Essendon Football Club
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The Essendon Football Club , also known as Essendon Bombers , is an Australian football club from Essendon , a district of Melbourne , which has played in the Australian Football League (then still the Victorian Football League ) since 1897 . With 16 titles, the Bombers are the most successful team in the Australian professional league alongside the Carlton Blues . The club colors are red and black and the venues are Etihad Stadium and Melbourne Cricket Ground . Essendon previously played at East Melbourne Cricket Ground until 1921 and at Windy Hill in Essendon until 1991 . The latter still serves as the club's training facility today.
history
The Essendon Football Club was founded between 1871 and 1873 and was one of the clubs in the VFL's inaugural season in 1897, in which they were able to win the championship title straight away. Other titles followed in 1901, 1911 and 1912. In 1921, the Bombers moved from the East Melbourne Cricket Ground to Windy Hill , where they played their home games until 1991. Two years after the move, the next championship win could be celebrated in 1923. A year later the title was successfully defended. There followed two more participations in the finals , before a long dry spell with 13 missed finals and a wooden spoon as the worst team, from which Essendon was only able to free itself in 1940. In 1942 the Bombers won the championship again after failing in the Grand Final in 1941 . In 1943 they were also in the final for the title, but lost there against Richmond .
Between 1946 and 1951, the club made it to the Grand Final six times in a row , with three titles being won. This was followed by changeable performances over the next few years, before winning the title again in 1962, which could be repeated in 1965. Then Essendon got into another crisis when between 1967 and 1980 the finals could only be reached three times , but no title was won. In 1984 and 1985 he finally won new titles.
In the AFL's premiere year in 1990, Essendon reached the Grand Final , which, however, was lost. In 1993 the new AFL finally won the first prize, which could be repeated in 2000. However, the Bombers have been untitled since 2000 and have rarely reached the finals since then .
successes
- Championships (16): 1897, 1901, 1911, 1912, 1923, 1924, 1942, 1946, 1949, 1950, 1962, 1965, 1984, 1985, 1993, 2000
- Vice championships (14): 1898, 1902, 1908, 1941, 1943, 1947, 1948, 1951, 1957, 1959, 1968, 1983, 1990, 2001
- McClelland Trophies (9): 1951, 1953, 1957, 1968, 1990, 1993, 1999, 2000, 2001