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 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.
Gavin Adrian Wanganeen is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club and Port Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL), and also for the Port Adelaide Magpies in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL).
Hayden Skipworth is a former Australian rules footballer who played in the Australian Football League (AFL) with the Adelaide Football Club and the Essendon Football Club. Skipworth returned to the Essendon Football Club, where he served as the midfield coach until the conclusion of the 2019 Season. In the 2020 Season, Skipworth served as the Collingwood Football Club's Head of Academy before moving into a Line Coach position at the club in October 2020.
Jobe Watson is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Watson, the son of three-time Essendon premiership champion Tim Watson, was drafted by Essendon under the father–son rule in the 2002 national draft, and went on to become one of the best midfielders of the modern era. A dual All-Australian and three-time Crichton Medallist, he captained Essendon from 2010 to early 2016, and was the face of the Essendon playing group during the most turbulent period in the club's history.
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.
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.
Brent Stanton is a retired professional Australian rules footballer who played his entire career for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Shane Edwards is a former Australian rules football player who played for the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is a three-time premiership player, an All-Australian and has three times placed in the top five in Richmond best and fairest awards. He holds the Richmond club records for most games by any Indigenous player and most games by any player in the number 10 guernsey.
Michael Hurley is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Dyson Heppell is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Heppell won the AFL Rising Star award in his first season in 2011, and won a Crichton Medal and All-Australian selection in 2014. He has served as Essendon captain since the 2017 season.
Joshua Green is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Brisbane Lions and Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Jacob Townsend is a former professional Australian rules footballer who plays for the Gold Coast Suns in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played 28 matches over four seasons with the Greater Western Sydney Giants and 20 matches over four seasons at Richmond. He won an AFL premiership with Richmond in 2017 while also winning the VFL's J. J. Liston Trophy that season as the league's best and fairest player during matches played with Richmond's reserves side, before winning a VFL premiership with the same reserves side in 2019. At the conclusion of the 2019 season, he was signed to the Essendon Football Club, and was delisted after one season, before being rookie-listed again, this time by Gold Coast.
Joe Daniher is an Australian rules footballer with the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for the Essendon Football Club from 2013 to 2020, having been recruited to the club under the father–son rule. Daniher won a Crichton Medal and All-Australian selection in 2017, as well as the 2017 AFL Mark of the Year and Anzac Medal for that season. He is also a four-time Essendon leading goalkicker.
Zach Merrett is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A medium sized midfielder standing at 1.79 metres tall and weighing 83 kilograms, Merrett is able to contribute as a hard running midfielder capable of collecting a large number of uncontested possessions whilst also being capable of winning a contested ball and clearance. He was recruited by the Essendon Football Club with the twenty sixth selection in the 2013 AFL draft and made his debut in the 2014 season. Merrett is a three-time Crichton Medalist and dual All-Australian.
The 22 Under 22 team is an honorary representative Australian rules football team created by the AFL Players' Association that seeks to recognise the best young talent in the Australian Football League (AFL) and AFL Women's (AFLW) competitions each year. To be eligible for selection, players must be aged 22 or under for the entire season. An initial squad of 40 is selected by the AFL Players' Board, before fans select a final team of 22 by voting via social media.
Anthony William Watson McDonald-Tipungwuti is a former professional Australian rules football player for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was drafted by Essendon with their second selection in the 2015 rookie draft. McDonald-Tipungwuti made his debut in Round 1 of the 2016 season against the Gold Coast Suns. He announced his retirement on 20 May 2022.
AFL Women's (AFLW) is Australia's national semi-professional Australian rules football league for female players. The first season of the league in February and March 2017 had eight teams; the league expanded to 10 teams in the 2019 season, 14 teams in 2020 and 18 teams in 2022. The league is run by the Australian Football League (AFL) and is contested by each of the clubs from that competition. The reigning premiers are Adelaide.
Callum Moore is a professional Australian rules footballer who played in the Australian Football League (AFL), including eight matches over a four-year tenure with Richmond and two matches over one season with Carlton. While at Richmond in 2019, he won a VFL premiership while playing reserves grade football.
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.
VFL Women's (VFLW) is the major state-level women's Australian rules football league in Victoria. The league initially comprised the six premier division clubs and the top four division 1 clubs from the now-defunct Victorian Women's Football League (VWFL), and has since evolved into what is also the second primary competition for AFL Women's (AFLW) clubs in Victoria. The competition has been held concurrently with the AFLW since 2021.
