Essendon Football Club

Essendon
	File:2006 AFL Essendon.jpg
Full name	Essendon Football Club
Sport	Australian rules football
Founded	1871
League	Australian Football League
Home ground	Telstra Dome, Melbourne Cricket Ground
Anthem	See the Bombers Fly Up
President	TBA
Head coach	Kevin Sheedy
Captain	Matthew Lloyd
2006	15th of 16
Strip
	Black guernsey with red sash, black shorts, red and black hooped socks

Essendon Football Club, nicknamed The Bombers, is an Australian rules football club that is part of the Australian Football League. Formed in 1871 as a junior club and as a senior club in 1873, it is headquartered at the Essendon Recreation Reserve, commonly known as Windy Hill in the Melbourne suburb of Essendon, but plays its home matches at the Telstra Dome and the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

The club has won the equal most premierships in the VFL/AFL. Players such as captain Matthew Lloyd and former captain James Hird are household names in Melbourne. The club is coached by Kevin Sheedy (the longest serving currently active coach in the AFL, having held the position since 1981), the most famous Australian rules football coach who is noted for his promotion of the club and the game as well as his tactics and eccentric personality.

The club has worn a black guernsey with red sash as its uniform since 1890 (the longest period that any sporting club in the world has worn the same primary guernsey design).

History

The pre-VFL years (1871 - 1896)

Some doubt exists as to precisely when the Essendon Football Club came into being, with 1871, '72 and '73 all being suggested as possible starting dates. What can not be doubted, however, is the immense, indeed almost unequalled, contribution made by Essendon over the years to the sport of Australian football both within and beyond the state of Victoria.

Essendon the football club grew from a meeting held at the home of a well-known brewery family, the McCrackens, whose Ascot Vale property hosted a team of local junior players. There, they formed the Senior Club at "Ailsa", Kent St, Ascot Vale. At this stage uniform was of black and red stripes.

Robert McCracken, owner of several city hotels, became Essendon’s first president, and his 17-year-old son, Alex, its secretary. He would follow his father into the same post, and later become president of the newly formed VFL. Alex’s cousin, Collier, who had already played with Melbourne, was the team’s first captain. The McCracken family loomed large in the formation of and running of the club.

Equally, there seems little doubt that, whatever the exact date of its formation, the club's first official fixture took place on 7 June 1873 against Carlton's second twenty, Essendon achieving victory by the only goal. Essendon played 13 matches in its first season, winning seven, drawing four and losing only two. In 1873, before the club's first senior match, the club changed the design of its guernsey to the black with red sash that has remained the official uniform since.

At first Essendon was regarded as a junior club, and even after the formation of the VFA in 1877 the side was sometimes allowed 'odds' of, for example, twenty five players as against twenty, when confronted by the leading teams of the time. Essendon finished their first year in the VFA playing 19 games for eight wins and a finish in fourth place.

During its early years in the Association, Essendon played its home matches at Flemington Hill, but in 1881 it made a controversial move to the East Melbourne Cricket Ground which was situated near the centre of the city and had more suitable facilities. There Essendon would stay until its return to its heartland at the Essendon Recreation Reserve some 40 years later. The move made it easier for players to travel to training but also had the adverse side effect of disenfranchising many of the club's supporters. Nevertheless, the team continued to show improvement on the field, finishing second on three occasions during the 1880s, and attracting ever larger crowds to their games.

In 1883 Essendon travelled to Adelaide where it engaged in 4 matches, winning 3 and losing 1, and in 1888 it was one of several VFA clubs to confront a team of visiting English rugby players who played rugby while in New Zealand and New South Wales, and Australian football in Victoria and South Australia. Essendon won 77.16 to 3.5 (behinds were recorded in the score at this time, but were not actually to count until 1897).

In 1891 Essendon were the supreme side in the Association, comfortably securing the premiership with only 1 loss from 20 matches played. The following season saw the arrival of one of the club's and the game's greatest ever players, Albert Thurgood, who kicked a VFA record 56 goals for the year as Essendon once again marched triumphantly to the premiership, again with only a single defeat all season. In 1893 they did even better, securing the premiership without losing once, and in 1894 they made it four premierships in a row with 16 wins and a draw from 18 matches. All told, Essendon won 66 and drew 8 of 77 VFA competition matches played during the period 1891-94, and if you add the 18 wins recorded in games against intercolonial opposition during that time you are left in little doubt of their pedigree.

In 1895 Albert Thurgood moved to Western Australia and this coincided with a slump in Essendon's fortunes. Nevertheless, the Same Old were still very much perceived as being among the Association elite, a fact brought dramatically into focus at the end of the 1896 season when they joined 7 other leading clubs in establishing a break away body, the Victorian Football League. An implicit purpose of the schism was to raise the profile of football by providing a competition which was evenly contested and of high overall standard, traits which had been notoriously lacking in the VFA of late.

The club was part of many innovations that shaped the modern game, as well as being the first to achieve several milestones. Essendon was involved in the first match in 1886 where the goal umpires used white flags to signal scores, they were the first team to wear white shorts in away matches in 1893, and in 1878, they were involved in the first match played on what would be considered by modern standards to be a full sized field at Flemington Hill. In 1879 Essendon played Melbourne in one of the earliest night matches recorded when the ball was painted white. In 1880 they also became the first metropolitan club to visit Geelong on the first "football special" train, as well as being the first side to record ten goals in a single senior match. One of its players, Charles Pearson, was the first to bring the skill of "overhead" [marking] to the game and would also be named "Champion of the Colony".

From the formation of the VFL until the first world war (1897 - 1915)

Essendon made a welcome return to prominence in 1897, winning 14 out of 17 matches including all 3 games in the round robin finals series to conclusively clinch the inaugural VFL premiership. Notable members of the side included ruckman Charles 'Tracker' Forbes, rovers George Vautin and Arthur Cleghorn, half back and captain George Stuckey, forward Pat O'Loughlin and half forward August Officer.

1898 saw Essendon participate in the club's first ever grand final but Fitzroy scored what was widely considered a surprise 15 point victory, 5.8 (38) to 3.5 (23). A crowd of 16,538 watched the match and saw Fitzroy take an early lead which they never relinquished.

Albert Thurgood returned to the club in 1899 but the Same Old had a disappointing year to finish 5th. 1900 saw marginal improvement with the side ending up in 3rd spot before, in 1901, celebrating the proclamation of the Commonwealth of Australia with a convincing 6.7 (43) to 2.4 (16) grand final triumph over Collingwood. Essendon also became the first team to score over 1000 points in a season with 1085 in 1901. Best afield was the inimitable Thurgood who kicked 3 of his side's goals including 1 from an immense place kick which was reputed to have covered 93 yards (or 85.04 metres). Others to do well in a game watched by 30,031 spectators at South Melbourne included centre half back Hugh Gavin, centreman Harry Wright, rover Bill Griffith, and follower John 'Dookie' McKenzie.

Collingwood gained revenge over Essendon a year later, comprehensively winning the 1902 grand final by 33 points, 9.6 (60) to 3.9 (27). This precipitated a period in the doldrums for the Same Old with the team unable to rise above 4th place in any of the next five seasons. However, after an unprecedented drop to the wooden spoon in 1907 the side roared back the following year to reach the grand final and give Jack Worrall's magnificent Carlton combination a real fright, eventually going down by only 9 points after adding 1.4 to 0.1 in the second half.

By strange coincidence, three years later it was Worrall who was responsible for steering Essendon to their 7th premiership, and the 3rd since the formation of the VFL. Worrall, who had led Carlton to 3 consecutive premierships from 1906-8 was an immediate success with the black and reds, inspiring them to 15 wins and a draw from 18 home and away matches followed by a comfortable 21 point victory over his old club in the second semi final. In the grand final, played in front of 43,905 people at the MCG, Essendon led Collingwood narrowly at every change en route to a tense and hard fought 6 point win. Ruckman Fred Baring was best afield followed by rover Ernie Cameron, centreman Bill Sewart, wingman Pat Shea and half forward Percy Ogden. Final scores were Essendon 5.11 (41); Collingwood 4.11 (35). Football journalist 'Follower' commented that:

"The victory of Essendon emphasises the previously well recognised fact that any team enjoying the benefit of Worrall's instruction and coaching has an immense advantage over its rivals".

After the grand final Essendon travelled to Adelaide to contest the Championship of Australia against SANFL premiers West Adelaide. However, the home side won by 3 points, 8.9 (57) to 7.12 (54).

Essendon also became known as the 'Same Olds' to differentiate it from the Essendon VFA club, which existed between 1900 and 1921. The term "Dons", an abbreviation of the club title, has been in popular use for most of this century.

Essendon enjoyed another successful season in 1912 culminating in a 5.17 (47) to 4.9 (33) defeat of minor premiers South Melbourne in the challenge final before an Australian record attendance for any sporting event held up to that time of 54,563. As in 1911, Fred Baring was the outstanding player afield, with Bill Sewart, Percy Ogden, half back flanker Len Bowe and centre half forward Frank Caine also prominent.

The red and black era of dominance came to an abrupt end in 1913 as the Same Old dropped to 8th (out of 10) with only half a dozen wins for the year. It was to be another decade before the side would even contest a finals series. In the meantime the club actually dropped out of the League in 1916 and 1917 due to the war, and also after proposals that "all players play as amateurs" and "all gate receipts and membership subscriptions be pooled and held in trust by the League and at the end of the season be handed over to the Patriotic Funds" which were rejected by the VFL.

Although the side had many great players during this period, perhaps the most remarkable was Albert Thurgood, who in 1899 kicked a football in excess of 107 yards (98.48m), a record that still stands today. They

The years between the wars (1918 - 1938)

In 1921 The Bombers decided to move to their current home Windy Hill, after the Essendon Council indicated a willingness to spend over £12,000 to bring the facilities there up to League standard. Their first base was at Jolimont Street. This would also see Essendon attain a new nickname because of their closeness to the Essendon Airport, and by 1922 the side had taken on its modern nickname of "the bombers" (as well as "the dons"), dropping the nicknames of "the same olds", "the sash wearers" and "the Essendonians" that had variously been used up until then. The red and blacks celebrated by reaching the final four for the first time since 1912, eventually ending up in 3rd place.

There was better to come. In 1923 the Same Old topped the ladder with 13 wins from 16 and then survived the indignity of a 17 point second semi final loss to South Melbourne to overcome Fitzroy, conquerors of South Melbourne, in the challenge final by the same margin. Final scores were Essendon 8.15 (63); Fitzroy 6.10 (46) with starring roles for the Same Old coming from half forward flanker George 'Tich' Shorten, centre half forward Justin McCarthy, centre half back Tom Fitzmaurice, rover Frank Maher and wingman Jack Garden. This was one of Essendon's most famous sides, dubbed the "mosquito fleet", due to the number of small, very fast players in the side: six of the premiership side were less than five and a half feet (167 cm) tall.

1924 proved to be arguably the strangest year in Essendon's entire history. For the first time since 1897 there was no ultimate match, be it challenge final or grand final, to determine the premiers; instead, the top 4 clubs after the home and away season played a round robin series of matches to determine the premiers. The result was an anti climax of the highest order with Essendon, having previously defeated both Fitzroy (by 40 points) and South Melbourne (by 33 points) 'clinching' the premiership by means of a 20 point loss to Richmond. With the Tigers having already lost a match to Fitzroy by a substantial margin the Same Old were declared premiers by virtue of their superior percentage, but rarely if ever can there have been such a hollow feeling accompanying a premiership success. Ultimately, Essendon again managed to win back-to-back premierships. But the low crowds for the finals meant this was never attempted again, resulting in Essendon having the unique record of winning the only two premierships without a grand final.

The 1924 season was not without controversy however, with rumours of numerous players accepting bribes. Regardless of the accuracy of these allegations, the club's image was tarnished, and the side experienced its lowest period during the decade that followed, with poor results on the field and decreased support off it.

There was worse to follow, with various Essendon players publicly blaming each other for the poor performance against Richmond, and then, with dissension still rife in the ranks, the side plummeted to an embarrassing 28 point loss to VFA premiers Footscray in a special charity match played a week later, purportedly (but not officially) for the championship of Victoria.

Prominent contributors to Essendon's 1924 premiership success included back pocket Clyde Donaldson, follower Norm Beckton, half back flanker Roy Laing, centreman Charlie May and rover Charlie Hardy.

While it is always difficult to assess the damage caused by events such as those which beset the Same Old at the tail end of the 1924 season it is undeniable that the club's fortunes dipped alarmingly, and persistently, in the wake of these events. Indeed, after finishing 3rd in 1926, it was to be fourteen long years before Essendon would even experience the thrill of contesting a finals series. This is all the more surprising when you consider that players of the calibre of Dick Reynolds, Keith Forbes, Jack Vosti, Roland Watt, Howard Okey, Len Webster, Edward 'Nipper' Freyer and Tom Clarke represented the red and blacks during these years.

The 1933 season was probably the start of the Essendon revival, seeing the debut of the player widely regarded as Essendon's, if not the league's, greatest: Dick Reynolds. His impact was immediate. He won the league's highest individual honour three times: but remarkably, his first came in only his second season, aged only 19. He would later repeat that feat in 1938 and 1939. His three Brownlow victories still stand as an equal record to this day.

The Dick Reynolds years (1939 - 1960)

Reynolds went on to arguably even greater achievements as a coach, a position to which he was first appointed, jointly with Harry Hunter, in 1939 (this was while Reynolds was still a player). A year later he took the reins on a solo basis and was rewarded with immediate success (at least in terms of expectations at the time which, after so long in the wilderness, were somewhat modest). He was regarded as having a sound tactical knowledge of the game and being an inspirational leader, as he led the side into the finals in 1940 for the first time since 1926, when the side finished 3rd. Melbourne, which defeated Essendon by just 5 points in the preliminary final, later went on to trounce Richmond by 39 points in the grand final.

1941 brought Essendon's first grand final appearance since 1923, but the side again lowered its colours to Melbourne. A year later war broke out and the competition was considerably weakened, and forced Geelong to pull out of the competition due to travel restrictions as a result of petrol rationing. Attendances at games also declined dramatically whilst some clubs had to move from their normal grounds due to them being used for military purposes. Many players were lost to football due to their military service. Nevertheless, Essendon went on to win the 1942 premiership with Western Australian Wally Buttsworth in irrepressible form at centre half back. Finally, the long awaited premiership was Essendon's after comprehensively outclassing Richmond in the grand final, 19.18 (132) to 11.13 (79). The match was played at Carlton in front of 49,000 spectators, and although there were some who suggested that the achievement was devalued because of Geelong's absence from the competition owing to war time travelling restrictions, needless to say this was not an opinion subscribed to at Essendon and which had generally good years during the war.

In any case, there could be no such reservations about Essendon's next premiership, which came just four years later. Prior to that the Same Old lost a hard fought grand final to Richmond in 1943 by 5 points, finished 3rd in 1944, and dropped to 8th in 1945.

The continual changes which were required as players became available or unavailable made the task of winning all the more difficult. In 1946, however, Essendon were clearly the VFL's supreme force, topping the ladder after the roster games and surviving a drawn second semi final against Collingwood to win through to the grand final a week later with a 10.16 (76) to 8.9 (57) triumph. Then, in the grand final against Melbourne, the Same Old put in a vintage all round performance to overhaul the Fuchsias' seven year old grand final record score by 2 points, and, of much greater significance of course, win the premiership at a canter. Final scores were Essendon 22.18 (150) to Melbourne 13.9 (87), with 7 goal centre half forward Gordon Lane, livewire rover Bill Hutchinson, and defenders Wally Buttsworth, Cec Ruddell and Harold Lambert among the linchpins of the red and blacks' success.

The 1947 grand final has to go down in he ledger as 'one of the ones that got away', Essendon losing to Carlton by a single point despite managing 30 scoring shots to 21. Then, as if to prove that lightning does occasionally strike twice, the second of the 'ones that got away' came just a year later, the Dons finishing with a lamentable 7.27 (of which full forward Bill Brittingham contributed 2.12) to tie with Melbourne (who managed 10.9) in the 1948 grand final. A week later the Same Old waved the premiership good-bye as Melbourne raced to a 13.11 (89) to 7.8 (50) triumph. The club's Annual Report made an assessment that was at once restrained and, as was soon to emerge, tacitly and uncannily prophetic:

......it is very apparent that no team is complete without a spearhead and your committee has high hopes of rectifying that fault this coming season.

The 1949 season heralded the arrival on the VFL scene of John Coleman, arguably the greatest player in Essendon's history, and, in the view of some, the finest player the game has known. In his first ever appearance for the Dons, against Hawthorn in round 1 1949, he booted 12 of his side's 18 goals to create an opening round record which was to endure for forty five years. More importantly, however, he went on to maintain the same high level of performance throughout the season, kicking precisely 100 goals for the year to become the first player to top the ton since Richmond's Jack Titus in 1940.

The Coleman factor was just what Essendon needed to enable them to take that vital final step to premiership glory, but even so it was not until the business end of the season that this became clear. Essendon struggled to make the finals in 4th place, but once there they suddenly ignited to put in one of the most consistently devastating September performances in VFL history.

Collingwood succumbed first as the Dons powered their way to an 82 point first semi final victory, and a fortnight later it was the turn of North Melbourne as Essendon won the preliminary final a good deal more comfortably than the ultimate margin of 17 points suggested. In the grand final the Same Old were pitted against Carlton and in a match that was a total travesty as a contest they overwhelmed the Blues to the tune of 73 points, 18.17 (125) to 6.16 (52). Best for the Dons included pacy aboriginal half back flanker Norm McDonald, ruckman Bob McLure, and rovers Bill Hutchinson and Ron McEwin. John Coleman also did well, registering 6 majors.

A year later Essendon were if anything even more dominant, defeating North Melbourne in both the second semi final and the grand final to secure consecutive VFL premierships for the third time. Best afield in the grand final in what was officially his swansong as a player was captain-coach Dick Reynolds, who received sterling support from the likes of Norm McDonald, ruckman/back pocket Wally May, back pocket Les Gardiner, and big Bob McLure.

With 'King Dick' still holding court as coach in 1951, albeit now in a non-playing capacity, Essendon seemed on course for a third consecutive flag but a controversial four week suspension dished out to John Coleman on the eve of the finals effectively put paid to their chances. Coleman was reported for retaliation after twice being struck by his Carlton opponent, Harry Caspar, and without him the Dons were rated a 4 goals poorer team. Nevertheless, they still managed to battle their way to a 6th successive grand final with wins over Footscray by 8 points in the second semi final and Collingwood by 2 points in the preliminary final.

The Dons sustained numerous injuries in the preliminary final and the selectors sprang a surprise on grand final day by naming the officially retired Dick Reynolds as 20th man. 'King Dick' was powerless to prevent the inevitable, however, as Geelong kept their noses in front all day to notch victory by 11 points.

From 1946 to 1951 Essendon were in six grand finals in succession, winning three (1946, 1949, & 1950). The return of many fine players from war service was partially responsible, but there was the emergence of others such as Jack Jones, George Hassell, Bob McClure and of course, John Coleman.

Essendon slumped to 8th in 1952 but John Coleman was in irrepressible form managing 103 goals for the year. Hugh Buggy noted in 'The Argus':

It was the wettest season for twenty two years and Coleman showed that since the war he was without peer in the art of goalkicking.

Two seasons later Coleman's career was tragically ended after he dislocated a knee during the round 8 clash with North Melbourne at Essendon. Aged just twenty five, he had kicked 537 goals in only 98 VFL games in what was generally a fairly low scoring period for the game. His meteoric rise and fall were clearly the stuff of legend, and few if any players, either before or since, have had such an immense impact over so brief a period.

According to Alf Brown, football writer for 'The Herald':

(Coleman) had all football's gifts. He was courageous, a long, straight kick, he had a shrewd football brain and, above all, he was a spectacular, thrilling mark.

Somewhat more colourfully, R.S. Whittington suggested,

"Had he been a trapeze artist in a strolling circus, Coleman could have dispensed with the trapeze."

Without Coleman, Essendon's fortunes plummeted, and there were to be no further premierships in the 1950s. The nearest miss came in 1957 when the Bombers (as they were popularly known by this time) earned premiership favouritism after a superb 16 point second semi final defeat of Melbourne, only to succumb by over 10 goals against the same side a fortnight later.

1959 saw another grand final loss to Melbourne, this time by 37 points, but the fact that the average age of the Essendon side was only 22 was seen as providing considerable cause for optimism. However, it was to take another three years, and a change of coach, before the team's obvious potential was translated into tangible success.

The fall from grace (1961 - 1980)

John Coleman started his coaching career at Essendon in 1961, thus ending the Dick Reynolds era at the club. In the same year Essendon finished the season mid table and supporters were not expecting too much for the following season. However the club blitzed the opposition in this year, losing only two matches and finishing top of the table. Both losses were to the previous year's Grand finalists. The finals posed no problems for the resurgent Dons, easily accounting for Carlton in the season's climax, winning the 1962 premiership. This was a remarkable result for Coleman who in his second season of coaching pulled off the ultimate prize in Australian football. As so often is the case after a flag, the following two years were below standard. A further premiership in 1965 (won from 4th position on the ladder), was also unexpected due to periods of poor form during the season. The Bombers were a different club when the finals came around, but some of the credit for the improvement was given to the influence of Brian Sampson and Ted Fordham during the finals. Coleman's time as coach turned out to be much like his playing career: highly successful but cut short when he had to stand down due to health problems in 1967.

After Coleman's retirement, the club hit tough times both on the field and off. Finals appearances were rare for the side, which was more often in contention for the wooden spoon (last place) than the premiership. During the period from 1968 until 1980, five different coaches were tried, with none lasting longer than four years.

Off the field the club went through troubled times as well. In 1970 five players went on strike before the season even began, demanding higher payments. 1980 proved an even more embarrassing year for the club, with new recruit Phil Carman making headlines for head butting an umpire. The tribunal suspended him for sixteen weeks, and although most people thought this was a fair (or even lenient) sentence, he took his case to the supreme court, gathering even more unwanted publicity for the club.

1976 proved the only real highlight for Essendon supporters during this time, when ruckman Graham Moss won the Brownlow medal.

The Kevin Sheedy years (1981 - present)

1981 again saw Essendon switching coaches, this time to Kevin Sheedy, a former Richmond player who had only recently retired and had no senior coaching experience. Although he got off to a bad start, with the side on the bottom of the ladder early in the season, the team recorded 15 successive victories up until the end of the season, to make the finals in Sheedy's first year as coach.

Making the finals proved to be a habit of Sheedy's, with the side again making the finals in 1982, and then taking the next step and reaching the 1983 grand final. Although they were beaten by Hawthorn by a then record margin, the 1984 result proved to be different. With Hawthorn leading by four goals at three-quarter time, it appeared certain that Hawthorn would win back-to-back premierships. Sheedy pulled some of his now famous positional moves, and the Essendon side that had appeared to have no hope suddenly looked the better of the two sides, eventually winning by four goals. The 1985 side repeated the result, this time soundly beating the Hawthorn side.

These results had many media commentators talking about an Essendon dynasty, especially since the side had some of Essendon's greatest ever players in Tim Watson, Simon Madden and Terry Daniher in the prime of their careers. This failed to eventuate for a number of reasons, injury and the retirements of some of the supporting players amongst them.

Despite this, by 1990 Essendon again made the grand final, losing heavily to Collingwood. By this stage most of the more experienced players were nearing retirement, and with few obvious replacements, 1991 and 1992 were not great years by the standards previously set during Sheedy's time in charge.

For that reason it was of great surprise to most in the footballing world when in one of the most even seasons ever, Essendon defeated Carlton in a landslide to win the 1993 premiership. The side became known as the "baby bombers", as the core of the side was made up of young, inexperienced players just starting their careers. One of them, Gavin Wanganeen, won the Brownlow medal that year.

Around this time period saw a transition of the club off the field. Moving from its traditional home ground, Windy Hill, to the larger and more modern MCG saw the side massively expand the crowds at its home games. This move, combined with shrewd marketing, particularly from coach Kevin Sheedy, and continued on field success has seen Essendon become one of the financial powerhouses of the competition. Although many Victorian clubs struggle, requiring AFL assistance to make ends meet, Essendon has consistently made a sizeable profit year after year.

After the success of 1993, many fans were disappointed in the performances in the following years, despite making the finals most years. In 1996, the side missed the grand final by a point, but received some compensation when James Hird won the Brownlow medal. By 1998, there were many calling for Kevin Sheedy to be replaced, and eventually this resulted in the coaching panel to be expanded, with Sheedy's assistant coaches taking on a greater role. This appeared to work, with Essendon finishing on top of the ladder in 1999, only to again miss out on the grand final by one point. This was the fourth final lost by a point under Sheedy, which some used as evidence to support the view that the side had underachieved under his coaching.

The 2000 season proved to be the best Essendon, or indeed any side in the league, has ever produced. Essendon lost only one game (which was the round 21 match against the Western Bulldogs) during the home-and-away season, and went unbeaten through the finals to win a record equalling 16th premiership. The side looked set to repeat this success the following year, but late season injuries took their toll, and an in-form Brisbane side defeated them in the grand final in 2001.

In the three years from 2002 to 2004, Essendon has finished sixth each year. That many fans view finishing sixth in a sixteen team competition to be a failure exemplifies the expectations the side's continued success under Sheedy has brought.

During 2004, Sheedy signed a new three year contract, by the end of which he will be second on the list of most VFL/AFL games coached behind Collingwood's Jock McHale.

Slide from the Top 8

Essendon had been a consistent side over a long period of time and the lack of quality draft picks following their finals finishes began to catch up with them. The 2005 season saw Essendon miss the finals for the first time since 1997, as well as producing their worst season to date under Sheedy's coaching. Their finish in 13th position with 8 wins and 14 losses began a slide that would continue to worsen. With the Bombers looking towards a new era, it was announced on September 27 that Matthew Lloyd would replace James Hird as Essendon captain for the 2006 season, marking the end of Hird's reign since he took over the captaincy in 1998.

Even with the failure of 2005, Essendon have played finals in 19 out of 25 seasons under Sheedy, with six top of the ladder finishes, seven Grand Final appearances and four premierships.

In early 2006, the Bombers were beset with injuries. Matthew Lloyd's hamstring injury during the game against the Bulldogs was so severe that he was ruled out for the entire season, therefore requiring a stand-in captain, David Hille, to be appointed.

Essendon had 3 wins in the season, against the Sydney Swans on April Fools' Day in Round 1, the Brisbane Lions in Round 17, and against rivals the Collingwood Magpies in Round 19. After the Lions win they were heavy favourites to beat the Swans at the SCG, but lost. The win over Collingwood ruined the Pies' hopes of making the top four. A string of 14 straight losses occurred before breaking this losing streak with a draw against the Carlton Blues in Round 16. The Bombers finished in 15th place above Carlton with a superior percentage. (81.86% to Carlton's 74.16%)

Major rivals

Carlton - With the teams sharing the record of 16 premierships, both sides are keen to become outright leader, or if out of the finals race, at least ensure the other doesn't. In recent years, the rivalry has thickened with Carlton beating the 1999 premiership favourites by 1 point in the preliminary final. However, it almost seems it was that loss that instantly ensured Essendon the preimership the following year. It was the driving force behind the Bombers winning 24 out of 25 games in the 2000 season to claim the flag and in doing so, match Carlton's preimership tally. In 2006, both teams fought out a wooden spoon battle, better known as the "Bryce Gibbs Cup", as he was the No.1 pick that year. This match ended in a draw, and Essendon sent Carlton to last following their drought-breaking win the following week. Carlton finished with the wooden spoon.
Collingwood - The match that has been played on Anzac Day between these two sides since 1995 is described as the second biggest match of the season, behind only the Grand Final. Being the two biggest football clubs in Australia, regardless of their position on the ladder this game always attracts a huge croud. In 2006, the Magpies were the only Victorian team to drop a match against Essendon (Round 19, 2006). In doing so Essendon avoided the wooden spoon and Collingwood's top-four hopes were dashed.
Hawthorn - The two sides had a number of physical encounters in the mid-1980s when they were the top two sides of the competition. The rivalry was exacerbated when Dermott Brereton ran through Essendon's three-quarter time huddle during a match in 1988 and again by an all in brawl during a match in 2004 allegedly instigated by Brereton (Now known as the 'line in the sand' match after the direction allegedly given by Brereton for the Hawthorn players to make a physical stand). This was reminiscent of a similar brawl in the 1985 grand final.
West Coast Eagles - Since Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy famously waved his jacket over his head following a close victory over the Eagles in 1993, it has become a tradition for the winning side's supporters to do the same after a match between the two sides. If one team is winning by a considerable margin, the coat waving has been known to begin well before the match ends. Essendon away games against West Coast always sell out the 43,000 seat Subiaco Oval.
Brisbane Lions - fought out the 2001 Grand Final. Essendon became the first of two victims of Brisbane's famous three-peat (Collingwood were the victims for the next two seasons). In Round 17, 2006, a James Hird-led display led to the Bombers breaking their winless drought which had stretched back to April Fools' Day.
Sydney Swans - fought out a hard-fought 1996 preliminary final at the SCG. Matches between Essendon and the Swans are hard-fought, and usually end in small margins (1 pt. in the 1996 preliminary final, 6 points in round 7, 2005, a draw in round 6, 1996, 2 pts. in round 9, 2002). During a round 19, 2005 clash there were 13 lead changes in total, with the Swans getting on top by 20 points. In 2006 the Swans went down by 27 points on April Fools' Day. This would be Essendon's only win in about four months.

Supporter base

A strong North West suburban club, Essendon over the last 20 years has become one of the most supported in Australia, rivalling Collingwood and arguably overtaking Carlton as the major Victorian power of the AFL. This can be put down to a number of significant changes made during this time. Even though Essendon had always boasted a big following, it wasn't until the club moved to the Melbourne Cricket Ground from Windy Hill in 1992 that they began to utilize their huge latent supporter base. Combined with immediate success at the new venue, things began to dramatically change off field. Instantly crowd figures grew, and each year saw attendances at Essendon games annually become the highest of any club in the competition. So much so, that if a comparison was made between the average attendance of home games during the last year at Windy Hill (17,537), to that of one just seven seasons later at the MCG (58,905), attendances had tripled. In fact, the bombers now holds the all time record for match attendances in a season with 1,169,551 patrons set in 1998.

Another reason for this growth has to be due to the current coach Kevin Sheedy. Sheedy became coach of Essendon in 1981, but one of the qualities he brought to the club besides the instant success, was his marketing ability. Sheedy became one of the first coaches to use his position to promote the club, which he did Australia wide and continues to do today. Almost every club in the AFL now has a coach following Sheedy's lead. Interestingly enough, during 2005, Essendon was the third most supported team in Western Australia (behind the West Coast Eagles and the Fremantle Dockers respectively).

Year	Members	Finishing position²
1998	27,099	8th
1999	29,858	3rd
2000	34,278	1st
2001	36,227	2nd
2002	35,219	5th
2003	31,970	6th
2004	37,042	6th
2005	35,398	13th
2006	32,511	15th
2007	31,714	-

¹(as at 15th March, 2007) [1] ²following finals matches

Affiliates

The Essendon Football Club have affiliated football clubs from around Australia and the world.

Club	League
Bendigo Bombers	Victorian Football League
North Shore Bombers	Sydney AFL Premier Division
Redland Bombers	Queensland State League
Lauderdale Bombers	Southern Football League (Tasmania)
Manchester United F.C.	FA Premier League
Tiwi Bombers	Northern Territory Football League

Club jumper

Home

File:Essendon-2007 Home.gif

The home jumper is black with a red sash which goes left to right.

Clash

File:Essendon-2007-Clash.gif

The clash jumper is predominantly black with large, red sash running across the back and front of the jumper, left to right.

While it is recorded that Essendon has always had black and red in its strip, it is understood that the black and red stripes mentioned as the official colours refer only to the socks. When the club was formed in 1873 uniforms were not available, and most players wore Navy Blue work guernseys. To avoid clashing with other teams, Essendon adopted a Red sash in 1875, and is recorded in magazines of the day as wearing Blue with Red sash up until about 1889. At this time, uniforms were ordered in the club colours, Black with a Red sash, and in every game from 1890 to today, Essendon has worn this design, unchanged, giving the AFL, and indeed Essendon a unique record in world sport as it's the longest period that any sporting club in the world has worn the same primary guernsey design. This now has been recognised in the Guinness Book of World Records. However, unfortunately for Essendon (and the other clubs), the AFL has requested all clubs provide a clash jumper design for use for games in 2007 and beyond. According to the AFL, Essendon would be required to wear this alternate jumper in designated away games against Richmond, Melbourne and St Kilda. While many can understand this request of the AFL, there are others that are bemused by this demand, namely Essendon supporters and traditionalists of the game. They argue that the clubs that supposedly clash with the Essendon jumper have had many different guernsey's with many variations^{[citation needed]}, consequently moving them closer to the Essendon design. They also argue that in some cases, these clubs had a completely different jumper with different colours. Two designs suggested for the Clash Jumper was a Red Jumper with black EFC writing and a jumper with an extra thick sash. Essendon have agreed on this second option as their "clash jumper", however the club has stated it intends to do whatever possible to avoid ever wearing the alternate design, to widespread support from the majority of club members.

This is the club's 2007 jumper design. The club's current major sponsors are 3 Mobile and Puma
http://www.footyjumpers.com/
The player who used to wear the number 22 jumper is Tristan Cartledge. He has been delisted from Essendon's list. The 22 jumper is now worn by Mal Michael

Premierships

VFA Premierships

1891, 1892, 1893, 1894.

VFL/AFL Premierships

1897, 1901, 1911, 1912, 1923, 1924, 1942, 1946, 1949, 1950, 1962, 1965, 1984, 1985, 1993, 2000.

Significant Club Achievements

McClelland Trophies

Awarded to Minor Premiers since 1991

1951, 1953, 1957, 1968, 1990, 1993, 1999, 2000, 2001.

VFL/AFL Reserve Premierships

1921, 1950, 1952, 1968, 1983, 1992, 1999.

Under 19's Premierships

1950, 1952, 1959, 1961, 1966.

Individual awards

Best and Fairest

2006 Scott Lucas

Brownlow Medal winners

Leigh Matthews Trophy winners

Terry Daniher (1983)
Tim Watson (1989)

Coleman Medal winners

Norm Smith Medal winners

Billy Duckworth (1984)
Simon Madden (1985)
Michael Long (1993)
James Hird (2000)

Michael Tuck Medal winners

Mark of the Year winners

Gary Moorcroft (2001)

National team representatives

Kepler Bradley (2005)
Andrew Lovett (2005)
Dustin Fletcher (2005,2006)
Brent Stanton (2006)

Team of the Century

To celebrate the 125th anniversary of the club, as well as 100 years of the VFL/AFL, Essendon announced its "Team of the Century" in 1997.

Essendon Team of the Century
B:	Gavin Wanganeen	Fred Baring	Tom Fitzmaurice
HB:	Barry Davis	Wally Buttsworth	Harold Lambert
C:	Reg Burgess	Jack Clarke	Michael Long
HF:	James Hird	Ken Fraser	Terry Daniher
F:	Bill Hutchison	John Coleman	Albert Thurgood
Foll:	Simon Madden	Tim Watson	Dick Reynolds (Captain)
Int:	Mark Thompson	Keith Forbes	Frank Maher
	William Griffith
Coach:	Dick Reynolds

Champions of Essendon

In 2002, a club panel chose and ranked the 25 greatest players to have played for Essendon.

Current squad

As of December 31, 2006:

Rookies:

Famous fans

Club honours

See Essendon Football Club honours.

Corporate

Presidents

Current president:

Ray Horsburgh

External links