The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers, is a professional Australian rules football club that plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Thought to have formed in 1872, the club played its first recorded game on 7 June 1873 against a Carlton Second 20, winning 1 goal to nil. The club played a senior club in the Victorian Football Association in 1878, one year after the VFA formed. It is historically associated with Essendon, a suburb in the north-west of Melbourne, Victoria. Since 2013, the club has been headquartered at The Hangar, Melbourne Airport, and plays its home games at either Docklands Stadium or the Melbourne Cricket Ground; throughout most of its history the club's home ground and headquarters was Windy Hill, Essendon, where it played from 1922 until 1991. While it stopped playing games at the ground thereafter, Windy Hill remained its training and administration base until the end of 2013. Dyson Heppell is the current team captain.
James Albert Hird is a former professional Australian rules football player and the former senior coach of the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Mark "Bomber" Thompson is a retired Australian rules footballer and former senior coach. He played 202 games for the Essendon Football Club from 1983 to 1996, captaining the side from 1992 until 1995. After retiring, he was an assistant coach at Essendon and then at North Melbourne before becoming the senior coach of the Geelong Football Club from 2000 to 2010 and coaching them to two premierships. In November 2010, Thompson returned to Essendon as a senior assistant coach and was then appointed the senior coach for the 2014 season. He left the club at the end of 2014. On 2 May 2018, he was charged with seven counts of drug trafficking and possession. He was released on $20,000 bail to appear in court at a later date. He was later cleared of trafficking but convicted of possession.
Simon Madden is a former Australian rules footballer who played his entire 19 season career with the Essendon Football Club from 1974 until 1992. He is one of the most decorated players in the clubs history and widely regarded as one of the finest ruckman to ever play the game.
Timothy Michael Watson is a former Australian rules footballer and coach, sports journalist and media personality.
Paul Salmon is a former Australian rules footballer, who played in the Australian Football League, for Essendon and Hawthorn. Recruited from North Ringwood, Salmon had a prolific career, with many accolades such as being inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame, as well as being the 4th highest goal kicker for Essendon, among other things.
Neale Francis Daniher is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was later the coach of the Melbourne Football Club between 1998 and 2007, and also held coaching positions with Essendon, Fremantle and West Coast. His brothers, Terry, Anthony and Chris, also played for Essendon. Daniher was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2014 and is now known as a prominent campaigner for medical research.
Jobe Watson is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Watson, the son of three-time Essendon premiership champion Tim Watson, was drafted by Essendon under the father–son rule in the 2002 national draft, and went on to become one of the best midfielders of the modern era. A dual All-Australian and three-time Crichton Medallist, he captained Essendon from 2010 to 2015, and was the face of the Essendon playing group during the most turbulent period in the club's history.
Barry Davis is a former Australian rules footballer who played in the Victorian Football League (VFL) with Essendon and North Melbourne, before coaching his original team between 1978 and 1980.
Matthew Knights is an Australian rules football coach and former player who is currently serving as an assistant coach with the Geelong Football Club. Knights played in the midfield for the Richmond Football Club from 1988 to 2002, before going on to forge a coaching career, most notably as head coach of the Essendon Football Club from 2008 to 2010 where he became the head coach of the Geelong VFL Football Club from 2012–14, guiding the Cats to the 2012 VFL Premiership and the 2013 VFL Grand Final.
Jay Neagle is an Australian rules footballer formerly with the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Neil 'Nobby' Clarke was an Australian rules footballer who played with Essendon in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
William Young Wilson was an Australian sportsman who played first-class cricket with Victoria and Australian rules football for Essendon in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Dreamtime at the 'G is an annual Australian rules football match between Australian Football League clubs Essendon and Richmond.
Robert M. 'Bob' Wilson is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Essendon in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Dyson Heppell is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Heppell won the AFL Rising Star award in his first season in 2011, and won a Crichton Medal and All-Australian selection in 2014. He has served as Essendon captain since the 2017 season.
Joseph Francis Wilson was an Australian sportsman who was prominent during the late 19th century. Originally from Launceston, Tasmania, he was educated at Launceston Grammar School and played Australian rules football and cricket for the school's firsts aged only 15. In addition to his school sports, Wilson played football for the Launceston Football Club in the Northern Tasmanian Football Association (NTFA) and cricket for several senior Launceston clubs. He established himself as one of Launceston's best all-round sportsmen by the time he completed high school; he was a prominent member of Launceston Football Club's consecutive NTFA premiership teams of 1888 and 1889, and he regularly represented Northern Tasmania in cricket and football.
Jordan Ridley is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was selected by Essendon with their second selection and twenty-second overall in the 2016 national draft. He made his senior debut for Essendon against Geelong in round nine of the 2018 season. After playing 2 more games in 2018, he has played 4 games to start off the 2019 season.
Dylan Clarke is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is the younger brother of Sydney's Ryan Clarke. He was educated at St Joseph's College, Ferntree Gully and Melbourne Grammar School.