The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers, is a professional Australian rules football club that plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Thought to have formed in 1872, the club played its first recorded game on 7 June 1873 against a Carlton Second 20, winning 1 goal to nil. The club played a senior club in the Victorian Football Association in 1878, one year after the VFA formed. It is historically associated with Essendon, a suburb in the north-west of Melbourne, Victoria. Since 2013, the club has been headquartered at The Hangar, Melbourne Airport, and plays its home games at either Docklands Stadium or the Melbourne Cricket Ground; throughout most of its history the club's home ground and headquarters was Windy Hill, Essendon, where it played from 1922 until 1991. While it stopped playing games at the ground thereafter, Windy Hill remained its training and administration base until the end of 2013. Dyson Heppell is the current team captain.
Martin Pike is a former professional Australian rules footballer, who played in four Australian Football League (AFL) premiership sides. Highlights of his career included a premiership with the North Melbourne Football Club, three more with Brisbane, the final AFL best-and-fairest winner with Fitzroy in 1996, and selection in the 1998 South Australian State-Of-Origin side.
Matthew Richardson is a former professional Australian rules footballer and current media personality who represented Richmond in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Peter Francis Bell is a former Australian rules footballer for the Fremantle Football Club and the North Melbourne Football Club. He played as a rover. A former captain of the Fremantle Football Club, Bell was twice named as a member of the All-Australian Team. He was an acclaimed ball-winner and had more than 30 possessions in a game on 39 occasions in his career.
Matthew Scarlett is a retired Australian rules footballer, who formerly played for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A fullback, 1.92 metres tall and weighing 94 kilograms (207 lb), Scarlett is the eldest son of former Geelong footballer John Scarlett.
Dean Laidley is an Australian rules football assistant coach and former player, who played for the West Coast Eagles and North Melbourne in the Australian Football League (AFL) from 1987 to 1997, including in North Melbourne's 1996 premiership team. He was coach of North Melbourne from 2003 to 2009.
Matthew Collins is a former Australian rules footballer who played in the Australian Football League. He was well known for a large distinct Indian tattoo on his shoulder.
Matthew Egan is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He served as interim senior coach at the Essendon Football Club after the resignation of James Hird for the final three rounds of the 2015 season. He has served as the head of development at the Melbourne Football Club since September 2016.
Ross William Glendinning is a former Australian rules footballer who represented East Perth in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and North Melbourne and West Coast in the Victorian Football League (VFL). The Ross Glendinning Medal is named in his honour and is awarded to the player judged best afield in the Western Australian derby between West Coast and Fremantle each AFL season. Solidly built but agile and skillful in equal measure, Glendinning was considered one of the finest key-position players of his era.
Glenn J. Elliott is a former Australian rules footballer. He played for the St Kilda and Melbourne as a centreman.
Matthew Capuano is a former Australian rules footballer who spent his AFL career with the North Melbourne Football Club and the St Kilda Football Club. Post playing career Capuano was a development coach at the Carlton Football Club.
St Joseph's College, sometimes referred to colloquially as Joeys or SJC, is a Roman Catholic Independent school for boys, and is located in the inner Geelong suburb of Newtown. It is run under the auspices of the Congregation of Christian Brothers and provides education from year 7-12, offering a broad range of curricular choices for its students in middle and senior schools including VCE, VET and VCAL. In 2014 the Year 9 Westcourt Campus began operation, and the Joseph Innovation Trade Training Centre also commenced classes offering a broad range of study options. The current Principal is Tony Paatsch. The two Deputy Principals are Michelle Broderick and Mark Kennedy.
Alastair Clarkson is an Australian rules football coach and former player. He is the head coach of the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) since 2005, and has the longest continuous service of any current AFL coach.
Corey McKernan is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the North Melbourne Kangaroos and Carlton Blues in the Australian Football League (AFL). A dual Premiership player a one time All Australian at North Melbourne and one time club best and fairest winner and leading goal kicker at Carlton, McKernan was, at one time considered to be one of the very best players in the country.
Glenn Matthew Kilpatrick is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Essendon and Geelong in the Australian Football League (AFL) and West Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL).
Matthew Kreuzer is an Australian rules footballer for the Carlton Football Club. He was selected first overall in the 2007 AFL National Draft.
Austin Wonaeamirri is a professional Australian rules football player of indigenous (Tiwi) origin. He previously played for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Matthew Broadbent is an Australian rules footballer who played for the Port Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was selected with pick 38 in the 2008 AFL Draft from the Woodville-West Torrens Football Club in the SANFL. As of November 2019, Broadbent has made a return to play in the SANFL. He is due to play the 2020 season at the South Adelaide Football Club.
James Joseph Larkin was an Australian rules footballer who played with Essendon in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Ben McKay is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the North Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was drafted by North Melbourne with their first selection and twenty-first overall in the 2015 national draft. He made his debut in the fifty-one point win against the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba in round twenty-three of the 2017 season. He is the twin brother of Carlton's, Harry McKay. In February 2019, Ben signed a two-year contract extension keeping him at the Kangaroos until at least the end of 2021.
