Club History The best and worst five Essendon games that you've attended

Remove this Banner Ad

Log in to remove this ad.

Jan 30, 2015
2,847
2,524
AFL Club
Essendon
obviously our two most painful losses ever are the 96 and 99 prelims.

for some reason i really hurt at last year's loss to melbourne, also a loss to port in about 2010 by less than a goal and a loss to brisbane by less than a goal in 2013.

best wins for mine are 93 prelim, wins over wc and freo in 2013, maybe even the win over the hawks last week, 93 grand final win.
 
Jan 30, 2015
2,847
2,524
AFL Club
Essendon
obviously our two most painful losses ever are the 96 and 99 prelims.

for some reason i really hurt at last year's loss to melbourne, also a loss to port in about 2010 by less than a goal and a loss to brisbane by less than a goal in 2013.

best wins for mine are 93 prelim, wins over wc and freo in 2013, maybe even the win over the hawks last week, 93 grand final win.
I forgot ANZAC 09 - oops
 

GandalfTheDon

T**ty Sprinkles
Essendon Player Sponsor 2017 Pokemon is Life Essendon Player Sponsor 2016 Essendon Player Sponsor 2014 Essendon Player Sponsor 2015
Aug 15, 2011
1,408
1,540
The Red and Black Havens
AFL Club
Essendon
Other Teams
Manchester United
I have cried because of a loss once. That was the unmentionable ******* game 16 years ago.
Anzac Day game in 2012. Everyone I was with was absolutely shattered, visible tears from us all. ******* 1 point. Lucky I had VelvetSledge to hold me.

Just to mention, I ******* despise Collingwood
 
Aug 15, 2011
23,780
8,380
AFL Club
Essendon
Other Teams
Port Adelaide
Havnt attended many of the bombers due to being a pertharian.

However the fremantle game at subi last year was pretty bad as i had high hopes and we were almost favourites from memory.
 
Jan 31, 2012
36,623
24,069
patterson lakes
AFL Club
Essendon
Other Teams
Boston Celtics
Surprised that the 1990 GF hasn't made anyone's worst list yet. Do we just not have that many here who were the game?

Oh yeah i was there (13 years ols) with my Collingwood father, who proceeded to send me home on a train on my pat as he and a mate went back to Victoria Park. Game was over pretty early I guess & something told me they had our measure after the thumping they gave us 2 weeks earlier in the 2nd semi.
 
Surprised that the 1990 GF hasn't made anyone's worst list yet. Do we just not have that many here who were the game?

Thanks Doss. I went to that game with my (at the time) Collingwood supporting brother in law. Not only did I have to stay for all of the post match crap, due to where I was living at the time I had to drive the prick home past Victoria Park. I'd almost managed to forget that. Almost.

Bastard.
 
Been lucky to have been to many, many games over the journey. I've based this on how I felt afterwards.

Worst Five.

5.
1981 Elimination Final. ******* Fitzroy. Again. In front all day, lost to just about the last kick of the day in the pissing rain. * I hated the roys that day.

4.
1979 Elimination Final. First final I'd ever been to. Got smashed, never in it. Was a very unhappy little vegemite.

3.
1984 Second Semi Final. I had never been so shattered after a game at the point in my life.

2.
1990 Grand Final. Started well enough, then after the fight didn't give a yelp in any meaningful way.

1.
1999 Prelim. Nuf said.

Funnily enough I wasn't as shattered in 2001 after the GF as I had been in many other games. We just weren't good enough on the day.

Best Five.

5.
1993 Grand Final. After the qualifying game no one rated us but us. Came out and smashed the scum. Longy's run. SOS's sook. Wallis on Hanna. Mark Athorn hahahahahaha,
Denham smacking Williams all over the park (copped it back too, fairplay). Giving it to the ******* who sat next to me the week before and was all mouthy until half time and then went really quiet. Probably my favourite memory was during the past match lap of honour, when one of the scum's cheersquad was overcome and jumped the fence, ran out to have a go at the players and got smashed into the 22nd century by security.

4.
1993 Prelim. Dead set gone at half time. Buried. Longy. Watson's sealer. Bliss.

3.
R7, 2009. Whorethorn were even shorter favourites than last week. We were over $10 on most markets, no Fletcher, no Lucas. Brilliant second half.

2.
2011 Anzac Day. First game all three of my boys went to. Best non grand final I can remember. Zaka. The look on their faces, especially that fat * in his gold jacket. "Game over" my arse.

1.
1984 Grand Final. First GF I went to. Had copped it all week from whorethorn mates about how much of a flogging we were going to get again. Stood in the outer all day. Watched the U19's (Dennis Pagan's roos) the magoos (Huge brawl between Melbourne and the scum) and finally our game. First half was s**t, couldn't buy a goal. 3rd quarter we slowly worked our way back into it, only to have Brereton kick a late arsey goal. I remember thinking at 3/4 time if we could kick straight we were still a chance (youthful naivety?). The avalanche. Bakers goal. The roar. Dippers elbow. They hit the front. Merrett's mark. Timmy you little ******* beauty. Merv's icing on the cake. Floating home on cloud 9.
 

Kakkle

Cancelled
10k Posts A Star Wars Fan Pokemon is Life
Jun 2, 2012
14,625
24,238
AFL Club
Essendon
Other Teams
Los Angeles Dodgers
Been lucky to have been to many, many games over the journey. I've based this on how I felt afterwards.

Worst Five.


2. 2011 Anzac Day. First game all three of my boys went to. Best non grand final I can remember. Zaka. The look on their faces, especially that fat **** in his gold jacket. "Game over" my arse.


:D
 

Charliebrow 16

Premiership Player
Oct 3, 2006
3,889
3,142
Tasmania
AFL Club
Essendon
Other Teams
Celtics, Federer, Birmingham FC
I haven't been fortunate enough to be present for too many live Essendon games, but the ones I have seen have been absolute beauties. Probably only been to 12-15, but these are my top three live experiences.

vs Sydney R3, 1999

I went through a phase in my younger years where I probably adored Matthew Lloyd more than the EFC itself. If I couldn't watch a game, I'd always check the goal tally to see how many he had kicked (if it was any less than five I was a little disappointed!), and I suppose looking back this specific game was probably the catalyst for that. Lloydy tore Sydney apart with thirteen goals and I'd never been so captivated, so mesmerized, so utterly enchanted by what I was witnessing. He took pack marks, he took them out on the lead, and whenever the ball was kicked in his general vicinity, the crowd would all go up and simply erupt whenever he got his hands on it. Towards the end of the game, Bewick took a mark on the boundary line right on the forward fifty, Lloyd made a fantastic lead, he had his man cold trailing a few meters behind and Bewick gave a little grin and ignored him. I think he may have even got a few playful jeers after that. The single best individual performance I've ever attended.

vs North Melbourne R17, 1999

One word to describe this one - pulsating. Both sides were equal first on top of the ladder and the game was highlighted by brilliant performances by the respective number 18's: Lloydy kicked seven and Carey kicked ten. 44 goals were scored, players were reported, all the skills in the book were displayed, freakish goals were kicked - the match had everything. In fact, I'll always remember Lloyd's kick out of mid-air from relatively close to the boundary that somehow went through the sticks, it was just unbelievable. Action everywhere you turned and it still remains one of my favourite H&A games I've ever seen.

vs North Melbourne QF, 2000

Went to this one with my old man. He's a Richmond supporter but he didn't want me to miss it, and I'm really thankful that he gave me the opportunity to see us utterly dominate and dismantle North. Misiti was everywhere, Lloyd kicked another seven, Carey was held to a solitary goal whilst we piled on 30+ ourselves. It was a great time to be an Essendon supporter - you went into every individual game thinking that not only were you going to win, you were going to humiliate even the toughest of opponents.
 

(Log in to remove this ad.)

May 6, 2007
39,099
22,786
South East Suburbs
AFL Club
Essendon
Other Teams
Tottenham Hotspurs, Melbourne Vixen
Anyone remember Essendon beating Richmond by 101 points?

Alessia kicked 5, Lloyd 4 and the unflappable Dustin Fletcher kicked 3 as well. Mercury underlined his superstar status whilst Dean Solomon boosted his trade stocks with Brownlow votes.

Uh, them were the years.

Also vaguely remember a 2000 game, against Geelong where we won. Blumfield kicked the opener, Lloyd kicked a bag and Scott Lucas dominated from chf.
 

60sbomber

Club Legend
Jul 4, 2011
1,882
2,044
Frankston
AFL Club
Essendon
I'm showing my age here, but for me, in the dim dark past of my youth, the last round of 1972 remains a great memory. We played Collingwood, who were a superb team, at Windy Hill. Des Tuddenham was captain coach, after coming in to take over from Johnny Birt, under whom we had dropped to 2nd bottom in both '70 & '71. We won late by about 5 pts I think, with Geoff Blethyn kicking 5 goals (memory a bit hazy). The crowd was unbelievable, I barely made it to the top of the steps behind the goals at the grandstand end, after getting to the ground at 12noon. I didn't move all day, and could only just see between heads.
We got done easily the next week in the elimination final by St. Kilda.
 

bacon buster

Premiership Player
Jul 8, 2003
3,242
1,008
Melbourne
AFL Club
Essendon
Other Teams
Man Utd, LA Lakers
3. v Geelong, R2, 2008. Probably the manner in which the bubble burst that was most disheartening that day. We'd absolutely steam rolled North in Round 1, everyone was talking about how Knights had been the new blood Essendon so desperately needed, all was good, and then....BANG! 99 point loss. To the reigning premiers, to be fair, but it was still horrible to sit through. http://afltables.com/afl/stats/games/2008/050920080330.html

disagree in a way with this one. we were s**t, and they were playing just about the best football you could ever hope to watch. i hated it a bit, but i did admire the way they played.
3. Round 20, 2009 vs St. Kilda. We ended their streak as Riewoldt missed the goal on the siren. My footy team came back from 5 goals down in the last 10 minutes of the game to win the preliminary final earlier that day, and this game capped off what was an amazing weekend.

almost forgot about this one. what an amazing win. we really needed it too to make the finals. Riewoldt still had the shot after the siren to win :/
2009 Anzac Day. I love that Zaka goal.

oh yeaahhh. the people in front of me left just after Rocca kicked that 'goal' (when he pushed Fletch in the back and it was called back). oops! loudest roar i can remember live. random strangers hugging and high fiving.

2. v West Coast, R3, 2004. I think we all remember this gem. Hird was 20k lighter in pocket. We'd started the season 0-2 and were struggling- we all knew the magic of 1999-01 was fading fast by this point. This was one of our last great hurrahs before we properly fell in 2005. And what an amazing ending. Just a brilliant game of attacking footy. http://afltables.com/afl/stats/games/2004/051820040410.html

1. v Hawthorn, R2, 2015. This might just be recency bias and the fact Hawthorn are my most hated team kicking in here, but given the circumstances of 2013-14, the fact Hawthorn are BTB premiers, and the fact they've been far too good for us in recent seasons (2014's close one excepted), this is honestly as ecstatic as I have ever felt after an Essendon victory. Words can barely describe it. And, I think that was important a win as we've had for a very long term for the psyche of the club. **** Hawthorn. http://afltables.com/afl/stats/games/2015/051020150412.html

yes and yes. the roar and feeling at the end only edged slighting by Anzac day 09 for me. that West Coast game was amazing too. Hirdy just carried us.
5. Round 11 2013 vs Carlton - That Carlisle mark! Along with Melksham suddenly showing signs with his heroics as well made it a great night with the Bombers once again prevailing against the odds by putting Malthouse and his rabble in their place. I thought Simon White was going to kick a sealer but we scrapped through. It was pretty good.

that was a ******* ripper. i'd say the round 22 game was better though, when we had nothing to play for, and Zaka nailed them after they missed about 10 golden chances to win :D

93 PF - Dat Mercuri Goal

wasn't there, but at the top of my list for games i wished i was at. the crowd destroyed the effects mike after that goal. i remember driving home from Melbourne that day. the radio in the old XD Falcon died about 10 mins into the first quarter. got home just at the time Mercuri kicked that goal (about halfway through 3rd) and heard them say on the radio 'huge comeback by the Bombers this quarter, they trail now by only 16 points!!'. and Dad and I said to each other, what the actual * have we missed?
 

bacon buster

Premiership Player
Jul 8, 2003
3,242
1,008
Melbourne
AFL Club
Essendon
Other Teams
Man Utd, LA Lakers
I have cried because of a loss once. That was the unmentionable ******* game 16 years ago.

i didn't cry that day
i was too mad i think
we were just way too good to lose that game. especially after kicking 7.7 in the third
we were a 7 goal better side

AAANYWAY

i cried after the 96 prelim :/
wasn't there, but it was just shattering
especially losing to the 'Swannies'
 
Jan 31, 2012
36,623
24,069
patterson lakes
AFL Club
Essendon
Other Teams
Boston Celtics
Anyone remember Essendon beating Richmond by 101 points?

Alessia kicked 5, Lloyd 4 and the unflappable Dustin Fletcher kicked 3 as well. Mercury underlined his superstar status whilst Dean Solomon boosted his trade stocks with Brownlow votes.

Uh, them were the years.

Also vaguely remember a 2000 game, against Geelong where we won. Blumfield kicked the opener, Lloyd kicked a bag and Scott Lucas dominated from chf.

Was there & didnt think Richmond were that bad... we were just that bloody efficient. Remember derm's words in post gamer..."this was a clinical dismantling by Essendon".
 

Squeaky

Club Legend
Oct 4, 2005
1,859
1,823
Up north
AFL Club
Essendon
Awesome Thread.

Best:
1993 Prelim - someone mentioned the Mercuri goal in the 3rd Q. Unbelievable!
1996 Centenary Match v Cats - Boris Bewick!
2002 Semi v West Coast - Lloyd KO'd early - enter Scotty Lucas.
2000 Rnd 20 v Carlton - Billed to be the match of the year - In reality we never looked like losing.
2003 vs Dogs - Sunday game at the Dome - day out for Lloyd.
2000 Mothers day vs Adelaide - Longy went nuts in the final qtr - It was a great game & The Crows took it right up to us for 3 qtrs.


Worst:
The 07 Carlton match - up by 8 goals at the half & then Fev went nuts & we got rolled by less than a kick.
My First Match at Waverley 1987 v Hawks a 100 point belting! F.ing Brereton!
Anzac Day 1998 - Banksy came back to try & play on Rocca - it didn't work!
2004 vs Brisbane at Etihad - we were OK up to half time - then Wham! 10 goal flogging!
Sheeds, & Hirdy's last game in Melbourne vs Tiges - Obviously the Tigers hadn't read the script!
 

Max Headroom

Club Legend
Dec 19, 2014
1,215
2,012
Off with the fairies
AFL Club
Essendon
I'm not sure about the rest of you but I am trying to skim the bad moments that I don't remember so I don't drag up any bad memories.

The worst (others blanked from memory thankfully)

1983 GF. Standing in the outer at the back balancing on a tiny Esky with my Mum, devastating loss.

1981 Elimination final against Fitzroy. It was raining, the bastards got up with the last kick. Horrible.

Some of my favourites:

1984 Grand Final. I watched from a family friend's place. I retired to play Atari at half time (probably Frogger or Pac-Man) and debated whether to come back and watch, I'm glad I did. I remember my Mum couldn't bear to watch when it got close and was at one point sitting on the kitchen floor so she couldn't see the TV screen :)

1985 Grand Final, I was there this time and it was awesome revenge. Fond memories of festooning Mum's red Corolla with scarves and ribbons prior to driving home, and waving to the neighbouring supporters on the drive.

2001 Greatest comeback against North Melbourne, think we were down by 11 goals at one point. I felt we were invincible after this and could come back from anything.

2009 Anzac Day game. Zacka forever!

I can also remember a game in the mid eighties against Carlton at Princes Park, it was sold out but my hitherto morally upstanding Mum spotted a gap in the fence that people were squeezing through. The coppers strolled slowly towards us and people suddenly found other things to do, playing a bit of kick to kick and leaning casually against the fence. Bless the police, they stood next to the gap for a while and then strolled slowly away, and then we were in! It was a good game made even better by a great win, absolutely packed to the rafters and lots of atmosphere. Lots of cheeky Essendon supporters on the tram back to the city.

This years comeback against Hawthorn. Fantastic. Watched from the lounge room with my 8 yo daughter as my husband had ruptured his Achilles the previous day and wasn't going anywhere. I had prepared her for a potential loss and the comeback was so sweet, we danced around the room and sang the team song every time they played it on the TV. Was a bit annoyed when they cut off the telecast! Poor hubby had resigned himself to the loss and had dragged himself upstairs to have a shower and missed the whole thing.

Edit: in case anyone is wondering, I didn't come from a broken home - Dad was from Sydney, Mum was from Ascot Vale. 'Nuff said.
 
Last edited:

KGBeast

Club Legend
May 17, 2012
1,538
1,469
Frankston
AFL Club
Essendon
Other Teams
Boston Bruins, Kansas City Chiefs,
My five best were

Rd 12 1982 Ess 19.12.126 def Carl 8.18.66 My first game. Otway and Watson ran amok. Foulds was brilliant and I remember Steven Copping missing loads of goals.

Preliminary final 1993 Ess 17.9.111 def Adel 14.16.100 The comeback after halftime was amazing. Fish and Bewick kept us in it and Watson kicked the sealer.

Grand Final 1993. Ess 20.13.133 def Carl 13.11.89 To beat the scum in a grannie with a load of kids was the highlight of my football life to that point. And it was nice and sunny too. Paid a scalper for tix, would pay ten times as much to do it again.

Rd 16 2001 Ess 27.9.171 def Norf 25.9 159 Once the goals started coming there was nothing those flogs could do about it. I was seated next to a very vocal Kangaroos supporter who blew his load too early. He who laughs last :D

Grand Final 2000 Ess 19.21.135 def Mel 11.9.75 What a day.

No particular order. I'll have a think about my least favorite games later.
 

Remove this Banner Ad

Back