What do Essendon stand for as a club? What is their culture, fanbase, what makes them unique?

[aCunningPlan]

I have been listening to 2 Guys 1 Cup, very entertaining podcast, and have been hearing from various fans talk about their clubs and the essence of what it means to be a fan of Carlton, Collingwood, Port, etc. The Essendon one caught me by surprise though, when talking about who they are as a club, their culture, fanbase, etc. there really wasn't anything of substance I could take away. I know they were big in the 80's and 90's, and that's sustained them. But what makes Essendon, Essendon?

Geelong have the sleepy hollow, come home vibe. The Doggies are proudly the western suburbs tough nuts who fought to keep their club from merging, Hawthorn and Melbourne are the leafy eastern suburb set, the Blues have the Carlton Crew thing going. What do Essendon have? I feel like they have taken a deliberately bland focused group approach to their identity that it doesn't stand out which surprises me for a big club. It's like they built their whole identity around individual players rather than a timeless sense of club culture; once Sheedy, Hird, Lloyd, Fletcher walked out the door what was left?
Who are they? I am genuinely interested.

*Please no ASADA talk.

 

[The 747]

Sheedy

 

[Power Raid]

I'd be interested to hear from a Vic perspective but I to feel the Dons have lost their marketing direction

when success comes again, so to will the marketing clarity

 

[BuffDog]

Most Essendon fans are right to feel disillusioned with the club in the last 15 or so years but there is plenty in our history that makes us one of, if not the most storied club in the competition. This Includes

• VFA 4 peat leading to the ‘Same Olds’ nickname.
• Inaugural VFL premiership in 1897.
• Mosquito fleet premierships of 1923 and 1924.
• Dick Reynolds’ three Brownlows and a number of flags in the 40’s culminating in a near perfect 1950 season.
• the ‘Bombers’ identity owing to our proximity to Essendon Airport.
• The legend and tragedy of John Coleman.
• The Sheedy years including the 80’s flags and rivalry with Hawthorn, jacket/scarf waving, the Baby Bombers of 1993 and the incredible 2000 season.
• Modern legends including Lloyd, Hird and Fletcher.
• Leaders in fostering and promoting indigenous talent in the game.
• Pioneering marquee fixtures like ANZAC Day and Dreamtime.
• Holders of biggest comeback, biggest win in a final and highest score in a final records.

The past 15 years and the ASADA mess have been a dark chapter for this club, but it is a chapter none the less and one day the wheel will turn and there’ll be new successes and legends at Essendon.

 

[JackFlash]

What made Essendon, Essendon was Windy Hill, i can understand home games could no longer be played, but once they left the ground as their home base in 2013 it has all fallen apart. The last decade has been a complete and utter disaster marketing-wise for the Bombers. The drug scandal has everyone at Essendon thinking I can’t believe that I just stepped in that poop! What if it ruins my shoes? What if I walk it all over my floor? What if the people in the street can smell it from a safe 5 metres away? They’ll think I stink! Yes, yes i think they do. On top of that, they have lost their local attachment moving to Tullamarine and then there is that dreadful away strip....

 

[Gavin Excell]

They are the Tigers of the 80s 90s and 2000s

 

[Gavin Excell]

I'd be interested to hear from a Vic perspective but I to feel the Dons have lost their marketing direction

when success comes again, so to will the marketing clarity

I feel they are pretty lightweight and in the shadows of the other big 4

 

[Boston tiger]

I have been listening to 2 Guys 1 Cup, very entertaining podcast, and have been hearing from various fans talk about their clubs and the essence of what it means to be a fan of Carlton, Collingwood, Port, etc. The Essendon one caught me by surprise though, when talking about who they are as a club, their culture, fanbase, etc. there really wasn't anything of substance I could take away. I know they were big in the 80's and 90's, and that's sustained them. But what makes Essendon, Essendon?

Geelong have the sleepy hollow, come home vibe. The Doggies are proudly the western suburbs tough nuts who fought to keep their club from merging, Hawthorn and Melbourne are the leafy eastern suburb set, the Blues have the Carlton Crew thing going. What do Essendon have? I feel like they have taken a deliberately bland focused group approach to their identity that it doesn't stand out which surprises me for a big club. It's like they built their whole identity around individual players rather than a timeless sense of club culture; once Sheedy, Hird, Lloyd, Fletcher walked out the door what was left?
Who are they? I am genuinely interested.

*Please no ASADA talk.

Traditionally they were a rich Protestant club. Plenty of premierships, plenty of money and plenty of supporters . Who are they as a club ? A big successful football club that’s been going for 150 years.

 

[Shane Heard]

Thurgood, Reynolds, Coleman, Hutchison, Watson, Daniher, Madden, Hird, Lloyd and dozens of others.

We are club born from origins in a sheep paddock out the back of Flemington to become a nation wide juggernaut of fans and assets $$$

Few flags here and there.

We are like Pies, Carlton , Richmond and Geelong

Big clubs that have survived many upheavals each and continue to thrive in the premier Australian football competition.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Sheedy

They haven't really done much since he left.

Funny how Sheedy tried to get Hird back as coach after his 1st disaster.

I would have been livid & given up my membership if that happened at the Crows (like Burton returning to the the club).

They have lacked stability & reckon Scott will be gone within 2 years after bottom 4 finishes.

 

[Shane Heard]

They haven't really done much since he left.

Funny how Sheedy tried to get Hird back as coach after his 1st disaster.

I would have been livid & given up my membership if that happened at the Crows (like Burton returning to the the club).

They have lacked stability & reckon Scott will be gone within 2 years after bottom 4 finishes.

Thanks Kane for your miserable, depressing and utterly pathetic comment.
We get it.
You hate Essendon.

Good on ya.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Thanks Kane for your miserable, depressing and utterly pathetic comment.
We get it.
You hate Essendon.

Good on ya.

I don't hate Essendon... they were great to watch during the Sheedy era & particularly the grand final battles with the Hawks.

But since Sheedy has left you have not exactly been the most stable club

Surely you should be furious at what Hird did & a joke that there was an attempt to get him back this year as coach (I likened it to the Crows getting Burton back after the camp).

Imo, you cut Rutten too quickly because of this instability & imo Scott will leave with a worse record.

Time will tell if if I'm right or wrong.

 

[footyfan1978]

Sheedy

Basically this is them in modern times and since he left they not really been anything but a club in denial and cult like in nature but drink the kool aid and it will all go away and Sheedy like times will return or the lost one, Hird returns to the fold. Whatever it takes...

 

[Shane Heard]

I don't hate Essendon... they were great to watch during the Sheedy era & particularly the grand final battles with the Hawks.

But since Sheedy has left you have not exactly been the most stable club

Surely you should be furious at what Hird did & a joke that there was an attempt to get him back this year as coach (I likened it to the Crows getting Burton back after the camp).

Imo, you cut Rutten too quickly because of this instability & imo Scott will leave with a worse record.

Time will tell if if I'm right or wrong.

We’re all moving forward and focused on the present.
No Essendon fan wants to talk about Sheedy, Hird or Rutten.

That’s for you nimrod opposition fans to squark about amongst yourselves.

We don’t give a s**t.

You’re living in the past man.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

We’re all moving forward and focused on the present.
No Essendon fan wants to talk about Sheedy, Hird or Rutten.

That’s for you nimrod opposition fans to squark about amongst yourselves.

We don’t give a s**t.

You’re living in the past man.

This thread asked what does Essendon stand for... so of course we are going to discuss the past!

Who the * knows what they will stand for in the future...

Get with the thread & give your thoughts rather than being so defensive.

 

[Shane Heard]

This thread asked what does Essendon stand for... so of course we are going to discuss the past!

Who the * knows what they will stand for in the future...

Get with the thread & give your thoughts rather than being so defensive.

I’ve written a trillion words on this forum over 20 years about EFC

Can’t be bothered anymore.

We know who we are. You don’t. And we don’t care that you don’t.

 

[James Colorado]

I'd be interested to hear from a Vic perspective but I to feel the Dons have lost their marketing direction

when success comes again, so to will the marketing clarity

I think that's a very good point, they'll find it very easy to define themselves once they get on a roll. Massive fan base, rich history, and spite filled rivalries, there's a lot to work with once things turn around (though personally I wanna see the days since a finals win keep going...).

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

I’ve written a trillion words on this forum over 20 years about EFC

Can’t be bothered anymore.

We know who we are. You don’t. And we don’t care that you don’t.

I'm not so sure you club does know what it stands for in recent years...

But happy you are happy where the Dons are currently at.

 

[Viceregal]

I’ve written a trillion words on this forum over 20 years about EFC

Can’t be bothered anymore.

We know who we are. You don’t. And we don’t care that you don’t.

Perhaps one of the Essendon posters can provide a link to a (hopefully) concise thread on their own board where they celebrate what it is to be a Don?

 

[My Tilly]

I reckon once Selwood has done his thing with the Melbourne Storm, Essendon should snap him up asap. They need some natural born leaders around the club.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

I have been listening to 2 Guys 1 Cup, very entertaining podcast, and have been hearing from various fans talk about their clubs and the essence of what it means to be a fan of Carlton, Collingwood, Port, etc. The Essendon one caught me by surprise though, when talking about who they are as a club, their culture, fanbase, etc. there really wasn't anything of substance I could take away. I know they were big in the 80's and 90's, and that's sustained them. But what makes Essendon, Essendon?

Geelong have the sleepy hollow, come home vibe. The Doggies are proudly the western suburbs tough nuts who fought to keep their club from merging, Hawthorn and Melbourne are the leafy eastern suburb set, the Blues have the Carlton Crew thing going. What do Essendon have? I feel like they have taken a deliberately bland focused group approach to their identity that it doesn't stand out which surprises me for a big club. It's like they built their whole identity around individual players rather than a timeless sense of club culture; once Sheedy, Hird, Lloyd, Fletcher walked out the door what was left?
Who are they? I am genuinely interested.

*Please no ASADA talk.

The biggest and the best.

You can’t find a stereotype because there isn’t one.

Essendon doesn’t have class identity because we’re above that s**t. Everybody goes for Essendon.

Essendon doesn’t have geographic identity because we’re way too big for that. Everybody goes for Essendon.

The supporter group is enormous and absolutely everywhere, the numbers Essendon have after the past two decades of s**t are disgustingly massive. Other clubs would have been and have been nearly dead after a period like this.

We went to Launceston to play Hawthorn during COVID and the crowd was 3:1 in Essendon’s favour after Hawthorn spent 20 years working the place and selling their home games there. There are Essendon jumpers everywhere in the Top End. We have thousands of supporters in Perth. Our games at the Gabba (I’ve been to a few) are 50/50 in terms of the crowd.

When Essendon finally has success again it’ll be a juggernaut that dwarfs all others, just like it did 20 years ago. They all know it.

Oh and we’re now the most hated club by a ridiculous margin, which is nice. Check any of the polls that anyone starts. It’s not even slightly close.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

The biggest and the best.

You can’t find a stereotype because there isn’t one.

Essendon doesn’t have class identity because we’re above that s**t. Everybody goes for Essendon.

Essendon doesn’t have geographic identity because we’re way too big for that. Everybody goes for Essendon.

The supporter group is enormous and absolutely everywhere, the numbers Essendon have after the past two decades of s**t are disgustingly massive. Other clubs would have been and have been nearly dead after a period like this.

We went to Launceston to play Hawthorn during COVID and the crowd was 3:1 in Essendon’s favour after Hawthorn spent 20 years working the place and selling their home games there. There are Essendon jumpers everywhere in the Top End. We have thousands of supporters in Perth. Our games at the Gabba (I’ve been to a few) are 50/50 in terms of the crowd.

When Essendon finally has success again it’ll be a juggernaut that dwarfs all others, just like it did 20 years ago. They all know it.

Oh and we’re now the most hated club by a ridiculous margin, which is nice. Check any of the polls that anyone starts. It’s not even slightly close.

Very passionate.

I don't have Essendon though... even if I thought you turfed Truck too quickly.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

I reckon once Selwood has done his thing with the Melbourne Storm, Essendon should snap him up asap. They need some natural born leaders around the club.

Lol, he’d be friggin lost. He walked into a shiny, slick premiership outfit down the highway and it stayed that way for his whole career because it was run by people far smarter than him. The bloke never faced the slightest bit of adversity in his career. At Essendon you just lurch from chaos to disaster to adversity because that’s what you get when you’re the biggest show in town and run primarily by useless dickheads.

Jobe is the kind of leader you need. Somehow kept the team operating and stood at the front of it while the missiles were raining down every day and night for years. Selwood was never on the front and back of the paper for months and years on end or had salivating media following his every step.

We also took the Dank-Weapon fall for you, so be grateful.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

Very passionate.

I don't have Essendon though... even if I thought you turfed Truck too quickly.

I agree on that. But that’s what happens when you’re run by these people.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

I agree on that. But that’s what happens when you’re run by these people.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, what Essendon need now is stability... along with decent leadership.