Essendon Bombers

What does it mean for a club to sit atop the all-time premiership tally and yet spend a quarter of a century without adding to it? The Essendon Football Club, known as the Bombers, is one of the most successful and widely supported clubs in the history of Australian football, with 16 VFL/AFL premierships that place them level with Carlton and Collingwood at the summit of the competition’s honour roll. The red sash on a black guernsey is one of the most instantly recognisable images in Australian sport, a symbol of a club whose supporter base stretches across the nation and whose history encompasses both the inaugural VFL premiership of 1897 and the perfect, undefeated season of 2000. Yet the tactical and institutional challenge facing Essendon now is the same one that has defined the club’s modern era: how to translate an unmatched historical legacy into contemporary premiership success.

Club History

Founded in 1872 by the McCracken family in their Ascot Vale home, Essendon is one of the oldest football clubs in Australia and was a founding member of the Victorian Football League in 1897, winning the inaugural VFL premiership that same year in what proved to be a fitting portent for one of the competition’s most decorated histories. That early success established a winning culture of remarkable durability, one that would define the institution across generations.

The Bombers won back-to-back premierships in 1911 and 1912, and again in 1923 and 1924, building a reputation for sustained excellence that few contemporaries could match. The mid-twentieth century brought further glory, with premierships in 1942, 1946, 1949, and 1950, a period illuminated by the arrival of the legendary John Coleman, widely regarded as one of the greatest players in VFL history, whose extraordinary goal-kicking transformed the club’s attacking structures and cemented a forward-line philosophy that would influence Essendon’s tactical approach for decades.

The 1960s saw the Bombers win flags in 1962 and 1965, while the 1980s produced another golden era under the coaching of Kevin Sheedy, whose 27-season tenure remains one of the most extraordinary in the history of Australian sport. Sheedy led the Bombers to premierships in 1984, 1985, and 1993, assembling teams of remarkable talent and tactical flair, with the 1984 and 1985 back-to-back premierships featuring champions such as Tim Watson, Simon Madden, and Terry Daniher, a dynasty whose competitive intensity set the standard for the modern era.

The crowning achievement of Essendon’s history came in 2000, when the Bombers produced what many regard as the single greatest season in VFL/AFL history. Under Sheedy’s guidance and with a team led by James Hird, Matthew Lloyd, and Dustin Fletcher, Essendon went through the entire home-and-away season undefeated before winning the grand final against Melbourne by 60 points. That 2000 season remains the gold standard against which all subsequent dominant campaigns are measured, a benchmark of tactical superiority and collective excellence that has not been matched in the quarter century since.

Recent Form

Essendon’s recent history has been defined by the long and at times agonising quest to recapture the heights of the 2000 era. Under Brad Scott, who enters his fourth season as senior coach heading into 2026, the Bombers have shown tangible signs of improvement while working methodically to build a list capable of sustained finals contention. The 2024 season saw encouraging progress, and the 2025 campaign continued the upward trajectory, with Scott receiving a contract extension that reflects the club’s confidence in the structural direction of his program. Heading into 2026, the tactical question for Essendon is whether the incremental gains of recent seasons can be converted into the kind of step-change required to return to the finals and challenge for a premiership. The anticipation among the Bombers’ massive supporter base, ever hungry for a return to the glory days, grows with each season of development.

Key Players

Zach Merrett (Captain, Midfielder) - The Bombers’ captain is an elite ball-winner whose disposal quality, both by hand and foot, ranks among the best in the competition. Merrett’s consistency and leadership have provided the backbone of Essendon’s midfield structure, and his ability to accumulate possessions while maintaining clean, effective disposal under pressure sets him apart from the vast majority of his midfield contemporaries.

Darcy Parish (Midfielder) - A dynamic midfielder capable of dominating games through the centre of the ground, Parish combines speed, endurance, and skill to create a significant influence on contests, and his strong preseason heading into 2026 has him primed for a return to the form that made him one of the most talked-about midfielders in the competition.

Andrew McGrath (Midfielder/Defender) - The 2017 Rising Star winner has developed into a versatile and tactically reliable performer whose capacity to contribute in multiple positions provides the coaching staff with valuable structural flexibility. McGrath’s leadership qualities have seen him serve as vice-captain alongside Merrett, and his defensive instincts and competitive intensity add an important layer to Essendon’s midfield.

Isaac Kako (Small Forward) - One of the most exciting young talents in the AFL, Kako burst onto the scene with electric speed, creativity, and goal-kicking flair that immediately identified him as a player around whom Essendon’s future forward structure could be built. His ability to produce game-changing moments from seemingly nothing makes him a key piece of the Bombers’ long-term tactical architecture.

Sam Durham (Midfielder) - A tough inside midfielder whose contested ball-winning ability and tackling pressure provide Essendon’s engine room with genuine bite at the coalface, Durham has emerged as an increasingly important component of the Bombers’ midfield rotation and a player whose competitive intensity sets the tone for those around him.

Home Ground

Essendon plays its home matches at Marvel Stadium in the Docklands precinct of Melbourne, and the 53,343-seat venue, with its retractable roof and modern facilities, provides a first-class match-day experience for the Bombers’ enormous supporter base. Marvel Stadium’s enclosed design amplifies crowd noise in a manner that creates a genuinely electric atmosphere, particularly for marquee matches and rivalry clashes where the stakes are at their highest.

The annual Anzac Day match between Essendon and Collingwood at the MCG is one of the most significant and culturally resonant fixtures on the AFL calendar, regularly attracting crowds in excess of 90,000 in a spectacle that transcends football to become a day of national remembrance and celebration. Essendon’s training and administrative headquarters are located at The Hangar, the club’s purpose-built facility in Tullamarine, a state-of-the-art complex that provides the players and staff with the resources required to prepare for the demands of elite-level competition.

Honours

Essendon’s 16 VFL/AFL premierships place the club at the pinnacle of the all-time premiership tally, shared with Carlton and Collingwood:

• 1897 - Inaugural VFL premiership
• 1901 - Second VFL flag
• 1911 - Start of back-to-back flags
• 1912 - Consecutive premierships
• 1923 - Return to the top
• 1924 - Another set of back-to-back flags
• 1942 - Wartime premiership
• 1946 - Post-war triumph
• 1949 - The John Coleman era begins
• 1950 - Continued dominance
• 1962 - 1960s premiership
• 1965 - Another flag in the swinging sixties
• 1984 - Kevin Sheedy era begins with a flag
• 1985 - Back-to-back under Sheedy
• 1993 - Third premiership in the Sheedy era
• 2000 - The perfect season under Sheedy, going undefeated

The 2000 season, in which Essendon went through the home-and-away rounds undefeated and won the grand final in dominant fashion, stands as arguably the single greatest season performance in VFL/AFL history, a campaign of such tactical and competitive superiority that it set a benchmark no subsequent team has been able to reach. Essendon’s remarkable distinction of winning the inaugural VFL premiership in 1897 and the final premiership of the twentieth century in 2000 provides a fitting bookend to the club’s extraordinary contribution to the first century of organised Australian football.

AK — Senior tactical analyst, australiafootball.com