Mark McVeigh

Mark McVeigh (born 26 January 1981) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for and is currently the senior coach of the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He served as the caretaker senior coach of the Greater Western Sydney Giants following the resignation of Leon Cameron in 2022. He has been the coach of the Essendon Football Club since August 2026.

Early life and junior football McVeigh was born in Melbourne to mother Margaret (a former Victorian basketball player) and father Tony (a former Williamstown Football Club player). Following their move from Melbourne to the Central Coast, Tony began coaching and captaining the Killarney Vale Bombers where Mark and his brother Jarrad would eventually play junior football. McVeigh shared the role of Vice-Captain of the Essendon Football Club with David Hille for most of his career. McVeigh played a total of 232 games and kicked 107 goals during his playing career for Essendon from 1999 until 2012.

Media career In 2013, following his retirement, McVeigh began a media career with the Seven Network and SEN 1116.

Coaching career He also began taking developmental coaching roles in New South Wales and Canberra. He coached the Under-16 and Under-18 NSW/ACT Rams teams in the national championships.

Greater Western Sydney McVeigh then took a head coaching role at the Giants Academy, then transitioned into an assistant coaching role at the Greater Western Sydney Giants from 2015, serving as the defensive coach. McVeigh was appointed as the caretaker senior coach of GWS Giants until the end of the 2022 season, following the mid-season resignation of senior coach Leon Cameron. His first match in charge, in round 10, saw the Giants defeat by 52 points.

McVeigh attracted some criticism from the media after calling out his team's performance against in Round 20, 2022 but with a mostly unchanged side they would defeat his old club by 27 points the following week. The club ultimately finished 16th on the ladder with a 6–16 record, its lowest finish since the 2014 AFL season. At the end of the 2022 season, McVeigh was not retained as the senior coach of the GWS Giants and was replaced by Adam Kingsley. On 10 October, McVeigh left the club.

Sydney Swans In December 2022, McVeigh joined the Sydney Swans as an assistant coach under senior coach John Longmire, then later under senior coach Dean Cox.

Essendon On 24 August 2026, McVeigh was appointed the senior coach of the Essendon Football Club on the three year contract, returning to the club where he played his entire playing career. McVeigh replaced caretaker senior coach Dean Solomon, who replaced senior coach Brad Scott after Scott was sacked in the middle of the 2026 AFL season.

Personal life On 17 October 2009 McVeigh married his longtime girlfriend, Leanne Tucker. They have a daughter, Ariana, born in March 2011. 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 , 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.

2016 suspension from coaching On 12 January 2016, McVeigh was named as one of 34 past and present Essendon players found guilty over their use of illegal supplements during the 2012 AFL season. As a result, McVeigh was suspended from involvement in football for twenty-four months, which (due to back-dating and time served in provisional suspensions) saw him suspended until November 2016. The terms of the suspension meant that McVeigh was unable to continue his assistant coaching role at Greater Western Sydney during 2016.

Statistics Statistics are correct to end of AFL career

232 107 94 2290 1025 3315 755 628 0.5 0.4 9.9 4.4 14.3 3.3 2.7