Editing Essendon Football Club (section)

== Reserves team ==
{{Infobox Australian football club
| color1             = Black
| color2             = White
| color3             = solid #CC2031
| clubname           = Essendon
| image              = 
| image_size         = 
| fullname           = Essendon Football Club
| formernames        = Essendon Juniors (1919−1922)
| nicknames          = Bombers, Dons, Same Olds
| season             = [[2023 VFL season|<span style=color:#FFFFFF>2023</span>]]
| home&away          = 17th
| afterfinals        = 
| bestandfairest     = 
| founded            = 1919, re-established 2013
| league             = [[Victorian Football League]]
| coach              = ''vacant''
| captain            = [[Xavier O'Neill]]
| premierships       = '''VFL/AFL reserves''' (7){{hlist|[[1921 VJFL season|1921]]|[[List of VFL/AFL reserves premiers|1941]]|[[List of VFL/AFL reserves premiers|1950]]|[[List of VFL/AFL reserves premiers|1952]]|[[List of VFL/AFL reserves premiers|1968]]|[[List of VFL/AFL reserves premiers|1983]]|[[List of VFL/AFL reserves premiers|1992]]|[[List of VFL/AFL reserves premiers|1999]]}}
| ground             = [[Windy Hill, Essendon|Windy Hill]] (10,000)
| trainingground     = [[The Hangar]] (2013–)
| jumper             = 
| current            = 
| pattern_b1      = _blackrightsash
| pattern_sh1     = FF0000
| pattern_so1     = _hoops_black
| body1           = FF0000
| shorts1         = 000000
| socks1          = FF0000
|}}

The '''Essendon reserves''' are the [[Reserve team|reserves team]] of the club, playing in the [[Victorian Football League]].<ref>{{cite web |title=ESSENDON SECOND EIGHTEEN |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/202324540 |publisher=The Age |access-date=16 December 2024 |page=13 |date=6 March 1928}}</ref>

===History===
The team first competed in the [[AFL reserves|Victorian Junior Football League]] (later the [[AFL reserves]]) when the competition was established in [[1919 VJFL season|1919]], and was known as '''Essendon Juniors''' until the end of [[1922 VJFL season|1922]].

The team enjoyed success in the form of eight premierships, including in the last year of the reserves competition in [[1999 AFL reserves season|1999]]. From 2000 until 2002, the club's reserves team competed in the [[Victorian Football League]].

At the end of 2002, the club dissolved its reserves team and established a [[Australian Football League reserves affiliations|reserves affiliation]] with the [[Bendigo Football Club]] in the VFL. The affiliation ran for ten years from 2003 until 2012, allowing reserves players from the Essendon list to play with Bendigo. For all but the [[2012 VFL season|final year of the affiliation]], Bendigo was known as the Bendigo Bombers.

The club re-established its reserves team in 2013, seeking greater developmental autonomy. The team plays its home games at [[Windy Hill, Essendon|Windy Hill]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Landsberger|first=Sam|title=Josh Toy and Matthew Bate set to play on with Essendon|url=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/afl/more-news/josh-toy-and-matthew-bate-set-to-play-on-with-essendon/story-e6frf9jf-1226550441122|newspaper=Herald Sun|date=9 January 2013}}</ref> The team is made up of senior-listed AFL players and VFL-contracted players.

===Premierships (7)===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Year
!Competition
!Opponent
!Score
!Venue
|-
| [[1941 VFL season|1941]] || [[VFL seconds]]|| [[Fitzroy Football Club|Fitzroy]] || '''12.16 (88) – 9.17 (71)''' || [[Melbourne Cricket Ground|MCG]]
|-
| [[1950 VFL season|1950]] || [[VFL seconds]]|| [[North Melbourne Football Club|North Melbourne]] || '''12.8 (80) – 8.7 (55)''' || [[Melbourne Cricket Ground|MCG]]
|-
| [[1952 VFL season|1952]] || [[VFL seconds]]|| [[Collingwood Football Club|Collingwood]] || '''7.14 (56) – 4.5 (29)''' || [[Melbourne Cricket Ground|MCG]]
|-
| [[1968 VFL season|1968]] || [[VFL reserves]]|| [[Richmond Football Club|Richmond]] || '''15.7 (97) – 13.14 (92)''' || [[Melbourne Cricket Ground|MCG]]
|-
| [[1983 VFL season|1983]] || [[VFL reserves]]|| [[Collingwood Football Club|Collingwood]] || '''19.14 (128) – 15.9 (99)''' || [[Melbourne Cricket Ground|MCG]]
|-
| [[1992 AFL season|1992]] || [[AFL reserves]]|| [[Melbourne Football Club|Melbourne]] || '''18.19 (127) – 14.10 (94)''' || [[Melbourne Cricket Ground|MCG]]
|-
| [[1999 AFL season|1999]] || [[AFL reserves]]|| [[St Kilda Football Club|St Kilda]] || '''20.13 (133) – 11.10 (76)''' || [[Melbourne Cricket Ground|MCG]]
|}

===Runners-up (10)===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Year
!Competition
!Opponent
!Score
!Venue
|-
| [[1922 VFL season|1922]] || [[AFL reserves|VJFA]]|| [[Collingwood Football Club|Collingwood]] || '''1.9 (15) – 8.10 (58)''' || [[Melbourne Cricket Ground|MCG]]
|-
| [[1924 VFL season|1924]] || [[AFL reserves|VJFA]]|| [[Geelong Football Club|Geelong]] || ''N/A''{{ref label|1|a}} || [[Kardinia Park (stadium)|Kardinia Park]]<!-- Match was moved from Geelong's home ground at Corio Oval to the then-neutral Kardinia Park -->
|-
| [[1932 VFL season|1932]] || [[AFL reserves|VFL seconds]]|| [[Melbourne Football Club|Melbourne]] || '''4.10 (34) – 8.12 (60)''' || [[Melbourne Cricket Ground|MCG]]
|-
| [[1949 VFL season|1949]] || [[AFL reserves|VFL seconds]]|| [[Melbourne Football Club|Melbourne]] || '''9.14 (68) – 17.10 (112)''' || [[Melbourne Cricket Ground|MCG]]
|-
| [[1951 VFL season|1951]] || [[AFL reserves|VFL seconds]]|| [[Carlton Football Club|Carlton]] || '''7.9 (51) – 8.15 (63)''' || [[Melbourne Cricket Ground|MCG]]
|-
| [[1953 VFL season|1953]] || [[AFL reserves|VFL seconds]]|| [[Carlton Football Club|Carlton]] || '''11.7 (73) – 15.7 (97)''' || [[Melbourne Cricket Ground|MCG]]
|-
| [[1971 VFL season|1971]] || [[AFL reserves|VFL reserves]]|| [[Richmond Football Club|Richmond]] || '''8.18 (66) – 14.14 (98)''' || [[Melbourne Cricket Ground|MCG]]
|-
| [[1981 VFL season|1981]] || [[AFL reserves|VFL reserves]]|| [[Geelong Football Club|Geelong]] || '''18.6 (114) – 21.14 (140)''' || [[Melbourne Cricket Ground|MCG]]
|-
| [[1996 AFL season|1996]] || [[AFL reserves]]|| [[North Melbourne Football Club|North Melbourne]] || '''7.10 (52) – 23.18 (156)''' || [[Melbourne Cricket Ground|MCG]]
|-
| [[1998 AFL season|1998]] || [[AFL reserves]]|| [[Footscray Football Club|Footscray]] || '''12.8 (80) – 20.16 (136)''' || [[Melbourne Cricket Ground|MCG]]
|}
{{note label|1|a}} Essendon refused to play the Grand Final in Geelong, so the premiership was awarded to Geelong.