The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers, is a professional Australian rules football club which has its training and administration base in the northern Melbourne suburb of Tullamarine, Victoria. 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 ‘Ailsa’, 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 Second 20. From 1878 until 1896, the club played in the Victorian Football Association 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 near Tullamarine in late 2013 on land owned the Melbourne Airport. The club currently plays its home games at either Docklands Stadium or the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Dyson Heppell is the current club captain; Ben Rutten is the senior coach.
The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Kangaroos, is an Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Founded in the suburb of North Melbourne in 1869, it is based at its traditional home ground, Arden Street Oval, and plays its home matches at both the nearby Docklands Stadium and Blundstone Arena in Hobart, Tasmania.
Ronald Dale Barassi Jr. is a former Australian rules football player, coach and media personality. Regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of the game, Barassi was the first player to be inaugurated into the Australian Football Hall of Fame as a "Legend", and is one of three Australian rules footballers to be elevated to the same status in the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.
The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. It is based in Melbourne, Victoria, and plays its home games at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). Melbourne are the reigning premiers of the AFL.
James Stynes OAM was an Irish-born footballer who converted from Gaelic football to Australian rules football. Playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL), he went on to become one of the game's most prominent figures, breaking the record for most consecutive games of VFL/AFL football (244) and winning the sport's highest individual honour, the Brownlow Medal, in 1991. Off the field, he was a notable AFL administrator, philanthropist, charity worker and writer.
Roy Cazaly was an Australian rules footballer who played for South Melbourne and St Kilda in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He also represented Victoria and Tasmania in interstate football, and after his retirement as a player, turned to coaching. Known for his ruck work and high-flying marks, he inspired the common catchphrase "Up there, Cazaly!", which in 1979 became a popular song of the same name, securing his place in Australian folklore.
Richard Sylvannus Reynolds was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Christopher Dylan Judd is a former professional Australian rules footballer and captain of both the West Coast Eagles and Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
David "Neita" Neitz, nicknamed Neita, is a retired Australian rules footballer. The strongly built centre half back who became a full forward was the longest-serving captain in the history of the Melbourne Football Club and the first Melbourne player to achieve the 300-game milestone. He is considered one of the greatest ever players to come out of the island state of Tasmania.
Garry Peter Lyon is a former professional Australian rules football player and was captain of the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Since his retirement from football, he has been mainly an Australian rules football media personality, featuring on television, radio and in newspapers. He has also coached during the International Rules Series.
Keith Southby Greig is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the North Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Glenn Archer is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played his entire career with the North Melbourne Football Club.
Norman Walter Smith was an Australian rules football player and coach in the Victorian Football League (VFL). After more than 200 games as a player with Melbourne and Fitzroy, Smith began a twenty-year coaching career, including a fifteen-year stint at Melbourne.
Brad Green is a former Australian rules football player and soccer player and is the current North Melbourne development coach. He played for 13 seasons with Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Drafted with the 19th selection in the 1999 AFL Draft, Green played in a losing Grand Final in his first season. In 2010 he won the club's best and fairest award and was the club's leading goalkicker, with many commentators stating he was unlucky to miss out on All-Australian selection. Green was named Melbourne's captain for the next season, but the appointment was short-lived as he held the position for only one year. He also represented the Australian International rules football team in 2004, 2010 and 2011, captaining the side in 2011.
Aaron Davey is a professional Australian rules football player of Indigenous Australian heritage. He played for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) until he retired from the club at the end of the 2013 season.
Robert Alan Flower was an Australian rules footballer with Melbourne Football Club. His first game was against Geelong in 1973 and he captained the team from 1981 until his final game in 1987. He held the record for the number of games for his club, 272, until overtaken by David Neitz in 2006.
Ivor Warne-Smith, was an Australian footballer, who played for the Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football League and for the Latrobe Football Club in the North-Western Football Union in Tasmania. During his time with Melbourne he won two Brownlow Medals, played in their 1926 premiership side, was captain-coach of the club and represented his state of Victoria on numerous occasions. Warne-Smith remained involved with the club for the rest of his life and was named in the Melbourne Football Club Team of the Century. He was also named in the Tasmanian Team of the Century. Warne-Smith fought in both World War I and World War II.
Adam Simpson is a former Australian rules footballer who is the current premiership coach of the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). A left-footed midfielder, his playing career for North Melbourne spanned from 1995 to 2009, where he played 306 games.
Brent Tasman Crosswell is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Carlton Football Club, North Melbourne Football Club and Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Donald Pruen Cordner, M.B.B.S. was an Australian rules footballer who played with Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1940s. His brothers Denis, John and Ted also played for the club.
