JOHNSON, Mark

Mark Johnson was elevated to the Club's senior list in 1999 after two solid years in the Reserves. He won the Reserves Best and Fairest award in 1997. Before that he had represented Vic Metro in 1995 and 1996 while playing with the Calder Cannons.

He, along with Dean Rioli, won the Club's Best First Year Player award in 1999. After throwing off some serious injury problems, he played 15 games for the season, highlighted by a starring game in Round 13 against the Western Bulldogs. He polled Crichton Medal votes in five games for the year.

During 2000 Johnson put together a season of hard running, aggression and consistency. He was responsible for launching plenty of forward thrusts and was considered unlucky not to win All-Australian selection. Johnson played a quarter in both the Qualifying and Preliminary Finals of 2000 and played on Jeff Farmer in the Grand Final, winning that particular match up.

His best performance in 2001 came in Round 20 against Collingwood at the MCG. His stats for the year included 23 games, 10 goals, 250 kicks and a berth in the 2001 Grand Final team.

An outstanding season saw Johnson win the 2002 Crichton Medal after polling 312 votes from 19 of the 24 matches in which he played. He also shared the Best in Finals Award with Jason Johnson.

Backing up his previous year's Best and Fairest , Johnson finished 5th in 2003, after a consistent season. He led the Club in tackles and inside 50s, and also took the Mark of the Year in Round 7 against Richmond.

He had solid year in 2004, playing 20 games and kicking 17 goals, he played in the majority of the season in the backline and the midfield.

2005 was the year when Mark Johnson impressed fans, with his never-say-die attitude and on-ball work ethic. Fans appreciation of Johnson was highlighted when he won the supporters' award that year. This was determined when he was the best player for Essendon on five occasions, and one of the best on 12 occasions in the 22 games he played. Other achievements in a stellar season were being runner-up for the Crichton Medal, he also had the highest number of tackles (85) and was also Essendon's third highest goalkicker of the year. He signed on with Essendon for another two seasons in September ending speculation about a possible move to Port Adelaide.

He played 20 games and kicked seven goals during the 2007 season.

Mark's brother, David, spent two years on Essendon's rookie list without playing a senior game, but later played 58 games for Geelong (2002-2006).

Mark Johnson was traded to Fremantle prior to the start of season 2008. He played 20 games then and retired at the end of the year.