Essendon Football Club

History

Formation and VFA years (1872–1896)

The club was founded by members of the Royal Agricultural Society, the Melbourne Hunt Club and the Victorian Woolbrokers. The Essendon Football Club is thought to have been formed in 1872 at a meeting in the home of a well-known brewery family, the McCrackens, whose Ascot Vale property hosted a team of local junior players.

Robert McCracken (1813–1885), the owner of several city hotels, was the founder and first president of the Essendon Football Club, and his son, Alex McCracken, its first secretary. Alex later became president of the newly formed VFL. Alex's cousin Collier McCracken, who had already played with Melbourne, was the team's first captain.

The club played its first recorded match against the Carlton Second Twenty (the reserves) on 7 June 1873, with Essendon winning by one goal. Essendon played 13 matches in its first season, winning seven, with four draws and losing two. The club was one of the inaugural junior members of the Victorian Football Association (VFA) in 1877, and it began competing as a senior club from the 1878 season. During its early years in the Association, Essendon played its home matches at Flemington Hill, but it moved to the East Melbourne Cricket Ground in 1881.

In 1878, at Flemington Hill, Essendon played its first match on what would be considered by modern standards to be a full-sized field. In 1879, Essendon played Melbourne in one of the earliest night matches recorded when the ball was painted white. In 1883, the team played four matches in eight days in Adelaide: losing to Norwood (on 23 June) and defeating Port Adelaide (on 16 June), a combined South Australian team (on 18 June), and South Adelaide (on 20 June).

The club played against the touring British footballers in 1888.

In 1891, Essendon won their first VFA premiership, which they repeated in 1892, 1893 and 1894. One of the club's greatest players, Albert Thurgood, played for the club during this period, making his debut in 1892. Essendon (18 wins, 2 draws) was undefeated in the 1893 season.

Founding of the VFL to World War I (1897–1915)

At the end of the 1896 season, Essendon, along with seven other clubs, formed the Victorian Football League. Essendon's first VFL game was in 1897 against Geelong at Corio Oval in Geelong. Essendon won its first VFL premiership by winning the 1897 VFL finals series in a round-robin event. Essendon again won the premiership in 1901, defeating Collingwood in the Grand Final. The club won successive premierships in 1911 and 1912 over Collingwood and South Melbourne, respectively.

"Same Olds"

The club is recorded as having played at McCracken's Paddock, Glass's Paddock, and Flemington Hill. It is likely that these are three different names for the one ground, given that McCracken's Paddock was a parcel of land that sat within the larger Glass's Paddock, which in turn was situated in an area widely known at the time as Flemington Hill. In 1882, the club moved home games to the East Melbourne Cricket Ground (since demolished) after an application to play on the Essendon Cricket Ground (later known as Windy Hill) was voted down by Lord Mayor of the City of Essendon, James Taylor, on the basis that the considered the Essendon Cricket Ground "to be suitable only for the gentleman's game of cricket".

The club became known by the nickname "the Same Old Essendon" from the title and hook of the principal song performed by a band of supporters which regularly occupied a section of the grandstand at the club's games. The nickname first appeared in print in the local North Melbourne Advertiser in 1889, and ended up gaining wide use, often as the diminutive "Same Olds".

This move away from Essendon, at a time when fans would walk to their local ground, didn't go down too well with many Essendon people; and, as a consequence, a new team and club was formed in 1900, unconnected with the first (although it played in the same colours), that was based at the Essendon Cricket Ground, and playing in the Victorian Football Association. It was known firstly as Essendon Town and, after 1905, as Essendon (although it was often called Essendon A, with the A standing for association).

Return to suburban Essendon (1921–1932)

After the 1921 season, the East Melbourne Cricket Ground was closed and demolished to expand the Flinders Street Railyard. Having played at the East Melbourne Cricket Ground from 1882 to 1921, and having won four VFA premierships (1891–1894) and four VFL premierships (1897, 1901, 1911 and 1912) while there, Essendon was looking for a new home. It was offered grounds at the current Royal Melbourne Showgrounds, Ascot Vale; at Victoria Park, Melbourne; at Arden St, North Melbourne; and the Essendon Cricket Ground. The Essendon City Council offered the (VFL) team the Essendon Cricket Ground, announcing that it would be prepared to spend over £12,000 (equivalent to A$2,159,104 in 2022) on improvements, including a new grandstand, scoreboard and re-fencing of the oval.

The club's first preference was to move to North Melbourne—a move which the North Melbourne Football Club (then in the VFA) saw as an opportunity to get into the VFL. Most of Essendon's members and players were from the North Melbourne area, and sportswriters believed that Essendon would have been taken over by or rebranded as North Melbourne within only a few years of the move. However, the VFA, desperate for its own strategic reasons not to lose its use of the North Melbourne Cricket Ground, successfully appealed to the State Government to block Essendon's move to North Melbourne. With its preferred option off the table, the club returned to Essendon, and the Essendon VFA club disbanded, with most of its players moving to North Melbourne.

The old "Same Olds" nickname fell into disuse, and by 1922 the other nicknames "Sash Wearers" and "Essendonians" that had been variously used from time to time were also abandoned. The team became universally known as "the Dons" (from EssenDON). (The club adopted the nickname "the Bombers" at the start of 1940 during the early phases of World War II, due to Windy Hill's proximity to what was then Melbourne’s main airport, Essendon Aerodrome.)

In the 1922 season, playing in Essendon for the first time in decades, Essendon reached the final four for the first time since 1912, finishing in third place. In the 1923 season, the club topped the ladder with 13 wins from 16 games. After a 17-point Second Semi-Final loss to South Melbourne, Essendon defeated Fitzroy (who had beaten South Melbourne) in the 1923 Grand Final (then known as a "Challenge Final" due to its different finals format): Essendon 8.15 (63) to Fitzroy 6.10 (46). Amongst Essendon's best players were half-forward flanker George "Tich" Shorten, centre half-forward Justin McCarthy, centre half-back Tom Fitzmaurice, rover Frank Maher, and wingman Jack Garden. This was one of Essendon's most famous sides, dubbed the "Mosquito Fleet" due to the number of small, very fast players in the side. Six players were 5'6" (167 cm) or shorter.

Dick Reynolds years (1933–1960)

After the malaise of the late 1920s and early 1930, the 1933 season proved a turning point in morale despite no finals entries for the entire 1930s. Essendon saw the debut of the player regarded as one of the game's greatest-ever players, Dick Reynolds. His impact was immediate. He won his first Brownlow Medal aged 19. His record of three Brownlow victories (1934, 1937, 1938), equalled Fitzroy's Haydn Bunton, Sr (1931, 1932, 1935), and later equalled by Bob Skilton (1959, 1963, 1968), and Ian Stewart (1965, 1966, 1971).

Reynolds was appointed coach, jointly with Harry Hunter, in 1939 while still a player. A year later, he became the sole coach and led the side into the finals in 1940 for the first time since 1926, finishing third. Melbourne defeated Essendon by 5 points in the preliminary final and went on to win the premiership.

The Essendon Football Club adopted the nickname The Bombers in April 1940.

The 1941 season culminated in Essendon's first grand final appearance since 1923, but the side again lowered its colours to Melbourne. While Australia had entered World War II – located primarily in Europe and Africa – in 1939, the Pacific Theatre opened in December 1941. Australian sports competition was considerably weakened, with Geelong being forced to pull out of the competition due to petrol rationing. Attendances at games also declined dramatically, while some clubs had to move from their normal grounds due to them being used for military purposes. Many players were lost to football due to their military service. Nevertheless, Essendon went on to win the 1942 Premiership with Western Australian Wally Buttsworth in irrepressible form at centre half-back. Essendon won the 1942 Premiership by defeating Richmond in the grand final, 19.18 (132) to 11.13 (79). The match was played at Princes Park in front of 49,000 spectators.

Essendon lost the 1943 grand final to Richmond by 5 points, finished 3rd in 1944, and dropped to 8th in 1945.

After World War II, Essendon enjoyed great success. In the five years immediately after the war, Essendon won three premierships (1946, 1949, 1950) and were runners-up twice (1947, 1948). In 1946, Essendon were clearly the VFL's supreme force, topping the ladder after the home-and-away games and surviving a drawn second semi-final against Collingwood to make it through to the grand final a week later with a score of 10.16 (76) to 8.9 (57). In the grand final against Melbourne, Essendon set a grand final record score of 22.18 (150) to Melbourne 13.9 (87), featuring a 7-goal performance by centre half-forward Gordon Lane. Rover Bill Hutchinson, and defenders Wally Buttsworth, Cec Ruddell and Harold Lambert were among the best players.

Post-Reynolds era and the "Slugging Seventies" (1961–1980)

John Coleman started his coaching career at Essendon in 1961, thus ending the Dick Reynolds era at the club. In the same year, Essendon finished the season mid-table, and supporters were not expecting too much for the following season. However, the club blitzed the opposition in 1962, losing only two matches and finishing top of the table. Both losses were to the previous year's grand finalists. The finals posed no problems for the resurgent Dons, easily accounting for Carlton in the season's climax, winning the 1962 Premiership by 32 points. This was a remarkable result for Coleman, who, in just his second season of coaching, claimed the ultimate prize in Australian football. As so often is the case after a flag, the following two years were below standard. A further premiership in 1965 (won from 4th position on the ladder) was also unexpected due to periods of poor form during the 1965 season. The Bombers were a different club when the finals came around, but some of the credit for the improvement was given to the influence of Brian Sampson and Ted Fordham during the finals. Coleman's time as coach turned out to be much like his playing career: highly successful but cut short when he had to stand down due to health problems in 1967. Only six years later, on the eve of the 1973 season, he died of a heart attack at just 44 years of age.

Following Coleman's retirement, the club experienced tough times on and off the field. Finals appearances were rare for the side, which was often in contention for the wooden spoon. Essendon did manage to make the 1968 VFL Grand Final, but it lost to Carlton by just three points and did not make it back to the big stage for 15 years.

During the period from 1968 until 1980, five different coaches were tried, with none lasting longer than four years. Off the field, the club went through troubled times as well. In 1970, five players went on strike before the season even began, demanding higher payments. Essendon did make the finals in 1972 and 1973 under the autocratic direction of Des Tuddenham (Collingwood), but they were beaten badly in successive elimination finals by St. Kilda and did not taste finals action again until the very end of the decade. The 1970s Essendon sides were involved in many rough and tough encounters under Tuddenham, who himself came to loggerheads with Ron Barassi at a quarter-time huddle where both coaches exchanged heated words. Essendon had tough but talented players with the likes of Ron "Rotten Ronnie" Andrews and experienced players such as Barry Davis, Ken Fletcher, Geoff Blethyn, Neville Fields and Western Australian import Graham Moss. In May 1974, a controversial half-time all-in-brawl with Richmond at Windy Hill and a 1975 encounter with Carlton were testimony to the era. Following the Carlton match, the Herald described Windy Hill as "Boot Hill" because of the extent of the fights and the high number of reported players (eight in all — four from Carlton and four from Essendon). The peak of these incidents occurred in 1980, with new recruit Phil Carman making headlines for head-butting an umpire. The tribunal suspended him for sixteen weeks, and although most people thought this was a fair (or even lenient) sentence, he took his case to the Supreme Court of Victoria, gathering even more unwanted publicity for the club. Despite this, the club had recruited many talented young players in the late 1970s who emerged as club greats. Three of those young players were Simon Madden, Tim Watson and Paul Van Der Haar. Terry Daniher and his brother Neale came via a trade with South Melbourne, and Roger Merrett joined soon afterwards to form the nucleus of what would become the formidable Essendon sides of the 1980s. This raw but talented group of youngsters took Essendon to an elimination final in 1979 under Barry Davis but were again thrashed in an Elimination Final, this time at the hands of Fitzroy. Davis resigned at the end of the 1980 season after missing out on a finals appearance.

Kevin Sheedy era (1981–2007)

Former Richmond player Kevin Sheedy started as head coach in 1981.

Essendon reached the Grand Final in 1983, the first time since 1968. Hawthorn won by a then-record 83 points.

In 1984, Essendon won the pre-season competition and completed the regular season on top of the ladder. The club played, and beat, Hawthorn in the 1984 VFL Grand Final to win their 13th premiership — their first since 1965. The teams met again in the 1985 Grand Final, which Essendon also won. At the start of 1986, Essendon were considered unbackable for three successive flags, but a succession of injuries to key players Paul Van der Haar (only fifteen games from 1986 to 1988), Tim Watson, Darren Williams, Roger Merrett and Simon Madden led the club to win only eight of its last eighteen games in 1986 and only nine games (plus a draw with Geelong) in 1987. In July 1987, the Bombers suffered a humiliation at the hands of Sydney, who fell two points short of scoring the then highest score in VFL history.

In 1988, Essendon made a rebound to sixth place with twelve wins, including a 140-point thrashing of Brisbane in which they had a record sixteen individual goalkickers. In 1989, they rebounded further to second on the ladder with only five losses and thrashed Geelong in the Qualifying Final. However, after a fiery encounter with Hawthorn ended in a convincing defeat, the Bombers were eliminated by Geelong the following week.

In 1990, Essendon finished top of the ladder. However, after the Qualifying Final between Collingwood and West Coast was drawn and replayed, Essendon lost to Collingwood in both the second semi-final and the grand final.

Following the 1991 season, Essendon moved its home games from its traditional home ground at Windy Hill to the larger and newly renovated MCG. This move generated large increases in game attendances, memberships and revenue for the club. The club's training and administrative base remained at Windy Hill until 2013.

Following the retirement of Tim Watson and Simon Madden in the early 1990s, the team was built on new players such as Gavin Wanganeen, Joe Misiti, Mark Mercuri, Michael Long, Dustin Fletcher (son of Ken) and James Hird, who was taken at No. 79 in the 1990 draft. This side became known as the "Baby Bombers", as the core of the 1993 premiership side was made up of young players early in their careers.

Supplements saga and fallout (2013 - 2021)

In 2013, Essendon was investigated by the AFL and the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) over its 2012 player supplements program, specifically regarding the alleged use of the banned peptide Thymosin beta-4. On 27 August 2013, the AFL found the club guilty of bringing the game into disrepute for establishing a program that was "experimental, inappropriate and inadequately vetted". The club was fined A$2 million, stripped of early draft picks, and disqualified from the 2013 finals series. Senior coach James Hird was suspended for twelve months, and several executives, including chairman David Evans and CEO Ian Robson, resigned.

Despite the AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal initially clearing the players in March 2015, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appealed the decision. On 12 January 2016, the Court of Arbitration for Sport overruled the AFL tribunal, finding 34 past and present players guilty of taking the banned substance. The players were suspended for the entire 2016 season. Forced to field a team composed heavily of VFL top-up players, Essendon claimed the wooden spoon in 2016 for the first time since 1933.

Following the conclusion of the saga, Essendon made intermittent finals appearances, qualifying in 2017, 2019, and 2021 under coaches John Worsfold and Ben Rutten, but suffered elimination final defeats each time. The club has struggled to achieve significant post-season success, enduring a drought of finals victories that stretches back to 2004.

Brad Scott Era (2023–2026)

In 2023, reports emerged claiming that the club was reconsidering its logo. These included rumours that the bomber logo was insensitive due to the operation of bomber jets in conflict. These reports were denied by then-captain Zach Merrett.

At the end of the 2023 season, it was announced that former West Coast and Gold Coast player Matt Rosa would join Essendon as Talent & Operations Manager and that Adrian Dodoro would step back from his position of recruiting manager after the upcoming trade and draft periods.

In Brad Scott's first season as coach, Essendon sat in fifth position after round 17, but their form fell off later in the season to finish 11th with 11 wins and 12 losses.

In Brad Scott's second season as coach, Essendon finished with a win–draw–loss record of 11–1–11.

On 13 August 2024 club champion Dyson Heppell announced he would retire at the end of the season after playing 253 games for the club. Heppell was the final player of the Essendon 34 still playing at the club.

Brad Scott’s third season as coach was less successful, with Essendon finishing the season with just 6 wins and 17 losses, failing to win a game after Round 11. The season was marked by injury, resulting in the bombers breaking the record for the most players debuted in a season at 15, surpassing Fitzroy who previously held the record with 13 debutants. Essendon announced part way through the season that head of high performance Suan Murphy and the club would part ways. Mathew Inness was announced as his replacement in September after the end of the season.

During the 2026 AFL Season, Essendon parted ways with senior coach Brad Scott, despite him having a year remaining on his contract. The Club's board cited a "lack of progress" and failure to meet key performance indicators as the primary reasons for his termination. This decision followed a severe downturn in on-field performance, in which the Bombers recorded only one victory from a 24-game period, spanning the 2025 and 2026 Seasons. Following Brad Scott's departure, assistant coach Dean Solomon was appointed interim senior coach for the remainder of the season.

Mark McVeigh Era (2026 - present)

On Monday 24th of August 2026, Mark McVeigh was appointed Senior Coach of Essendon, a three year contract running through to the end of the 2029 AFL season. Club President Andrew Welsh said the decision was unanimously supported by the club board, and stating in a press release that "we have been extremely clear on the strategy and direction of this football club. We are building the next successful era for Essendon, with a view to playing finals, winning finals and competing for premierships. Mark is the best coach to take us forward to achieve that."

Club symbols

Guernsey

Essendon's first recorded jumpers were navy blue (The Footballers, edited by Thomas Power, 1875) although the club wore 'red and black caps and hose'. In 1877, The Footballers records the addition of 'a red sash over left shoulder'. This is the first time a red sash as part of the club jumper, and by 1878 there are newspaper reports referring to Essendon players as 'the men in the sash'.

Given that blue and navy blue were the most popular colours at the time, it is thought that Essendon adopted a red sash in 1877 to distinguish its players from others in similar-coloured jumpers.

In 2007, the AFL Commission laid down the requirement that all clubs must produce an alternative jumper for use in matches where jumpers are considered to clash. From 2007 to 2011, the Essendon clash guernsey was the same design as its home guernsey, but with a substantially wider sash such that the guernsey was predominantly red rather than predominantly black. This was changed after 2011 when the AFL deemed that the wider sash did not provide sufficient contrast.

From 2012 to 2016, Essendon's clash guernsey was predominantly grey, with a red sash fimbriated in black; the grey field contained, in small print, the names of all Essendon premiership players.

Before the 2016 season, Essendon's changed their clash guernsey to a predominantly red one, featuring a red sash outlined in black. Similar to the grey jumper, the names of Essendon premiership players were also printed outside the sash.

The 2025 season saw Essendon unveil a new away/clash guernsey, which is red with a black sash, a reverse of the home guernsey.

Following Adam Ramanauskas's personal battle with cancer, a "Clash for Cancer" match against Melbourne was launched in 2006. This was a joint venture between Essendon and the Cancer Council of Victoria to raise funds for the organisation. Despite a formal request to the AFL being denied, players wore yellow armbands for the match, which resulted in the club being fined $20,000. In 2007, the AFL agreed to allow yellow armbands to be incorporated into the left sleeve of the jumper. The 'Clash for Cancer' match against Melbourne has become an annual event, repeated in subsequent seasons, though in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2016, Hawthorn (twice), the Sydney Swans and Brisbane Lions were the opponents in those respective seasons instead of Melbourne. In 2009, the jumpers were auctioned along with yellow boots worn by some players during the match.

Club song

The club's theme song, "See the Bombers Fly Up", is thought to have been written c. 1959 by Kevin Andrews in the home of player Jeff Gamble at which time Kevin Andrews was living. The song is based on the tune of Johnny Hamp 's 1929 song "(Keep Your) Sunny Side Up" at an increased tempo. Jeff Gamble came up with the line 'See the bombers fly up, up' while Kevin Andrews contributed all or most of the rest. At the time, "(Keep Your) Sunny Side Up" was the theme song for the popular Melbourne-based TV show on Channel 7 Sunnyside Up. The official version of the song was recorded in 1972 by the Fable Singers and is still used.

The song, as with all other AFL clubs, is played prior to every match and at the conclusion of matches when the team is victorious.

See the Bombers fly up, up!

To win the premiership flag.

Our boys who play this grand old game,

Are always striving for glory and fame!

See the Bombers fly up, up,

The other teams they don't fear;

They all try their best,

But they can't get near,

As the Bombers fly up!

Songwriter Mike Brady, of "Up There Cazaly" fame, penned an updated version of the song in 1999 complete with a new verse arrangement, but it was not well received. However, this version is occasionally played at club functions. In 2018, Andrews revealed that there was an error in the lyrics, in which in the line "The other teams they don't fear", the word "they" was supposed to be "we".

Logo and mascot

The club's current logo was introduced in 1998, making it the oldest AFL logo in use.

Their mascot is known as "Skeeta Reynolds", and was named after Dick Reynolds. He is a mosquito and was created in honour of the team's back-to-back premiership sides in the 1920s known as the "Mosquito Fleet". He was first named through a competition run in the Bomber magazine with "Skeeta" being the winning entry. This was later changed to "Skeeta Reynolds". He appears as a red mosquito in an Essendon jumper and wears a red and black scarf.

Home ground and training base

Essendon's primary home ground was Windy Hill Oval, where the club played home matches from 1922 to 1991. Prior to this, the club played at the defunct East Melbourne Cricket Ground. In 1992, the club ceased playing senior matches at Windy Hill and moved games to the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). In 2000, the club shifted the majority of its home games to the newly constructed Docklands Stadium, while retaining high-drawing fixtures at the MCG. This arrangement usually resulted in seven games at Docklands and four at the MCG, though in 2026, the club succeeded in persuading the AFL to fixture an additional home game at the MCG, resulting in six at Docklands Stadium and five at the MCG.

Since 2013 the Essendon Football Club's primary training and administration base has been at The Hangar, a purpose-built training facility located in Melbourne Airport. Prior to this Essendon was based at the club's long-standing home ground of Windy Hill Oval.

Rivalries

Essendon's biggest rivals are Carlton, Richmond, and Collingwood, as these teams and Essendon are the four biggest and most supported clubs in Victoria. Matches between the clubs are often close regardless of form and ladder positions. If out of the race themselves, all four have the desire to deny the others a finals spot or a premiership. Essendon also has a fierce rivalry with Hawthorn, stemming from excessive on-field violence in the 1980s, perhaps reaching its zenith with the infamous Line in the Sand Match in 2004. Additionally, Essendon has a three-decade rivalry with the West Coast Eagles.

Carlton – The rivalry between Essendon and Carlton is considered one of the strongest in the league. With the teams sharing the record of 16 premierships, both sides are keen to become outright leader, or if out of the finals race, at least ensure the other doesn't. In recent years, the rivalry has thickened, with Carlton beating the 1999 Minor Premiers and premiership favourites by 1 point in the Preliminary Final. Other notable meetings between the two clubs include the 1908, 1947, 1949, 1962 and 1968 VFL Grand Finals and 1993 AFL Grand Final, with some decided by small margins. Of the 6 Grand Finals played out of the two clubs, Essendon has won 3 and Carlton has won 3.

Collingwood – In the early days of the VFL, this rivalry grew out of several Grand Final meetings: 1901, 1902 and 1911. The teams didn't meet again in a Grand Final until 1990 when Collingwood won to draw level with the Bombers on 14 premierships and deny the Bombers a chance to join Carlton with 15 flags. Since 1995, the clubs face off against each other annually in the Anzac Day clash, a match which is described as the second biggest of the season (behind only the Grand Final). Being possibly the two biggest football clubs in Victoria, regardless of their position on the ladder, this game always attracts a huge crowd, and it is a match both teams have a great desire to win regardless of either team's season prospects. The rivalry thickened further in 2023 when Collingwood joined Essendon and Carlton with a record 16 premierships.

Richmond – This rivalry stems out of the 1942 Grand Final which Essendon won. In 1974, a half-time brawl took place involving trainers, officials and players at Windy Hill and has become infamous as one of the biggest ever. The teams didn't meet in the finals between 1944 and 1995, but there have been many close margins in home and away season matches as a result of each team's "never say die" attitude and ability to come back from significant margins in the dying stages of matches. Having met in the AFL's Rivalry Round in (2006 and 2009) and meeting in the Dreamtime at the 'G match since 2005, the rivalry and passion between the clubs and supporters has re-ignited. In recent years the rivalry has been promoted as the "Clash of the Sash".

Organisation and finance

Board

Andrew Welsh has served as President of the board since September 2025, with Vice-President Anthony Di Pietro serving since March 2026.

Essendon's board members are Andrew Welsh, Tim Roberts, David Wills, Dorothy Hisgrove, Andrew Muir, Kate O'Sullivan, Anthony Howard AM KC, and Catriona Larritt.

Sponsorship

The club's apparel is produced by Puma. The club's apparel has also been produced by Reebok, Fila, Adidas, ISC and Under Armour.

Honours

See Essendon Football Club honours.

Team of the Century

To celebrate the 125th anniversary of the club, as well as 100 years of the VFL/AFL, Essendon announced its "Team of the Century" in 1997.

Champions of Essendon

In 2002, a club panel chose and ranked the 26 greatest players to have played for Essendon.

Hall of Fame

Essendon Hall of Fame Legends (year inducted): Bill Brew (2013), Bill Busbridge (1996), Jack Clarke (1996), John Coleman (1996), Bill Cookson (1996), Wally Crichton (2010), Terry Daniher (1996), Barry Davis (2006), Ron Evans (2012), Tom Fitzmaurice (1996), Ken Fraser (1996), Allan Hird Sr (1996), James Hird (2011), Harry Hunter (2015), Bill Hutchison (1996), Matthew Lloyd (2013), Simon Madden (1996), Alex McCracken (1996), Michael Long (2010), Howard Okey (2012), Frank Reid (1996), Dick Reynolds (1996), Greg Sewell (2009), Kevin Sheedy (2008), Albert Thurgood (1996), Tim Watson (1998), Neale Daniher* (2018), Dustin Fletcher*, Dr Bruce Reid* (2014), Gavin Wanganeen*

*denotes recent elevation to Legend status

Essendon Hall of Fame members (year inducted): Noel Allanson (2015), Fred Baring (2013), John Birt (2010), Reg Burgess (2015), Wally Buttsworth (2010), Barry Capuano (2014), Kevin Egan (2015), Alec Epis (2014), Ken Fletcher (2011), Keith Forbes (2010), Garry Foulds (2010), Darryl Gerlach (2013), Mark Harvey (2014), Bruce Heymanson (2013), Jack Jones (2012), Ron Kirwan (2016), Harold Lambert (2018), Scott Lucas (2013), Roy McConnell (2013), Don McKenzie (2010), Roger Merrett (2018), Joe Misiti (2012), Hugh Mitchell (2012), Graham Moss (2012), Gary O'Donnell (2014), Dr Ian Reynolds (2018), Paul Salmon (2012), David Shaw (2011), Arthur Showers (2010), George Stuckey (2010), Hugh Torney (2011), Paul Vander Haar (2015)

Match records

Highest score: 32.16 (208) v Footscray 9.8 (62) – Round 22, 1982, at Western Oval

Lowest score: 0.9 (9) v Fitzroy 6.11 (47) – Round 1, 1899, at Brunswick Street Oval

Lowest score since 1919: 1.12 (18) v St Kilda 5.5 (35) – Round 10, 1923, at Junction Oval

Highest losing score: Essendon 21.13 (139) v Collingwood 23.6 (144), Round 22, 1987, M.C.G.

Lowest winning score: Essendon 1.8 (14) v Melbourne 0.8 (8), Finals Week 3, 1897, Lake Oval (League record)

Lowest winning score since 1919: Essendon 3.10 (28) v Footscray 3.5 (23), Round 13, 1989, Windy Hill

Greatest winning margin: 165 points – Essendon 28.16 (184) v South Melbourne 2.7 (19), Round 18, 1964, Windy Hill

Greatest losing margin: 163 points – Essendon 11.7 (73) v Sydney Swans 36.20 (236), Round 17, 1987, S.C.G.

Record attendance (home-and-away game): 94,825 – 25 April 1995 at MCG v Collingwood (inaugural Anzac Day match)

Record attendance (finals match): 116,828 – 1968 VFL Grand Final v Carlton

Reserves team

The Essendon reserves are the reserves team of the club, playing in the Victorian Football League.

History

The team first competed in the Victorian Junior Football League (later the AFL reserves) when the competition was established in 1919, and was known as Essendon Juniors until the end of 1922.

The team enjoyed success in the form of eight premierships, including in the last year of the reserves competition in 1999. From 2000 until 2002, the club's reserves team competed in the Victorian Football League.

At the end of 2002, the club dissolved its reserves team and established a reserves affiliation with the Bendigo Football Club in the VFL. The affiliation ran for ten years from 2003 until 2012, allowing reserves players from the Essendon list to play with Bendigo. For all but the final year of the affiliation, Bendigo was known as the Bendigo Bombers.

The club re-established its reserves team in 2013, seeking greater developmental autonomy. The team plays its home games at Windy Hill. The team is made up of senior-listed AFL players and VFL-contracted players.

Runners-up (10)

a Essendon refused to play the Grand Final in Geelong, so the premiership was awarded to Geelong.

Women's teams

AFL Women's team

Essendon fielded a team in the AFL Women's (AFLW) competition from its seventh season. In March 2022, former North Melbourne AFLW player and Essendon VFLW captain Georgia Nanscawen was announced as the club's first AFLW player signing, and Western Bulldogs AFLW assistant coach Natalie Wood was announced as the club's first AFLW coach a week later. The club's AFLW coaching panel was finalised in late June.

VFL Women's team

Essendon has fielded a team in the VFL Women's (VFLW) competition since the 2018 season. The league is the highest-grade competition for female footballers in Victoria and one of three second-tier female competitions underneath the national AFL Women's.

Sources: Club historical data Archived 8 March 2021 at the Wayback Machine VFLW 2017-21 stats and VFLW 2021-present stats

Other ventures

In December 2017, Essendon entered e-sports by acquiring Australian League of Legends team Abyss ESports. This made them the second AFL team to acquire an e-sports division after Adelaide acquired Legacy ESports in May.

On 2 December 2019, it was announced that the Bombers' OPL slot had been sold to Perth-based internet provider Pentanet, marking Essendon's exit from the e-sports arena.

In 2018, the Essendon Football Club, along with four other AFL clubs, entered the Victorian Wheelchair Football League.

Activism

Aboriginal support

Starting with Norm McDonald in 1947, Essendon has a proud history of fostering Aboriginal talent at the top level. This came to the fore during the 1990s with players such as Michael Long, Derek Kickett, Gavin Wanganeen, and Dean Rioli rising through the ranks and being fostered by Kevin Sheedy. Dreamtime at the 'G and the Long Walk are two prominent annual events staged to help promote and support Aboriginal culture. The Long Walk, specifically, is designed to raise money for Indigenous education programs across the country.

Additionally, Essendon is a supporter of the Voice to Parliament.

Same-Sex Marriage

During the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey, Essendon supported the Yes vote.