The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers, is a professional Australian rules football club. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the game's premier competition. The club was formed by the McCracken family in their Ascot Vale home "Alisa", and while the exact date is unknown, it is generally accepted to have been in 1872. The club's first recorded game took place on 7 June 1873 against a Carlton seconds team. From 1878 until 1896, the club played in the Victorian Football Association (VFA), then joined seven other clubs in October 1896 to form the breakaway Victorian Football League. Headquartered at the Essendon Recreation Ground, known as Windy Hill, from 1922 to 2013, the club moved to The Hangar in Tullamarine in late 2013 on land owned by the Melbourne Airport corporation. The club shares its home games between Docklands Stadium and the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Zach Merrett is the current club captain.
The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's top professional competition.
The AFL grand final is an Australian rules football match to determine the premiers for the Australian Football League (AFL) season. From its inception until 1989, it was known as the VFL grand final, as the league at that time was the Victorian Football League. Played at the end of the finals series, the game has been held annually since 1898, except in 1924. It is traditionally staged on the afternoon of the last Saturday in September, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. As the premier match of the AFL season, it attracts one of the largest audiences in Australian sport, regularly attracting a crowd of more than 100,000 and a television audience of millions.
Rivalries in the Australian Football League exist between many teams, most of which typically draw large crowds and interest regardless of both teams' positions on the ladder. The AFL encourages the building of such rivalries, as a method of increasing publicity for the league, to the point of designating one round each year as "Rivalry Round" when many of these match-ups are held on the one weekend. Whilst some rivalries, such as between teams from adjacent areas, are still strong, the designation of an entire round of fixtures as a Rivalry Round is often criticised due to some arbitrary match-ups, or ignoring stronger and more recent rivalries.
The 1914 VFL season was the 18th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured ten clubs, ran from 25 April until 26 September, and comprised an 18-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top four clubs.
The 1923 VFL season was the 27th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured nine clubs, ran from 5 May until 20 October, and comprised a 16-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top four clubs.
The 1924 VFL season was the 28th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured nine clubs, ran from 26 April until 27 September, and comprised a 16-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top four clubs.
The 1926 VFL season was the 30th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 1 May until 9 October, and comprised an 18-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top four clubs.
The 2000 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Essendon Football Club and the Melbourne Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 2 September 2000 rather than in its usual last Saturday of September date to avoid conflicting with the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. It was the 104th annual grand final of the Australian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 2000 AFL season. The match, attended by 96,249 spectators, was won by Essendon by a margin of 60 points, marking that club's 16th premiership and thereby equalling the record for the most VFL/AFL premierships.
The 1993 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Carlton Football Club and Essendon Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 25 September 1993. It was the 97th annual grand final of the Australian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1993 AFL season. The match, attended by 96,862 spectators, was won by Essendon by a margin of 44 points, marking that club's 15th premiership victory.
The 1947 VFL grand final was an Australian rules football match contested between the Carlton Football Club and Essendon Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 27 September 1947. It was the 49th annual grand final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1947 VFL season. The match, attended by 85,793 spectators, was won by Carlton by one point, marking that club's eighth VFL premiership. The winning goal was kicked by Fred Stafford in the dying seconds of the match to give Carlton the win.
The 1969 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Carlton Football Club and Richmond Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 27 September 1969. It was the 72nd annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1969 VFL season. The match, attended by 119,165 spectators, was won by Richmond by a margin of 25 points, marking that club's seventh VFL/AFL premiership victory.
The 1983 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Hawthorn Football Club and Essendon Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 24 September 1983. It was the 87th annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1983 VFL season. The match, attended by 110,332 spectators, was won by Hawthorn by a margin of 83 points, marking that club's fifth premiership victory.
The 1986 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Hawthorn Football Club and the Carlton Football Club. The game was played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in Melbourne on 27 September 1986. It was the 90th annual grand final of the Victorian Football League (VFL), staged to determine the premiers for the 1986 VFL season. The match, attended by 101,861 spectators, was won by Hawthorn by a margin of 42 points, marking that club's sixth premiership victory.
The 1984 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Essendon Football Club and Hawthorn Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 29 September 1984. It was the 88th annual grand final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1984 VFL season. The match, attended by 92,685 spectators, was won by Essendon by a margin of 24 points, marking that club's 13th premiership victory.
The 1950 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Essendon Football Club and North Melbourne Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 23 September 1950. It was the 53rd annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1950 VFL season. The match, attended by 85,869 spectators, was won by Essendon by 38 points, marking that club's tenth premiership victory.
The 1908 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Carlton Football Club and Essendon Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 26 September 1908. It was the 11th annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1908 VFL season. The match, attended by 50,261 spectators, was won by reigning premiers Carlton by a margin of 9 points, marking that club's third premiership victory and third in succession.
The 1962 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Essendon Football Club and Carlton Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 29 September 1962. It was the 65th annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1962 VFL season. The match, attended by 98,385 spectators, was won by Essendon by a margin of 32 points, marking that club's 11th premiership victory.
The 1949 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Carlton Football Club and Essendon Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 24 September 1949. It was the 52nd annual grand final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1949 VFL season. The match, attended by 88,718 spectators, was won by Essendon by 73 points, marking that club's ninth premiership victory.
The AFL Australian Football League is the top professional Australian rules football league in the world. The league consists of eighteen teams: nine based in the city of Melbourne, one from regional Victoria, and eight based in other Australian states. The reason for this unbalanced geographic distribution lies in the history of the league, which was based solely within Victoria from the time it was established in 1897, until the time the league expanded through the addition of clubs from interstate to the existing teams starting in the 1980s; until this expansion, the league was known as the VFL (Victorian Football League).
