The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers, is a professional Australian rules football club. 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 "Alisa", 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 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.
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 29 May 2018 was elevated to legend status.
Simon Madden is a former Australian rules footballer who played his entire 19-season career with the Essendon Football Club from 1974 until 1992. Madden is one of the most decorated players in the club's history and widely regarded as one of the finest ruckmen to ever play the game.
Timothy Michael Watson is a former AFL player for Essendon and current broadcaster for more than 30 years, with the Seven Network since 1992 & 1116 SEN radio.
Dustin Andrew 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 the history of the league.
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. He is a 3time premiership player.
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 Knights is an Australian rules football coach and former player who is currently serving as an assistant coach with the West Coast Eagles. 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. He later became the head coach of the Geelong VFL Football Club from 2012 to 2014, guiding the Cats to the 2012 VFL Premiership and the 2013 VFL Grand Final.
Australian rules football in Victoria is the most watched and second most participated code of football. Australian rules football originated in Melbourne in the late 1850s and grew quickly to dominate the sport, which it continues to. Victoria has more than double the number of players of any other state in Australia accounting for approximately 42% of all Australian players in 2023 and continues to grow strongly. Only Soccer in Victoria has more football participants, though the code's growth in Victoria has made up much ground lost to that code over previous decades such that they have now a similar number of players. The sport is governed by AFL Victoria based in Melbourne. The national governing body, the AFL Commission is also based in Melbourne.
Kevin Morris is a former Australian rules football player who played in the Victorian Football League (VFL) between 1971 and 1976 for the Richmond Football Club and then from 1977 until 1981 for the Collingwood Football Club.
Cyril "Bill" McMaster OAM is a former Australian rules footballer and a coach in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Mervyn Neagle was an Australian rules footballer who represented Essendon and Sydney in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the 1970s and 1980s.
Sydney Quinton Barker Sr. was an Australian rules footballer who played with Richmond, Essendon and North Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL). His son, also named Syd Barker, had a brief league career with North Melbourne.
Jim Anderson was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
William Snell was an Australian rules footballer who played with Essendon in the VFL during the early 1950s.
Edward Ronald Jory was an Australian rules footballer who played with Essendon in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Howard Staehr is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Essendon in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Recruited from Horsham, he played with Essendon's under-19s in 1973 before moving on to the senior list in 1974. He played five senior games over three seasons, though he missed 1975 entirely due to a broken leg. Staehr later played two seasons with Brunswick in the Victorian Football Association and also spent a year playing for Hawthorn's reserves.
Bryan Pirouet is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Essendon in the Victorian Football League (VFL). After leaving Essendon, he played with Prahran in the Victorian Football Association (VFA), winning a premiership with them in 1973. Pirouet played for several country sides after his time in the VFA, captain-coaching Horsham Imperials, playing for Wonthaggi and captain-coaching Dalyston.
William Henry Roberts was an Australian rules footballer who played with Essendon in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Sophie Alexander is an Australian rules footballer playing for Essendon in the AFL Women's (AFLW). She was a basketballer in the South East Australian Basketball League before taking up football in the Victorian Women's Football League. Alexander spent a year in Collingwood's VFL Women's (VFLW) team before ascending to the senior list through the 2018 AFLW draft, where she played until the end of the 2022 AFL Women's season 6.