Stephen Copping (born 3 August 1956) is a former

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er who played with

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington *Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport *Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League United King ...

in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

(VFL) and Glenelg in the

South Australian National Football League The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's governing body for the sport. Originally formed as the ...

(SANFL) during the 1980s. After finishing as Glenelg's joint leading goal kicker in 1979 and outright in 1981, Essendon recruited Copping and he made his senior VFL debut in the opening round of the

1982 VFL season The 1982 VFL season was the 86th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 20 March until 25 September, and comprised a ...

. He finished the year with 45 goals, a tally which included four from their Elimination Final loss to

North Melbourne North Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. North Melbourne recorded a population of 14,953 at the ...

. The following season he had another good year in front of goals, kicking 42 goals, with a career best haul of seven against Footscray at home and two further bags of six. A

South Australian South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest o ...

interstate representative, Copping won a

Fos Williams Medal The Fos Williams Medal has been awarded since 1981 to the best Australian rules football player from South Australia during Inter-State or Inter-Competition matches. The medal is named in honour of legendary South Australian National Football Le ...

for his efforts against

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Football Park Football Park, known commercially as AAMI Stadium, was an Australian rules football stadium located in West Lakes, South Australia, West Lakes, a western suburb of Adelaide, the state capital of South Australia, Australia. It was built in 197 ...

in 1982. Copping returned to Glenelg in 1985 and topped their goal kicking once more with 83 goals and played in their premiership team. Glenelg went back to back in 1986 and Copping again featured in their side. In 2004 he was inducted into the club's 'Hall of Fame'

References

*Holmesby, Russell and Main, Jim (2007). ''The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers''. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Copping, Stephen 1956 births Living people Australian rules footballers from South Australia Essendon Football Club players Glenelg Football Club players South Australian State of Origin players