Doncaster Rovers were very generous in their praise for Steve Coppell this Tuesday evening, and Rovers Chairman John Ryan held a special presentation before the match to mark Steve's 1,000 games in management.

Rovers had commissioned a beautiful engraved silver platter as a tribute to Steve's millennium, and John invited Steve into his dining suite before kick off.

John stood before his guests and spoke glowingly about our manager for his brilliant achievements in the game, then Steve repaid the compliment with a speech of his own.

Coppell gave heartfelt thanks and humourously recalled his previous visit to Doncaster in the 80s when he had to pay for the team's hotel meal with his own chequebook!

It was exceptionally kind of Rovers to extend Steve and Reading Football Club such a very warm welcome, and our manager was sincerely touched by the gesture.

A full picture gallery from the presentation is available here now, while exclusive video is online now on Reading World - see our free preview clip for an insight.

The Club's official site has much more coverage on Steve's millennium - see his career in stats and a full in-depth transcript as he talks about his 25 years in the game.

In addition, our special Coppell career gallery looks back on photos of the many twists and turns of a man whose whole life has been spent in football.