Editing Essendon Football Club (section)

===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.