Marcus Ashcroft
Personal information
Full name Marcus Ashcroft
Date of birth (1971-09-25) 25 September 1971 (age 52)
Place of birth Melbourne, Australia[1]
Original team(s) Southport Sharks/Surfers Paradise Demons
Height 184 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight 83 kg (183 lb)
Position(s) Defender/Midfielder
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1989–1996 Brisbane Bears 152 (84)
1997–2003 Brisbane Lions 166 (61)
Total 318 (145)
Representative team honours
Years Team Games (Goals)
1991–1993 Queensland 2 (4)
1995–1998 Allies 4 (1)
International team honours
1999 Australia 2 (0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2003.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Marcus Ashcroft (born 25 September 1971) is a former professional Australian rules footballer. He played 318 games for the Brisbane Bears and Brisbane Lions and is currently on the coaching panel of the Gold Coast Football Club. The Marcus Ashcroft Medal, awarded to the player judged best on ground in the QClash football match played between the Brisbane Lions and Gold Coast Football Club, is named after him.

Early life

Ashcroft was born in Melbourne and raised on the Gold Coast.[2] As a child he lived in Victoria until the age of 3 when he moved to the Gold Coast with his family. He attended Merrimac State High School throughout his teenage years.

Ashcroft began playing junior football on the Gold Coast for the Surfers Paradise Demons and later moved to the Southport Sharks to complete his junior football. In 1988 he made his senior QAFL debut for Southport as a 16-year-old.[3] Later that year, Ashcroft would become the only Queenslander to be drafted in 1988 as the Brisbane Bears recruited the 17-year-old through their zone access.

Marcus Ashcroft’s mother’s name is Ann Ashcroft. She is John Townsend’s (Melbourne AFL Player) sister. Ann Ashcroft was a cousin of Betty Marlow the wife of Mitiamo Football club legend Allen Marlow.

AFL career

Ashcroft was recruited to join the Brisbane Bears in 1988 when the club was in just its second season in the VFL and made his debut in Round 9 of that year against North Melbourne at the MCG.

Ashcroft played over 150 consecutive games amongst his 318 career appearances (including 145 goals). He was at various points a key part of the leadership group although he never captained the club.

Ashcroft became the first Queenslander to play 300 AFL games in 2003, but his milestone match would not be remembered for the right reasons, as they suffered their first defeat of that season against the Sydney Swans at the Sydney Cricket Ground.[4] He retired at the end of that season, winning his third straight AFL premiership medallion in the process.

Coaching career

Gold Coast Suns: 2008–2017

Following the formation of the Gold Coast Football Club in 2008, Ashcroft was appointed an assistant coaching role and then promoted to football manager the following year. Ashcroft resigned from his position as football manager in October 2017 following the club's third coaching appointment in Stuart Dew and the recent sacking of former coach Rodney Eade[5]

Statistics

[6]
Legend
  G  
 Goals
  K  
 Kicks
  D  
 Disposals 
  T  
 Tackles
  B  
 Behinds 
  H  
 Handballs 
  M  
 Marks
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
1989 Brisbane Bears 43 10 5 2 67 34 101 22 10 0.5 0.2 6.7 3.4 10.1 2.2 1.0
1990 Brisbane Bears 10 13 11 7 116 103 219 38 23 0.8 0.5 8.9 7.9 16.8 2.9 1.8
1991 Brisbane Bears 10 22 2 11 291 173 464 94 42 0.1 0.5 13.2 7.9 21.1 4.3 1.9
1992 Brisbane Bears 10 17 22 19 203 108 311 67 36 1.3 1.1 11.9 6.4 18.3 3.9 2.1
1993 Brisbane Bears 10 20 14 11 260 169 429 79 40 0.7 0.6 13.0 8.5 21.5 4.0 2.0
1994 Brisbane Bears 10 22 10 10 270 174 444 58 50 0.5 0.5 12.3 7.9 20.2 2.6 2.3
1995 Brisbane Bears 10 23 10 13 234 169 403 78 43 0.4 0.6 10.2 7.3 17.5 3.4 1.9
1996 Brisbane Bears 10 25 10 11 305 170 475 78 43 0.4 0.4 12.2 6.8 19.0 3.1 1.7
1997 Brisbane Lions 10 23 18 15 293 185 478 92 53 0.8 0.7 12.7 8.0 20.8 4.0 2.3
1998 Brisbane Lions 10 22 7 15 300 201 501 84 41 0.3 0.7 13.6 9.1 22.8 3.8 1.9
1999 Brisbane Lions 10 25 16 8 357 218 575 92 61 0.6 0.3 14.3 8.7 23.0 3.7 2.4
2000 Brisbane Lions 10 21 14 11 227 146 373 81 40 0.7 0.5 10.8 7.0 17.8 3.9 1.9
2001 Brisbane Lions 10 25 5 2 222 203 425 103 45 0.2 0.1 8.9 8.1 17.0 4.1 1.8
2002 Brisbane Lions 10 25 1 2 232 148 380 120 34 0.0 0.1 9.3 5.9 15.2 4.8 1.4
2003 Brisbane Lions 10 25 0 1 155 115 270 68 33 0.0 0.0 6.2 4.6 10.8 2.7 1.3
Career 318 145 138 3532 2316 5848 1154 594 0.5 0.4 11.1 7.3 18.4 3.6 1.9

Family

Marcus is the father of current Brisbane Lions player, Will Ashcroft.

References

  1. ^ "Marcus Ashcroft". AFL Queensland.
  2. ^ Ashcroft, Hart join Gold Coast team as assistants
  3. ^ Southport Sharks History - 1988
  4. ^ "The Stat Files: Marcus Ashcroft". lions.com.au. 3 May 2019. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  5. ^ Navaratnam, Dinny (13 October 2017), Ashcroft leaves suns coaching panel shakeup, AFL, retrieved 14 October 2017
  6. ^ Marcus Ashcroft's player profile at AFL Tables
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