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.
Guy Lindsay McKenna is a retired Australian rules football player and the former senior coach of the Gold Coast Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). McKenna played 267 games for the West Coast Eagles, including the 1992 and 1994 premiership wins. He captained the club between 1999 and 2000 AFL season.
Benjamin Rutten is a former Australian rules football player and coach. He was the senior coach of the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) in 2021 and 2022. As a player, he played for the Adelaide Football Club and was known for his size, strength and ability to contain some of the game's best forwards.
Andrew Raines is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Richmond Football Club, Brisbane Lions and Gold Coast Suns in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is the son of Geoff Raines, a premiership centreman who played for Richmond, Collingwood, Essendon and Brisbane Bears.
Patrick Ryder is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon, Port Adelaide and St Kilda Football Clubs in the Australian Football League (AFL). Ryder was noted for his speed, agility and leap for someone of his size and it was these attributes that had his first AFL coach in Kevin Sheedy comparing him to Indigenous Australian rules football star Graham "Polly" Farmer. Ryder's father, Revis Ryder, played football for East Fremantle.
Matthew Rosa is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Gold Coast Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Originally from Warracknabeal and later boarding school in Ballarat, Rosa played under-18 football for the North Ballarat Rebels in the TAC Cup before being drafted by the West Coast Eagles in the 2004 National Draft. He made his debut for the club in 2005 and was nominated for the AFL Rising Star the following season in 2006. He played 168 games for West Coast but at the end of the 2015 season, requested a trade to the Gold Coast Suns. Having played 207 games, Rosa hung up the boots at the end of the 2018 season. In October 2018 he joined the West Coast Eagles coaching panel which he left at 2020 season's end. As of 2024, Rosa is the list manager of Essendon Football Club.
Dayne Beams is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He also previously played for, and captained, the Brisbane Lions during the 2017 season, however he stepped down as captain during the 2018 season due to personal issues. He retired in October 2020 due to personal issues.
Charlie Dixon is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Gold Coast and Port Adelaide in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was recruited by the Gold Coast Football Club as a Queensland zoned selection made available to Gold Coast under the AFL's draft concessions. He scored the first ever goal in the history of the Gold Coast Suns, in their first ever match on 2 April 2011 against Carlton.
Jacob Townsend is an Australian rules footballer who currently plays for the Southport Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He previously played professionally for Greater Western Sydney, Richmond, Essendon and the Gold Coast Suns in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Joshua Bruce is a former professional Australian rules footballer who last played for the Western Bulldogs in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for the Greater Western Sydney Giants between 2012 and 2013 and the St Kilda Saints between 2014 and 2019. Bruce was St Kilda's leading goalkicker in 2015 and the Western Bulldogs' leading goalkicker in 2021.
The Gold Coast Suns is a professional Australian rules football team based on the Gold Coast, Queensland. Nicknamed the Suns, the club competes in the Australian Football League and has done so since 2011.
Jack Martin is an Australian rules footballer who last played for Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League.
Orazio Maurice Fantasia is a professional Australian rules footballer who plays for the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was recruited by the Essendon Football Club with the 55th overall selection in the 2013 national draft. He previously played for the Essendon Football Club and Port Adelaide Football Club.
Adam Saad is an Australian rules footballer currently playing for the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League. He previously played for the Gold Coast Suns and the Essendon Football Club.
Touk Miller is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Gold Coast Suns in the Australian Football League (AFL). Miller plays as a midfielder and was drafted to the Suns as the 29th overall pick in the 2014 AFL draft.
Peter Wright is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL), having been initially drafted to the Gold Coast Suns with pick 8 in the 2014 AFL draft.
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.
Joshua Begley is a professional Australian rules footballer who last played for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was recruited by the Essendon Football Club with the 31st overall selection in the 2016 national draft.
Ben Ainsworth is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Gold Coast Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was drafted by the Gold Coast Football Club with their first selection and fourth overall in the 2016 national draft. He made his debut in the two point loss against the Brisbane Lions in the opening round of the 2017 season at Metricon Stadium.
Sam Draper is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was recruited with the 1st draft pick in the 2017 AFL rookie draft.
