Marcus Ashcroft (born 25 September 1971) is a former professional

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 played 318 games for the

Brisbane Bears The Brisbane Bears were a professional Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, now known as the Brisbane Lions. Granted a Australian Football League, Victorian Football League (VFL), licence in 1986, ...

and

Brisbane Lions The Brisbane Lions are a professional Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, that compete in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. Brisbane are the ...

and held the position of General Manager of Football at the Gold Coast Football Club until 2018. 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. 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. Later that year, Ashcroft would become the only Queenslander to be drafted in 1988 as the

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

in 1988 when the club was in just its second season in the VFL and made his debut in Round 9 of the following year against

North Melbourne North Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne Local government ar ...

at the MCG, collecting 8 disposals and taking 4 marks. 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 The Sydney Swans are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Swans also field a Austral ...

at the

Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in the Moore Park, New South Wales, Moore Park suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is used for Test cricket, Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australi ...

. 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 Suns The Gold Coast Suns, officially the Gold Coast Football Club, are a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club is based on Queensland's Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast in the ...

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 Rodney Eade (born 4 April 1958) is a former Australian rules footballer and coach in the Australian Football League. He is a former coach of the Sydney Swans, the Western Bulldogs and the Gold Coast Football Club. He has, to date, coached 377 ...

Statistics

:Marcus Ashcroft's player profile at AFL Tables
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1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 43 , , 10 , , 5 , , 2 , , 67 , , 34 , , 101 , , 22 , , 10 , , 0.5 , , 0.2 , , 6.7 , , 3.4 , , 10.1 , , 2.2 , , 1.0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 13 , , 11 , , 7 , , 116 , , 103 , , 219 , , 38 , , 23 , , 0.8 , , 0.5 , , 8.9 , , 7.9 , , 16.8 , , 2.9 , , 1.8 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 22 , , 2 , , 11 , , 291 , , 173 , , 464 , , 94 , , 42 , , 0.1 , , 0.5 , , 13.2 , , 7.9 , , 21.1 , , 4.3 , , 1.9 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 17 , , 22 , , 19 , , 203 , , 108 , , 311 , , 67 , , 36 , , 1.3 , , 1.1 , , 11.9 , , 6.4 , , 18.3 , , 3.9 , , 2.1 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 20 , , 14 , , 11 , , 260 , , 169 , , 429 , , 79 , , 40 , , 0.7 , , 0.6 , , 13.0 , , 8.5 , , 21.5 , , 4.0 , , 2.0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 22 , , 10 , , 10 , , 270 , , 174 , , 444 , , 58 , , 50 , , 0.5 , , 0.5 , , 12.3 , , 7.9 , , 20.2 , , 2.6 , , 2.3 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 23 , , 10 , , 13 , , 234 , , 169 , , 403 , , 78 , , 43 , , 0.4 , , 0.6 , , 10.2 , , 7.3 , , 17.5 , , 3.4 , , 1.9 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 25 , , 10 , , 11 , , 305 , , 170 , , 475 , , 78 , , 43 , , 0.4 , , 0.4 , , 12.2 , , 6.8 , , 19.0 , , 3.1 , , 1.7 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 23 , , 18 , , 15 , , 293 , , 185 , , 478 , , 92 , , 53 , , 0.8 , , 0.7 , , 12.7 , , 8.0 , , 20.8 , , 4.0 , , 2.3 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 22 , , 7 , , 15 , , 300 , , 201 , , 501 , , 84 , , 41 , , 0.3 , , 0.7 , , 13.6 , , 9.1 , , 22.8 , , 3.8 , , 1.9 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 25 , , 16 , , 8 , , 357 , , 218 , , 575 , , 92 , , 61 , , 0.6 , , 0.3 , , 14.3 , , 8.7 , , 23.0 , , 3.7 , , 2.4 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 21 , , 14 , , 11 , , 227 , , 146 , , 373 , , 81 , , 40 , , 0.7 , , 0.5 , , 10.8 , , 7.0 , , 17.8 , , 3.9 , , 1.9 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" ,

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 25 , , 5 , , 2 , , 222 , , 203 , , 425 , , 103 , , 45 , , 0.2 , , 0.1 , , 8.9 , , 8.1 , , 17.0 , , 4.1 , , 1.8 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" ,

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 25 , , 1 , , 2 , , 232 , , 148 , , 380 , , 120 , , 34 , , 0.0 , , 0.1 , , 9.3 , , 5.9 , , 15.2 , , 4.8 , , 1.4 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" ,

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 10 , , 25 , , 0 , , 1 , , 155 , , 115 , , 270 , , 68 , , 33 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 6.2 , , 4.6 , , 10.8 , , 2.7 , , 1.3 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=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

players, 2024 Norm Smith Medallist Will Ashcroft and 2024 draftee Levi Ashcroft.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashcroft, Marcus 1971 births Living people Brisbane Bears players Brisbane Lions players Brisbane Lions premiership players Allies State of Origin players Southport Australian Football Club players Australia international rules football team players VFL/AFL premiership players Australian rules footballers from the Gold Coast, Queensland