Mark McVeigh

Mark McVeigh
Personal information
Full name	Mark McVeigh
Date of birth	26 January 1981 (1981-01-26) (age 30)
Place of birth	Sydney
Original team	Pennant Hills AFC NSW/ACT Rams
Draft	#9, 1998 National Draft, Essendon
Height/Weight	184cm / 85kg
Position(s)	Defender
Club information
Current club	Essendon
Number	10
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1999–	Essendon	229 (106)
International team honours
Years	Team	Games (Goals)
2004	Australia	2
1 Playing statistics to end of 2011 season .
Career highlights
2001 AFL Rising Star nominee 2008 Archer-Hird Medal

Mark McVeigh (born 26 January 1981) is an Australian rules footballer. He made his debut for Essendon Football Club in 1999 after representing NSW/ACT at Under 18 level. He is also the older brother of Jarrad McVeigh who plays for the Sydney Swans.

Football career

Early Career (1999–2004)

After having a slow start with a season high of 15 Disposals and 4 Marks, in his second season he suffered an injury and missed most of Essendons games. In McVeigh's third season however, it was clear that the game had grown on him as he stood up as an up and coming youngster. After playing 23 games in his third year of playing including the Grand Final against the Brisbane Lions in which Essendon lost, McVeigh had some promising stats with a consistent 11 – 18 in over half of every game he played. McVeigh also went on to play the next 3 seasons in stellar form with Essendon who reached 3 consecutive Semi-Finals in which McVeigh played in all.

Mid-Career (2005–2008)

In the next 3 seasons McVeigh was a stand out performer for Essendon, with a high disposal & efficiency rate he was one of the clubs main contributors and eventually was to become apart of the Leadership group and a role model to his younger rookies. With disposals in the high 20's and a career high of 36 disposals, McVeigh was determined to get Essendon back on track. In 2008 McVeigh suffered an injury which sidelined him for almost half the season, nevertheless he claimed 13 Brownlow votes to his name in only 14 games, no doubt he would have finished in the top 10 if he had not suffered an injury. McVeigh still finished in the top 20.

Personal life

On the 17 October 2009 McVeigh married his longtime girlfriend, Leanne Tucker. They had a daughter, Ariana, born in March 2011.^[1] Mark also had a niece, Luella (the daughter of Sydney's Jarrad McVeigh), born on 25 July 2011 but she died from heart complications barely a month later. Following Essendon's seven-point victory over Port Adelaide, its' first over the side since 2004, Mark 'blew a kiss towards to the heavens' in her memory. Essendon's players wore black armbands in the match.^[2]

References

1. ^ McVeigh family welcome baby girl
2. ^ One from the heart - AFL.com.au

External links

• Profile on Official Essendon Website
• Mark McVeigh's statistics from AFL Tables

Persondata
Name	Macveigh, Mark
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	26 January 1981
Place of birth	Sydney
Date of death
Place of death