Mark Thompson (footballer)

Mark Thompson (footballer)

Mark "Bomber" Thompson (born 19 November 1963) is a former Australian rules footballer and coach. He played 202 games for the Essendon Football Club between 1983 and 1996, captaining the side from 1992 until 1995. After retiring, he was an assistant coach at Essendon and an assistant coach at Kangaroos, and later went on to become the senior coach of the Geelong Football Club from 2000–2010 coaching them to two Premierships. As Geelong coach, Thompson was given an extended time to rebuild the club's playing list. The side finished 5th in 2000 as his first season as coach but was bundled out by 8th placed Hawthorn in the first week of the finals in the first finals match ever held at the Docklands Stadium. The club performed poorly for the next three seasons, missing the top 8. Thompson's position looked in danger, but in 2004 the side was a big improver, finishing fourth and making the Preliminary Finals, and the following year (2005) the club finished sixth and was beaten in the Semi Finals by 3 points against the eventual premiers Sydney after leading for the majority of the match. Thompson went on in 2007 to win the AFL Premiership against Port Adelaide by a massive 119 points. Following an unexpected loss to Hawthorn in 2008, Thompson coached Geelong to its second Premiership in three years in 2009.