Michael "Mike" Sheahan (born 1947) is an Australian journalist who specialises in Australian rules football. He was chief football writer and associate sports editor for the Herald Sun for eighteen years, but recently stepped down at the end of 2011; however, he will still write special columns for the newspaper, including his famous yearly "Top 50". He is also a panelist on the Fox Footy program On the Couch and former media director for the VFL (now AFL). He also joins Brian Taylor, Matthew Richardson, Matthew Lloyd and Leigh Matthews in the 3AW football pre-match discussion on 3AW on Saturday afternoons. In addition he conducts a weekly interview program on Fox Footy, Open Mike.
Sheahan attended Werribee High School and started his journalistic career with the Werribee Banner. He then began work with The Age newspaper in Melbourne before moving to The Herald and subsequently the Herald Sun where he has been a long-time sports writer. His opinionated pieces have drawn some criticism, but he has established himself as one Australian rules football's most prominent writers and his annual Mike Sheahan's Top 50 is always hotly debated. Sheahan also worked with the Seven Network on their late-night football talk show, Talking Footy and currently appears on Fox Sports' On The Couch with Brownlow Medallist Gerard Healy and Sydney Swans premiership coach Paul Roos. He is the cousin of former Test cricketer Paul Sheahan. While not officially a club member of any Australian Football League team, Sheahan revealed on Fox Sports's Before the Bounce that he has a soft spot for the Melbourne Football Club.
In 2008 Sheahan was given the task by the AFL to compile a list of the Greatest 50 players of all time (though no SANFL or WAFL players were included), to be published in the book The Australian Game of Football, which honoured the 150th anniversary of Australian rules football. Sheahan sparked much debate by putting North Melbourne champion Wayne Carey at number one ahead of the AFL's player of the 20th century Leigh Matthews, who was named at number two.
The media centre at AFL House in Melbourne is named in his honour.
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