The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers, is a professional Australian rules football club based in the northern Melbourne suburb of Melbourne Airport that plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Founded in 1872 in the nearby suburb of Essendon, the club participated in the Victorian Football Association from 1878 until 1896, when it joined seven other clubs in forming the breakaway Victorian Football League. Headquartered at Windy Hill for much of the 20th century, the club moved to The Hangar in Melbourne Airport in 2013, and currently plays its home games at either Docklands Stadium or the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Dyson Heppell is the current club captain.
Kevin John Sheedy AO is a former Australian rules football coach and player in the Australian Football League. He played and coached in a combined total of 929 games over 47 years from 1967 until 2013, which is a VFL/AFL record. Sheedy was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2008 and on the 29th of May 2018 was elevated to legend status.
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.
Shannon Grant is a former Australian rules footballer who was a midfielder in the AFL. He began his career at the Sydney Swans in 1995 before moving to the Kangaroos in 1998 and being a part of their 1999 premiership side, in which he also won the Norm Smith Medal for best on ground. In 1996, he actually played against North Melbourne in the Grand Final, playing on the losing side of Sydney.
Dustin Fletcher is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played his entire 23 season career for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is widely acknowledged as one of the finest defenders in VFL/AFL 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.
Greg Anderson is a former professional Australian rules football player who played for Port Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) and Essendon and Adelaide in the Victorian and Australian Football Leagues.
Cory McGrath is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played with the Carlton and Essendon Football Clubs in the Australian Football League (AFL), South Fremantle in the West Australian Football League (WAFL), South Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) and the Northern Bullants and Port Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Ronald Barry Evans AM was an Australian rules footballer, Chairman of the Australian Football League (AFL) from 1998 to 2007, as well as President of the Essendon Football Club from 1988 to 1992.
Matthew Bate is an Australian rules footballer and former player for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). At the conclusion of the 2012 AFL season, he was delisted by the Melbourne Football Club and subsequently drafted to the Essendon Football Club's reserve side in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He wore the number 6 guernsey.
The 1918 Victorian Football League season was the 22nd season of the elite Australian rules football competition.
The 1949 Victorian Football League season was the 53rd season of the elite Australian rules football competition.
Allan Thomas Hird Sr. was an Australian rules football player, coach and executive in the Victorian Football League.
Frank Dunell is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the Essendon Bombers and the Brisbane Bears in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Charlie Hardy was an Australian rules footballer who played for North Melbourne in the Victorian Football Association (VFA) during the 1910s and Essendon in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the early 1920s.
Walter Henry Chalmers was an Australian rules footballer who played with Essendon in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Chris P. Waterson is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Essendon and the Brisbane Bears in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1980s.
David Starbuck is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Essendon in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
John May is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Essendon in the Victorian Football League (VFL). May was recruited to play for Essendon's under-19s from West Coburg in the Essendon District Football League. In 1970, his second season with the under-19s, he was named captain and also played several matches in the reserves before making his senior VFL debut late in the season. He kicked one goal from his three games playing as a midfielder and stayed with Essendon for another year, but spent it in the reserves as he could not break back into the senior team. In 1972, he left to play with Montmorency in the Diamond Valley Football League. May played for Montmorency for three seasons before joining Federal Football League side Parkdale 1975. He moved to Queensland after two years with Parkdale and played three season with Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast, winning a league best and fairest in 1978, before returning home to Victoria in 1980 where he continued playing with Parkdale.