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.
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).
Adam McPhee is an Australian rules football player who played for the Fremantle Football Club and the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is a versatile player who has played both as a forward, defender and tagging role, with high-profile clashes with Gary Ablett, Jr. and Chris Judd in 2010.
Gary O'Donnell is a former Australian rules footballer who played 243 games for the Essendon Football Club between 1987 and 1998. He previously served as the assistant coach in the role Offensive Strategy Coach at the Brisbane Lions.
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.
Scott Lucas is a former Australian rules footballer for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League, and is noted as the other major forward for the Bombers along with Matthew Lloyd. Together, Lloyd and Lucas were affectionately dubbed the "twin towers" due to their height in the Bomber forward line.
Dustin 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.
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.
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.
Gregory Anderson is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Port Adelaide Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) and the Essendon Football Club and Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Adam Ramanauskas is a former Australian rules footballer for the Essendon Football Club.
Anthony Corrie is a former professional Australian rules footballer who had a 56-game Australian Football League (AFL) career.
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).
Mark Fraser is a former Australian rules footballer and umpire in the Australian Football League.
Kepler Bradley is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon and Fremantle Football Clubs in the Australian Football League.
The 1993 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Carlton Football Club and Essendon Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 25 September 1993. It was the 97th annual grand final of the Australian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1993 AFL season. The match, attended by 96,862 spectators, was won by Essendon by a margin of 44 points, marking that club's 15th premiership victory.
Charlie Hardy was an Australian rules footballer who played for North Melbourne in the Victorian Football Association (VFA) during the 1910s and Essendon in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the early 1920s.
The Dreamtime at the 'G is an annual Australian rules football match between Australian Football League clubs Essendon and Richmond.
Jonathon Robran is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Hawthorn and Essendon in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Kyle Langford is a professional Australian rules footballer with the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was recruited by the Essendon Football Club with the 17th overall selection in the 2014 national draft.