Ex-Doncaster Rovers man on 'phenomenal' James Coppinger and being the 'old man' in non-league

Dean Furman has heaped praise on his old Doncaster Rovers colleague James Coppinger as he looks to emulate 'Mr Doncaster'.

Coppinger is now a firm part of the first team coaching staff at Rovers having hung up his boots five years ago after a superb, 17-year spell of service at the club. Furman played alongside Coppinger during an eventful two-year stint in South Yorkshire that saw Rovers dramatically win promotion from League One - with Coppinger ironically scoring 'that' goal down at Brentford - before a last-day relegation from the Championship.

Now 38, former South African skipper Furman is still turning out for non-league side Warrington Rylands. And in Coppinger, who finally called it a day aged 40, he has the perfect example to follow.

"I mean, he is Mr Doncaster, isn't he?" he says in conversation with the Free Press.

"There's a few players in your career that you're honoured to play alongside and for me, Copps was one of those. He just epitomised everything about Doncaster. He came up in huge, huge moments. It always seemed to be him. The longevity that he had in his career is a fantastic example to any young player to make a career in the game. He was a phenomenal footballer and I was very lucky to have shared a pitch and a dressing room with him.

"I'm potentially extending playing myself for another year. I'm very much the old man of the team now, at 38! But I'm really enjoying my time. It's kind of allowed me to transition out of the game softly so I still get my football fix. We've done really, really well and we lost a play-off final last year and we were a penalty shoot-out away from getting into the National League North.

"I enjoy still running around with them so we'll see what happens."

Whilst Furman still clearly enjoys the playing aspect of football, his day job sees him work for the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) - the trade union for footballers - as a player services executive alongside another familiar name to Rovers fans.

"I work with Sam Hird so that's obviously a nice Donny connection there!" Furman adds.

"I'm very much still involved with the game but at this stage of my life, coaching wasn't really an option that I have looked towards. I'm very lucky to be working for the PFA."