E. W. 'Bud' Copeland
1868 – 1947

Collingwood Football Club Secretary 1895-1923
Vice-President 1924-25

Grave restoration 2011

Thanks to the incredible persistence and hard work of Travis Sellers and his team from The Friends of Cheltenham and Regional Cemeteries (FOCRC) the grave site of Ernest William 'Bud' Copeland will soon be restored to a respectable state.

Currently the grave is in bad disrepair. When the Collingwood Football Club were approached by FOCRC to fund the restoration they were more than willing to help and the Collingwood Football Club Foundation, based now at Victoria Park, have been fantastic in providing funding for the project.

A new plaque has been commissioned and a committee was quickly formed to word the dedication to Bud Copeland.  It is anticipated that the fully restored grave will be unveiled before round one of the coming season and details will be made available as soon as we have a firm date.

The Bud Copeland Grave Restoration Committee members are:

Peter Furniss - Chairperson
Current chairperson of the Collingwood Football Club Archives Committee and in charge of in excess of $9.5m worth of club memorabilia.  Peter has been a Collingwood member for over 50 years and is looking forward to moving back home with the archives committee to his beloved Victoria Park.

Richard Stremski
Author of the book widely held to be the Collingwood Football Club's bible, Kill for Collingwood, former Club administrator, founder of the Collingwood Archives Committee and passionate Collingwood FC historian.  Richard migrated from America in 1972 and after being quizzed on his favourite 'footy' team with the commonly asked question, " Do ya barrack for Collingwood, or against them?"  He soon fell in love with everything about Collingwood and in his research of why everyone hated Collingwood so much and why Collingwood people seemed to revel in this polarisation, he uncovered a very deep, complex and rich history that is unique in world sport.  Richard is a wealth of knowledge on all things Collingwood.

Glenn McFarlane
Herald Sun sports journalist for over 20 years and official Collingwood Football Club historian.  Glenn has been a prolific writer of books on Collingwood from "The Machine" to "The Official Illustrated History of the Collingwood Football Club" to his latest masterpiece "Jock".  Glenn's Grandfather is none other than 'The King of Fullbacks", Charlie Dibbs, who played 216 games from 1924 to 1935 and won five premierships from a staggering eight grand finals.  With a relative that sits amongst the very, very best of Collingwood's legends, it is easy to see why he loves his Magpies and his Collingwood History.

Travis Sellers
President of the Friends of Cheltenham and Regional Cemeteries (FOCRC) and prolific writer and historian himself.  Despite being a Hawthorn supporter, Travis recognised the historical significance of the badly neglected grave site that was the resting place of one of Collingwood's most revered figures, Ernest William 'Bud' Copeland.

Shane Barrie
Chairperson of the Victoria Park Heritage Committee, passionate Collingwood member for 35 years, keen historian and Great Grandson of the creator of Victoria Park, Frederick Trenerry Brown.  Fred Brown purchased 'Dight's Paddock' back in 1878 with finance provided by his Uncle Edwin who lived in Cornwall, UK.  In 1879 Fred Brown, with his solicitor associate, David Abbott, subdivided Dight's Paddock and set aside the 10 1/4 acres that we now know as Victoria Park.