Mark Bolton (born 3 April 1979) is a retired

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er. He was recruited to

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport *Essendon Football Club, in the Australian Football League *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington United Kin ...

with pick 4 in the 1997

National Draft The Australian Football League draft is the annual draft of unsigned players, especially new nominations, by Australian rules football teams that participate in the main competition of that sport, the Australian Football League (AFL). History W ...

, via

Ringwood, Victoria Ringwood is an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Maroondah A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different mean ...

and

Eastern U18 The Eastern Ranges is an Australian rules football team that currently competes in the Talent League, the Victorian statewide under-18s competition. History Inaugural playing squad (1992) Honours *Premiers (2): 2002, 2013 *Runners-up (6): 199 ...

. He made his debut in 1998 and went on to play 124 games. He announced his retirement at the 2007 Crichton Medal Count. Bolton completed his secondary education at

Ringwood Secondary College Ringwood Secondary College is a co-educational public secondary school located in the eastern suburb of Ringwood in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Ringwood Secondary College opened as Ringwood High School in 1954 and was one of the first hig ...

and continued on to complete a Bachelor of Science (Biomedical Science) at

Swinburne University of Technology The Swinburne University of Technology (or simply Swinburne) is a public university, public research university in Melbourne, Australia. It is the modern descendant of the Eastern Suburbs Technical College established in 1908, renamed Swinburne ...

. Bolton joined University Blacks for season 2010. Bolton worked as the executive director of Ladder, a non-governmental organisation that enables homeless youth to find housing, jobs and pursue meaningful lives. In 2024 he returned to Essendon as clubs Chief Strategy Officer. Mark Bolton was ranked 99th in Don The Stat's Best Essendon players since 1980.

References

1979 births Place of birth missing (living people) Living people Essendon Football Club players Swinburne University of Technology alumni Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Eastern Ranges players University Blacks Football Club players 20th-century Australian sportsmen {{AFL-bio-1970s-stub