2012 Essendon Football Club season


The 2012 Essendon Football Club season is the club's 114th season in the Australian Football League.
After a promising start to the season Essendon found themselves second on the ladder with a record of 8 wins and 1 loss. The season then took an unexpected turn which saw Essendon lose 10 out of the last 13 games and miss the finals. They became the first club to have an 8–1 record and miss finals since Melbourne in the 1971 season.
Prior to the final round vice-captain Mark McVeigh announced his retirement from football after 14 season and 232 games at the club. After the Home and Away season completed Essendon captain Jobe Watson was awarded the Brownlow Medal. The highest individual accolade in the AFL. This was later handed back following the drug scandal.
The season became notorious for the illegal supplements program that was operated by the club prior to and into the 2012 season. After a three-year investigation, thirty-four players on the 2012 squad were suspected to have been administered the banned peptide Thymosin beta-4 and were suspended for the 2016 season.

Squad

Trades

In
Out
PlayerTraded FromTraded ToTraded For
col-3col-end

Drafts

National Draft
RoundPickNameFromLeague
119

Guernsey

Special Versions

Heritage Guernsey

On 2 July unveiled their Heritage Guernsey. It feature all the names of past premiership players in the background along with the name and signature of club legend John Colman on the breast. Under the signature include the traditional Essendon Football Club motto 'suaviter in modo, fortiter in re' which dates back to the 1870s and translates as 'gentle in manner, resolute in deed.' The most notable change to the guernsey was the removal of the black background to comply with AFL rules requiring each club to provide a clash guernsey.
The new Heritage guernsey made its debut during the [|Round 15] game between and. This marked the end of a 114-year-long tradition as the first time the Essendon Football Club would play an AFL/VFL game without wearing its famous black and red stripe guernsey.

Results

Home and Away season

Round 8


Round 12

Bye

Round 20


Season statistics

Awards

Crichton Medal

VotesPlayer
551Jobe Watson
310Dyson Heppell
256Dustin Fletcher
240Brent Stanton
232Ben Howlett
214David Zaharakis
208Courtenay Dempsey
198Stewart Crameri
195Paddy Ryder
117Michael Hurley

Other Awards

Award NamePlayer
Best ClubmanDyson Heppell
Matthew Lloyd Senior Leading Goal KickingStewart Crameri
Lindsay Griffiths Rising StarMichael Hibberd
Most Improved PlayerJake Carlisle
Adam Ramanauskas Most Courageous PlayerBen Howlett
Best Team PlayerDustin Fletcher
Essendon Goal of the YearStewart Crameri
Essendon Mark of the YearDyson Heppell

Season Financials

Item$2012$2011Change
Revenue$65,431,425$51,416,731$14,014,694
Membership & Reserved Seating$9,367,066$10,363,690$996,624
Gate Receipts$726,504$963,101$236,597
Marketing Revenue$15,902,153$15,532,108$370,045
Merchandise Revenue$3,226,302$2,563,026$663,276
Football Department Spend$19,200,704$18,510,078$690,626
Operating Profit/Loss$401,429$1,024,086$622,657
Total Profit/Loss$12,345,536$2,059,379$10,286,157