He began his career at Newcastle United, making one appearance in the Premier League, and later spent two years at Exeter City, but is best known for his association with Doncaster Rovers, whom he represented over seventeen seasons between 2004 and his retirement in 2021.

Born in Guisborough, Cleveland, Coppinger started his career as a trainee for Darlington in 1997,[4][5][6] though he was signed by fellow north-east side Newcastle United before he even made an appearance.

[10] His performance led manager Robson calling him to Newcastle United's squad and just played once in the Premier League as a substitute against Tottenham Hotspur on 26 August 2000.

[11] However, Coppinger later stated that as a teenager from a small town he was not fully prepared for life as a top-level professional player[4][5][8] and he struggled to make any impact while coming through the Newcastle ranks.

[18] After two loan spells at Hartlepool United and Queens Park Rangers, Coppinger's contract at Newcastle was ended by mutual consent and in July 2002 he moved to Exeter City in search of regular first team football.

"[22] He was persuaded to return to the club by manager Eamonn Dolan, and in his second season with Exeter he was involved in the England C (non-league select) squad,[4][5] though records suggest he did not gain any official caps at that level.

[32] After a few games, on 31 August, he was loaned to Nottingham Forest until January 2013 where he joined ex-Rovers players Simon Gillett and Billy Sharp under his former manager, Sean O'Driscoll.

[38] Coppinger became only the fifth Rovers player to reach 350 league appearances when he turned out to play right wing-back against Nottingham Forest in a 0–0 draw at the City Ground on 15 March 2014.

On 6 March 2021, Coppinger became the first player to reach 600 league appearances for Doncaster Rovers, setting up both goals in a 2–1 win against Plymouth Argyle at the Keepmoat Stadium.

In June 2011, Coppinger, along with Mark Wilson, James O'Connor, other Rovers staff and local Doncaster businessmen David Plant and Brian Butcher walked the 62-mile Inca Trek raising almost £50,000 for the charity.

[8] In January 2013, along with several other people, including fellow footballers, Coppinger faced a race-fixing inquiry with allegations of corruption in gambling on horses to lose on Betting exchanges in nine races between 1 November 2010 and 31 March 2011.

He strongly denied the charges,[47][48] though was found guilty of corrupt and fraudulent practices by the British Horseracing Authority and given a three-year ban from any dealings with registered racing individuals.