Sydney Swans

Australia

Founded

1874

Arena

Sydney Cricket Ground · 48,000 cap

The Sydney Swans are an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club has been based in Sydney since the South Melbourne Football Club was relocated to Sydney in 1982. Sydney was the first club in the competition to be based outside Victoria. The Swans play their home games at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The club has proven to be one of the most consistent teams over the last twenty years of AFL football, only failing to make the finals in three seasons since 1995 and boasting a finals winning record of over 50% in the same time period. The South Melbourne Football Club was founded in 1874 and was strong through the 1880s. It won three premierships in 1909, 1918 and 1933 before experiencing 72 years without a premiership, the longest premiership drought of any club. The club broke the drought in 2005, and has won one more premiership since, in 2012.

Essendon Football Club

Australia

Founded

1871

Arena

Marvel Stadium · 56,347 cap

The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers, is a professional Australian rules football club. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the game's premier competition. The club was formed by the McCracken family in their Ascot Vale home "Alisa", and while the exact date is unknown, it is generally accepted to have been in 1872. The club's first recorded game took place on 7 June 1873 against a Carlton seconds team. From 1878 until 1896, the club played in the Victorian Football Association (VFA), then joined seven other clubs in October 1896 to form the breakaway Victorian Football League (known as the Australian Football League since 1990). Headquartered at the Essendon Recreation Ground, known as Windy Hill, from 1922 to 2013, the club moved to The Hangar in Tullamarine in late 2013 on land owned by the Melbourne Airport corporation. The club shares its home games between Docklands Stadium and the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Zach Merrett is the current club captain. Essendon is one of Australia's best-known and most successful football clubs. It has won 16 VFL/AFL premierships, which, along with Carlton and Collingwood, is the most of any club in the competition.