James Albert Hird (born February 4, 1973) is an Australian rules footballer, formerly the captain of the Essendon Football Club. A versatile player who can play in a key forward position, a midfielder or as a sweeper in defence, he is generally considered to be one of the best and most fearless modern player in the game of Australian rules football, and one of the greatest players of all time.

Matthew James Lloyd (born April 16 1978) is an Australian rules footballer who plays for and is captain of the Essendon Bombers Australian Football League. Widely regarded as the best full-forward currently playing, he is the leading goal scorer of all time for Essendon and the tenth highest in VFL/AFL history.

Richard Sylvannus Reynolds (June 20, 1915 - September 2, 2002), known as Dick Reynolds, was an Australian rules football player and coach. He played for, captained and coached the Essendon Bombers in the VFL/AFL competition for nearly three decades. He played from 1933 until 1951, captain coaching the side from 1939 until 1950, and coaching after his retirement from 1951 until 1960.

Timothy Michael Watson (born July 13 1961) is a former Australian rules footballer with the Essendon Football Club, a coach of the St Kilda Football Club, and now a media personality. He was the second youngest player ever to play in the VFL/AFL competition.

Simon Madden (born December 30 1957) was an Australian rules footballer for the Essendon Bombers from 1974 until 1992. He was also president of the "AFL Players Association" from 1985 until 1989. Simon Madden was one of the greatest ruckman to play the game, and certainly the most durable. In all he played 378 senior matches, the most by any Essendon player, and third most league history (Behind Michael Tuck and Kevin Bartlett).

Gavin Wanganeen (born 18 June 1973) is a former Australian rules footballer. He has played in two Australian Football League premierships with Essendon and Port Adelaide. Wanganeen began his career aged 16 with Port Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) (prior to that club joining the AFL), winning the SANFL Rookie of the Year award and gaining the attention of AFL side Essendon.

John Douglas Coleman (November 28, 1928 - April 5 1973) was a player (1949 to 1954) and coach (1961 to 1967) for Essendon in the Victorian Football League (now the AFL). No person who saw Coleman play would deny that Coleman ranks as one of the half dozen greatest Australian footballers of all time. A spectacular, high-leaping forward who compiled the second highest goal average in the history of VFL/AFL football, …

Michael Long (born October 1, 1969 in Darwin, Northern Territory) is a former Australian rules footballer and spokesperson against racism in sport.

Norm McDonald (born December 10, 1925, died November 28, 2002) is a former Australian rules footballer of Aboriginal heritage. From the Gunditjmara tribe, McDonald was a half-back flanker recruited from the Geelong RAAF team, and began his career with the Essendon Football Club in 1947. He went on to play 128 games (booting 3 goals) for the club until his retirement in 1953.

Mark Harvey (born June 11 1965) is a former player of the Essendon Football Club. He played 206 games from 1984 to 1997, kicking 190 goals, and was assistant coach from 1998 to 2005. He is currently assistant coach of the Fremantle Australian rules football team. Harvey was originally known as a skilful forward, playing that role in the 1984 and 1985 premiership sides, including kicking four goals in the 1985 premiership win.

Mark "Bomber" Thompson (born November 19 1963) is an Australian rules football player and coach. He played 202 games for the Essendon Bombers between 1983 and 1996, captaining the side from 1992 until 1995. After retiring, he was an assistant coach at Essendon, and later went on to become the senior coach of the Geelong Cats from 2000 onwards.