History of the Essendon football club

Early Days

1873.... Ned Kelly was five odd years away from turning from common horse thief into bushranger and legend, in America Thomas Edision was still working to perfect the incandescent light while in England Queen Victoria ruled over an empire on whose colonies the sun never set.

At the same time, Essendon football Club played it's first game of Aussie Rules. While Geelong and Melbourne had both formed in the late 1850's and Richmond and Carlton in the early 1860's the Essendon football club has never suffered from being brought into existence a little later than some others. Certainly with the mishmash of rules during the early years, Essendon probably saved itself some major difficulties by waiting on the sidelines. The first uniform set of rules for the game didn't come into being until 1868, with matches prior to them played under a variety of rules, including one that saw the winner decided when one team or the other had scored two goals! With some games played in parks with the goals a mile (1600 meters approx.) apart, the first recorded match went on for three successive Saturdays that had a total playing time of 15 hours per day!

If you drive around the suburb of Essendon you will come across McCracken street. It's easy to ignore the names of streets, but the McCracken name is one that all Essendon supporters should be aware of. The McCracken family, including Robert, his son Alex, Robert's brother Peter and his son Coiler were instrumental in beginning the Essendon football club. Between them they held the offices of President of the club, Secretary of the club and Captain during the first few years. Alex would also go on to become President of the VFL. It was at Robert's home, known as "Ailsa" (another street name in the area now) that the McCracken's, as well as a few other local families, formed the Essendon football club in 1872. It is also regarded that the McCrackens were the ones to design the 'Black with a Red Sash' jumpers that Essendon have worn since 1875.

In 1873 Essendon team played its first games, with wins recorded in 7 of the 13 games played that year, along with 4 draws. In the first game played between an Essendon side and a Carlton side on the 7th of June, Essendon took the honors with a solitary goal scored John McCracken, the then Captain.

In 1877, the Victorian Football Association was formed, the first controlling body for Australian Rules football in Victoria, with Essendon joining Melbourne, Geelong, Carlton, Albert Park, St.Kilda , Hotham and East Melbourne in the new competition. Over the first few years, Essendon was regarded as a 'Junior' side, and at times allowed to field 25 men to their opponents 20, but by the early 1880's had become one of the power teams, despite being unable to record a premiership.

In 1886 Essendon fans were treated to Charles Pearson revolutionizing the game by being the first player to leap from the confines of the ground in order to take a high flying mark. His exploits were recorded by 'The Argus' newspaper at the time with mention that 'Ladies in the pavilion screamed for fear Mr. Pearson would cause some serious injury to himself when he caught the ball high above the others but toppled down head first among the bunch." With Pearson's exploits, many other players, at first at Essendon, then at other clubs, followed his example and the most exciting component of Aussie Rules was born: the screamer.

In 1891 the 'Same Olds' as they became known, began the first of it's golden era's. The four years of 1891 through 1894 saw four consecutive premierships and the arrival of one of the greatest players to ever grace the field; Albert Thurgood. Thurgood led the association goal kicking table in his first year and would go on to set records including being the first player to kick 12 goals in a match, and a distance record for the 'place kick; that was still in use with one measured at 104 yards: close to 100 metres! He was a brilliant allrounder, with such a command of the game that the "Argus" newspaper suggested that his, and Essendons, grip on the game was so complete that their opponents be allowed "an extra player in order to make a game of it." But when Thurgood left to pursue the gold rush in Western Australia, many of his teammates left too, and after four years of domination, the good times were over.

Next: Building Up

The people over at Australian Football Video currently have the "Bombers - The history of the Essendon Football Club" DVD available at a discount price. Instead of the usual $29.95, the DVD is being offered at just $19.95. It covers the history of the club in detail from the era of Dick Reynolds right through to the current players and coach. The documentary includes narration by club favorite Tim Watson.

All original images on this site remain the property of Danny Bishop and cannot be used without prior approval. Any tradmarks remain the property of their respective owners. It doesn't look like the AFL have the best interests of fans at heart, so make sure you're a member of your club so you can have a say. Go Bombers. ©2004-2005.