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 by the Melbourne Airport. The club currently plays its home games at either Docklands Stadium or the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Zach Merrett is the current club captain.
Moe is a town in the Latrobe Valley in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. It is approximately 130 kilometres east of the central business district of Melbourne, 45 kilometres due south of the peak of Mount Baw Baw in the Great Dividing Range and features views of the Baw Baw Ranges to the north and Strzelecki Ranges to the south.
Wally Donald was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Footscray Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Kelvin Templeton is a former Australian rules footballer. At sixteen years of age Templeton kicked 100 goals for Traralgon in the 1973 Latrobe Valley Football League season.
Tom Alvin is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
John Jillard was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Footscray Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and Latrobe Football Club in the North West Football Union (NWFU). He was a half back flanker and won the Charles Sutton Medal for Footscray's Best and Fairest in 1967. In the same year he finished 10th in the Brownlow Medal count, having placed 8th two years earlier.
The 1985 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Essendon Football Club and Hawthorn Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 28 September 1985. It was the 89th annual grand final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1985 VFL season. The match, attended by 100,042 spectators, was won by Essendon by a margin of 78 points, marking that club's 14th premiership victory.
Maxwell Herbert Blumfield was an Australian rules footballer and umpire who played for South Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1940s.
Francis James Kelly was an Australian rules footballer who played for Collingwood, Melbourne, Essendon and St Kilda in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Victor Thomas Lawrence was an Australian rules footballer who played with North Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Shane Loveless is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Footscray in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Mark Edward Williams is a former Australian rules footballer who played with North Melbourne and Footscray in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Alfred Joseph Callick was an Australian rules footballer who played with South Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Michael Collins is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
The Moe Football Netball Club, nicknamed the Lions, is an Australian rules football and netball club based at Ted Summerton Reserve in the town of Moe, Victoria. The club teams currently compete in the Gippsland Football League.
The Traralgon Football Netball Club is an Australian rules football and netball club based in the city of Traralgon, Victoria. The club currently competes in the Gippsland Football League.
The Sale Football Netball Club, nicknamed the Magpies, is an Australian rules football and netball club based in Sale, Victoria and are based at the Sale Oval.
Neil Bristow is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Footscray in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Bruce Rohde is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Footscray in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Mitchell Hannan is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Western Bulldogs in the Australian Football League (AFL), having been initially drafted to the Melbourne Football Club. A forward, 1.90 metres tall and weighing 87 kilograms (192 lb), Hannan has the ability to play as a forward and in the midfield. After failing to play in the TAC Cup as a junior, he joined the St Bernard's Football Club in the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) where he won a premiership and the best on ground in the 2015 VAFA Grand Final. The next year, he played with Footscray in the Victorian Football League (VFL) where he won his second premiership in as many years. His performances in the VAFA and VFL saw him recruited by the Melbourne Football Club in the 2016 AFL draft and he made his debut in the opening round of the 2017 season.