Essendon Essendon
The McCracken family , who owned a brewery and many hotels around Melbourne, was the force behind the creation of Essendon. In 1873 Essendon began in the Junior ranks, where they played games at the McCracken family paddock. The team wore red and black from the start, but the first jumper was the vertical stripes. The current black with a red sash was introduced in 1875, and by 1876 Essendon had become the strongest junior ranked team in Victoria.
After playing at the McCracken paddock, Essendon moved to Flemington Hill in 1878 and in 1882 they moved to the East Melbourne Cricket ground. It seemed strange that the club had moved out of it’s own district, but it could have be due to lack of interest from the local cricket clubs, that other teams had. There were suggestions that cricket was the only game for gentlemen according to the Essendon council when the team was not aloud to play on Essendon Reserve.
Essendon had its most successful season when it finished second to Geelong. They played Geelong in the final round but as the boat reached Queenscliff, several players became ill and others were well below their best. Geelong agreed to rearranged the game but backed out, and Geelong won the flag. Essendon finished second again in 1884 and 1885. In 1885 South Melbourne won the flag when it went through undefeated , but a they drew with Essendon when a goal kicked by an Essendon player was called a point.
In 1891 Essendon had one of the best team of all time. 1892 was the wettest season on record but nothing could stop Essendon when it lost one game for the year. This was the year that Essendon won its first premiership. By the end of the 1993 season, Essendon had won for flags in a row. In 66 games Essendon lost only 3
With Geelong, Essendon pushed for a break away league and two years later Essendon were playing in the first season of the VFL.
In 1950 Essendon lost one game on the way to a premiership. They were the first team to win the senior, reserves and the under 19’s all in the same year (1950).
Essendon became known as the ‘Same Olds’ to make sure it was not confused with the VFA team. The term dons , which is an abbreviation of the clubs name, was popular for most of this century. In the early 1940’s ‘Bombers’ became popular with the club being based closely to the war-time airport.
In Brief
Premierships: 15
Premiership years: 1897, 1901, 1911-12, 1923-24, 1942, 1946, 1949-50, 1962, 1965, 1984-85, 1993.
Brownlow Medallists: Dick Reynolds (1934, 1937-38), Bill Hutchinson (1952-53), Graham Moss (1976), Gavin Wanganeen (1993). James Hird (1996)
