The 1997 season was the Essendon Football Club's 101st season in the Australian Football League.
Fixture[]
Ladder[]
| |||||||||||
| Team | P | W | L | D | PF | PA | % | Pts | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | St Kilda | 22 | 15 | 7 | 0 | 2294 | 1918 | 119.6 | 60 | ||
| 2 | Geelong | 22 | 15 | 7 | 0 | 2111 | 1791 | 117.9 | 60 | ||
| 3 | Western Bulldogs | 22 | 14 | 8 | 0 | 2100 | 2062 | 101.8 | 56 | ||
| 4 | Adelaide (P) | 22 | 13 | 9 | 0 | 2151 | 1769 | 121.6 | 52 | ||
| 5 | West Coast | 22 | 13 | 9 | 0 | 1969 | 1770 | 111.2 | 52 | ||
| 6 | Sydney | 22 | 12 | 10 | 0 | 2093 | 1801 | 116.2 | 48 | ||
| 7 | North Melbourne | 22 | 12 | 10 | 0 | 2051 | 1835 | 111.8 | 48 | ||
| 8 | Brisbane | 22 | 10 | 11 | 1 | 2076 | 1973 | 105.2 | 42 | ||
| 9 | Port Adelaide | 22 | 10 | 11 | 1 | 1852 | 2017 | 91.8 | 42 | ||
| 10 | Collingwood | 22 | 10 | 12 | 0 | 2138 | 1919 | 111.4 | 40 | ||
| 11 | Carlton | 22 | 10 | 12 | 0 | 1978 | 2045 | 96.7 | 40 | ||
| 12 | Fremantle | 22 | 10 | 12 | 0 | 1748 | 1902 | 91.9 | 40 | ||
| 13 | Richmond | 22 | 10 | 12 | 0 | 1883 | 2144 | 87.4 | 40 | ||
| 14 | Essendon | 22 | 9 | 13 | 0 | 2004 | 2170 | 92.4 | 36 | ||
| 15 | Hawthorn | 22 | 8 | 14 | 0 | 1873 | 2144 | 87.4 | 28 | ||
| 16 | Melbourne | 22 | 4 | 18 | 0 | 1477 | 2429 | 60.8 | 16 | ||
| Key: P = Played, W = Won, L = Lost, D = Drawn, PF = Points for, PA = Points against | |||||||||||
Playing squad[]
| Senior list | |||||||
| 27 | Steven Alessio | 7 | Chris Daniher | 18 | Matthew Lloyd | 15 | Michael Prior |
| 48 | Matthew Banks | 38 | Sean Denham | 13 | Michael Long | 19 | Peter Somerville |
| 16 | Paul Barnard | 22 | Ben Doolan | 25 | Scott Lucas | 17 | Robert Stevenson |
| 20 | Peter Berbakov | 31 | Dustin Fletcher | 4 | Daniel McAlister | 12 | Michael Symons |
| 8 | Darren Bewick | 30 | Mark Fraser | 2 | Mark Mercuri | 37 | Andrew Ukovic |
| 32 | Justin Blumfield | 29 | David Grenvold | 24 | Joe Misiti | 21 | Dean Wallis |
| 28 | Andrew Bomford | 39 | Damien Hardwick | 36 | Danny Morgan | 44 | Matthew Watson |
| 14 | David Calthorpe | 1 | Mark Harvey | 3 | Ryan O'Connor | 6 | Sean Wellman |
| 33 | Blake Caracella | 26 | Chris Heffernan | 10 | Gary O'Donnell | 40 | Tim Williams |
| 9 | Che Cockatoo-Collins | 5 | James Hird | 47 | Ricky Olarenshaw | 35 | Barry Young |
| 23 | Peter Cransberg | 42 | Jason Johnson | ||||
| Rookie list | |||||||
| 51 | Damien Franken | 45 | Mark Johnson | 50 | Andrew Ramsden | ||
| 49 | Andrew Henderson | 46 | Gary Moorcroft | 43 | Luke Trew |
Player movements[]
| Arrivals | Player | From | Departures | Player | To | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National draft | Andrew Bomford | Sydney | Retired | Mark Thompson | ||
| Chris Heffernan | Geelong Falcons | Darren Wheildon | ||||
| Paul Hills | Essendon (redrafted) | Exchange period | Scott Cummings | Port Adelaide (uncontracted player) | ||
| Jason Johnson | Calder Cannons | Gavin Wanganeen | Port Adelaide (uncontracted player) | |||
| Daniel McAlister | Tassie Mariners | Delisted (pre-November draft) |
Paul Hills | |||
| Matthew Watson | Essendon VSFL | Shawn Lewfatt | Geelong | |||
| Tim Williams | East Perth | Richard Peck | ||||
| Pre-season draft | Matthew Banks | Eastern Ranges | Delisted (pre-March draft) |
Paul Hills | ||
| Rookie draft | Damien Franken | Donvale | ||||
| Andrew Henderson | Uni Blues, Vic | |||||
| Mark Johnson | Calder Cannons | |||||
| Gary Moorcroft | Essendon VSFL | |||||
| Andrew Ramsden | Old Trinity, Vic | |||||
| Luke Trew | Western Bulldogs |