Errol Gulden

Errol Gulden (born 18 July 2002) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL). Gulden was nominated for the 2021 AFL Rising Star award and won the AFLPA best first-year player award in 2021. He was selected in 2023 All-Australian team and won the Bob Skilton Medal in 2023.

Early life
Gulden was born in Sydney to a Turkish-born father and an Australian mother. He grew up in the suburb of Malabar, New South Wales. He began playing junior Australian rules football for the Maroubra Saints as a child and joined the Sydney Swans academy at 11 years of age. In 2018 Gulden was named as an Under 16s All-Australian after his stellar season with the NSW/ACT Under-16s Rams, and was also named as the team's most valuable player. He played in the 2019 NAB All Stars Futures Match alongside future teammates Braeden Campbell and Logan McDonald. Gulden also played for the UNSW-Eastern Suburbs Bulldogs in three seasons from 2018 to 2020 for a total of 33 games and was named as best on ground in their 2019 premiership win over Sydney University.

AFL career
Gulden was recruited by Sydney with the 32nd draft pick in the 2020 AFL draft.

2021 AFL season
Gulden debuted in the opening round of the 2021 AFL season, starring for Sydney in their shock win over. In his first game, he kicked 3 goals and collected 19 disposals and earned himself a Rising Star nomination for the round. In addition, Gulden polled two votes in the 2021 Brownlow Medal, becoming the fifth Swan to poll votes on debut. He backed up his groundbreaking round one performance with a 22 disposal, 1 goal performance the next week in the team's 33 point win over. After this performance, Champion Data statistics described him as having two of the best games recorded by a debutant ever. Gulden played the first eight games of the 2021 season, before being sidelined for an extended period of time due to stress reactions in his foot. He returned in Round 15 against Port Adelaide and remained in the side for the rest of the year. Gulden became a key part of Sydney's best 22, helping the team qualify for finals after a 16th-placed finish the year before. He played 15 games and kicked 12 goals, and was recognised by his peers when he won the AFLPA Best First Year Player award. He also polled in the top 5 for the Rising Star, and was the highest-polling first-year player.

2023 AFL season
In 2023, Gulden polled 27 votes in the Brownlow Medal, finishing in equal fourth place, just four votes behind winner Lachie Neale. This was the most votes by a Swan in a season since 1940. He also received selection to the All-Australian team for the first time. He also won the Bob Skilton Medal, awarded to the best Swans player for the year.

2024 AFL season
Gulden extended his time at the Swans, signing a 4-year contract.

Statistics
Updated to the end of round 18, 2024.

! colspan=3 | Career ! 84 !! 64 !! 52 !! 1356 !! 538 !! 1894 !! 415 !! 318 !! 0.8 !! 0.6 !! 16.1 !! 6.4 !! 22.5 !! 5.1 !! 3.8 !! 32
 * 2021 || || 21
 * 18 || 14 || 11 || 195 || 87 || 282 || 82 || 52 || 0.8 || 0.6 || 10.8 || 4.8 || 15.7 || 4.6 || 2.9 || 2
 * 2022 || || 21
 * 25 || 18 || 8 || 338 || 142 || 480 || 112 || 89 || 0.7 || 0.3 || 13.5 || 5.7 || 19.2 || 4.5 || 3.6 || 3
 * 2023 || || 21
 * 24 || 22 || 20 || 464 || 179 || 643 || 126 || 119 || 0.9 || 0.8 || 19.3 || 7.5 || 26.8 || 5.3 || 5.0 || 27
 * 2024 || || 21
 * 17 || 10 || 13 || 359 || 130 || 489 || 105 || 58 || 0.6 || 0.8 || 21.1 || 7.7 || 28.8 || 6.2 || 3.4 ||
 * - class=sortbottom
 * 2024 || || 21
 * 17 || 10 || 13 || 359 || 130 || 489 || 105 || 58 || 0.6 || 0.8 || 21.1 || 7.7 || 28.8 || 6.2 || 3.4 ||
 * - class=sortbottom
 * - class=sortbottom
 * }

Honours and achievements

 * All-Australian team: 2023
 * Bob Skilton Medal: 2023
 * AFLPA best first-year player: 2021
 * 3× Brett Kirk Medal: 2023 (game 2), 2024 (both games)
 * AFL Rising Star nominee: 2021