Mark McGough

Mark McGough (born 22 June 1984) is an Australian rules football player who played with the Collingwood and St Kilda football clubs in the Australian Football League (AFL).

AFL career He was selected by Collingwood in the third round of the 2001 AFL draft. Aged 17, and in just his second game of senior football, McGough was awarded the AFL Anzac Medal as the best on ground in the 2002 Anzac Day clash between Collingwood and Essendon. In 2011, before his last Anzac Day match as Collingwood coach, Mick Malthouse said his favourite memory from his 11 Anzac Day encounters was seeing McGough win the Anzac Medal.

Despite being regarded as a good wet weather player, his lack of pace prevented him from being regularly selected to play for Collingwood's senior side. After playing 37 senior matches in three years, McGough was delisted at the end of the 2004 season. This marked the end of McGough’s AFL career at the age of only 22.

After AFL After his AFL career, McGough spent part of 2007 on an exchange program in the United States, studying journalism at the University of Arizona and later that year spent time in South America. In 2008 he returned to Australia, where he played football with the Montmorency Football Club in Victoria's Northern Football League. He then became a teacher at high schools in Perth such as Seton Catholic College and Emmanuel Catholic College and La Salle College.