John Worsfold, Australian footballer and coach
John Richard Worsfold (born 25 September 1968) is a former Australian rules football coach and player. He was the senior coach of the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) between October 2015 and September 2020. He previously had a long association with the West Coast Eagles as player (1987–1998) and coach (2002–2013), captaining the club to premierships in 1992 and 1994 and coaching the club to a premiership in 2006.
Worsfold began his career with the South Fremantle Football Club in the West Australian Football League (WAFL), before being named an inaugural squad member of West Coast on their formation in 1986. After winning the club's best and fairest award in 1988, he was appointed the captain of the club in 1991, a position he would hold until his retirement in 1998. During his period at the club, Worsfold played in 209 games, which including the 1992 and 1994 premiership sides. During this time, he also appeared in five State of Origin matches for Western Australia, including captaining his state twice.
In 2000, two years after his retirement from playing, Worsfold joined Carlton as an assistant coach, remaining in this position until the end of the 2001 season, when he was appointed senior coach of West Coast in place of Ken Judge. Worsfold coached the club in eight finals series, including the 2006 premiership. In 2010, he coached West Coast to its first wooden spoon, but the following season the team finished fourth, with Worsfold receiving the AFLCA Coach of the Year Award for the second time. He coached West Coast in a club record 274 games before resigning at the end of the 2013 season. He was named an inaugural inductee into the West Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2004 and the John Worsfold Medal is named in his honour.
After a two-year absence from coaching, Worsfold was appointed senior coach of Essendon on 5 October 2015. He handed over to his assistant Ben Rutten at the end of the 2020 season as part of a planned transition.