The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers, is a professional Australian rules football club that 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" adopting the name of the local borough. 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 North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Kangaroos, is a professional Australian rules football club. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Kangaroos also field a reserves men's team in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and women's team in the VFLW.
The St Kilda Football Club, nicknamed the Saints, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier league.
Windy Hill is an Australian rules football and cricket ground located in Napier Street, Essendon, a northwestern suburb of the Melbourne metropolitan area.
Whitefriars College is a Roman Catholic Independent school for boys located in the Melbourne suburb of Donvale, Australia. Established in 1961, the college reflects the tradition of the Carmelites, and is recognised for its uniform's brown blazer with the college crest appearing on the breast pocket. The college has been a member of the Associated Catholic Colleges since 1999. The college was one of the first schools in Victoria to implement a notebook-computer program, which has now transitioned to a notebook-tablet program, in which every student is provided with a notebook-tablet.
Barry Davis was an 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. He was a three-time premiership player.
In New Zealand, Australian rules football dates back to the 1860s, was home to the first club formed outside Australia in 1876 and was the first colony outside of Australia to take up the sport. The sport's official name was changed in 1890 to Australasian Football acknowledge New Zealand's participation and remained for some time even after the country was expelled from the Australasian Football Council. After a half century hiatus of organised competition, it has grown rapidly as an amateur sport. Today five of New Zealand's sixteen regions have organised competitions: Auckland ; Canterbury ; Wellington ; Waikato and Otago. A four-team national competition with a national draft has been contested at the North Harbour Stadium in Auckland since 2016 for men and 2019 for women. The national team were crowned International champions at the 2005 Australian Football International Cup and competed annually against the AFL Academy between 2012 and 2019. Since the 2010s the game has also grown at junior level among New Zealand schools as the "Hawks Cup".
Albert John Thurgood was an Australian rules footballer in the Victorian Football Association (VFA), Victorian Football League (VFL) and the Western Australian Football Association (WAFA).
Ben Damon is an Australian journalist, TV presenter and screenwriter/director.
Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School is a multi-campus independent Uniting Church comprehensive co-educational early learning, primary and secondary day school, with three campuses located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The school is the product of an amalgamation of two schools, Penleigh Presbyterian Ladies' College and Essendon Grammar School, which was completed in 1977. Uniforms were different for boys and girls until term 3 2020 when a new combined school uniform was launched. The school's campuses are located in Essendon, Moonee Ponds and Keilor East.
Ian Stanley "Bluey" Shelton, known throughout his career as "Bluey", due to his thatch of red hair, was an Australian rules footballer, who played with Essendon in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1960s.
George Rawle was an Australian rules footballer who played for Essendon in the VFL during the 1920s. Rawle suffered a severe ankle injury when a boy, and the bone calloused, leading to the foot being badly deformed. Rawle tightly bandaged the injured foot, which enabled him to play.
Ethan Gage is a Canadian soccer player who currently plays for Victorian State League Division 1 side Caroline Springs George Cross FC.
Samuel Frost is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A utility, 1.95 metres tall and weighing 94 kilograms (207 lb), Frost has the ability to play as either a forward or defender, and is capable of also playing in the ruck. He entered top-level football early when he played as a bottom-aged player for the Sandringham Dragons in the TAC Cup. His final year as a junior saw him play in both the winning grand final for Sandringham and the winning final for Vic Metro in the 2011 AFL Under 18 Championships. He was recruited by the Greater Western Sydney Giants with the first selection in the 2012 rookie draft and made his debut during the 2012 season. After three seasons with Greater Western Sydney and twenty-one matches in total, he was traded to the Melbourne Football Club during the 2014 trade period. On 11 October 2019 he was traded to Hawthorn.
Andrew McGrath is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was recruited by the Essendon Football Club with the first overall selection in the 2016 national draft.
Osborne Football Club was a Scottish rugby union club in Greenock of the nineteenth century.
Victorian bias in the Australian Football League is an assertion by critics of the Australian Football League (AFL) that there is an intrinsic bias towards the Victorian based clubs of that competition. Causes of the alleged bias range from it being attributed to the fact that the AFL evolved from the Victorian Football League (VFL) resulting in a majority of the AFL's teams being located in the state of Victoria, to it being the result of intentional favouritism by the competitions administration towards Victorian clubs.
Sam Flanders is a professional Australian rules footballer who plays for the Gold Coast Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
