The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers or colloquially the Dons, 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.
James Albert Hird is a former professional Australian rules football player and past senior coach of the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
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).
Michael Long is a former Australian rules footballer of Aboriginal descent who became a spokesperson for Indigenous rights and against racism in sport in Australia.
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.
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.
Mark 'MJ' Johnson is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club and Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Malcolm Robert Michael is a Papua New Guinean-born former Australian rules footballer. He is notable for his successful professional career in the Australian Football League. In a career spanning 238 games and three clubs in two Australian states he is best known as a triple premiership full-back with the Brisbane Lions. Michael is recognised as being one of the best Queensland produced Australian rules footballers of all time, being named on the AFL Queensland Team of the 20th Century.
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.
Albert John Thurgood was an Australian rules footballer in the Victorian Football Association (VFA), Victorian Football League (VFL) and the Western Australian Football Association (WAFA).
James Kelly is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Geelong Football Club and Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
The 1990 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Collingwood Football Club and the Essendon Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 6 October 1990. It was the 94th annual grand final of the Australian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1990 AFL season. The match, attended by 98,944 spectators, was won by Collingwood by a margin of 48 points, marking that club's 14th premiership victory.
The Dreamtime at the 'G is an annual Australian rules football match between Australian Football League clubs Essendon and Richmond.
Bill 'Newhaven' Jackson was an Australian cyclist and an Australian rules footballer who played for Essendon and St Kilda in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Brad Fox is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Essendon and Richmond in the Australian Football League (AFL) and Perth in the West Australian Football League (WAFL).
Dyson Heppell is an Australian rules footballer who currently plays for the Port Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He previously played professionally with 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 served as Essendon captain from the 2017 season, and relinquished the captaincy before the 2023 season proper having led the side 107 times.
Alan John Cransberg is an Australian businessman and former Australian rules footballer who is the current chairman of the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League, as well as a member of the boards of several other organisations. Cransberg grew up in Bunbury, Western Australia, attending Bunbury Senior High School. He played for the South Bunbury Football Club in the South West Football League, before being recruited by the Swan Districts Football Club in the Perth-based Western Australian National Football League prior to the 1976 season. Cransberg went on to play 115 games for Swan Districts, mainly playing as a defender. He played at centre half-back in Swan Districts' 1982 premiership team, and also played in the premiership side the following season, retiring after the 1983 season to concentrate on his business career. Cransberg graduated from the University of Western Australia in 1980 with an honours degree in civil engineering. He joined Alcoa Australia after his graduation, and held various planning, engineering and managerial positions from 1981 to 1997, before being appointed location manager of the company's Pinjarra alumina refinery in 1998.
Mitchell Andrew Clisby is an Australian rules footballer who played with the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was recruited by the club from North Adelaide in the 2013 Rookie draft, with pick number 19. Clisby made his debut in round 13, 2013, against St Kilda at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. He played eight games for Melbourne in his debut season, but in 2014 was not selected for a single senior match and was subsequently delisted at season's end.
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.
Nikolas Cox is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the Essendon Bombers in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was recruited by Essendon with the 8th draft pick in the 2020 AFL draft. He is the son of former VFL player Darryl Cox.
