructions! Yet as McLean’s first signing for United, there was a bond between the pair but only after the player attained full match fitness.
When he signed on at Tannadice, Kopel hadn’t played for Blackburn Rovers for weeks.
“I should have signed his wife,” McLean joked in those early days of 1972! When Kopel got up to speed, however, he was never out of the side, playing over 400 times in tangerine.
Frank’s wife Amanda has been pressurising the Scottish Government into helping dementia sufferers of all ages. She’s good at campaigning. She once persuaded Jim McLean to provide creche facilities on match-days for players’ wives and children.
Kopel started his career as a Sir Matt Busby signing at Manchester United. Although his first team experience was limited in a squad full of superstars, Kopel certainly made friends, as Eamonn Bannon recalls.
“I was bemoaning the fact I couldn’t lay my hands on tickets for the 1982 European Cup Final between Aston Villa and Bayern Munich in Rotterdam,” the United legend told me.
“Quick as a flash, Frank asked how many I needed and got them, from Villa keeper Jimmy Rimmer who he knew well from their days together at Old Trafford.”
Frank touched everyone he came in contact with. Wednesday’s service of celebration is sure to be packed out.
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