essendon was one of the original teams in the victorian football league (vfl) which began in 1897. the other teams were collingwood, fitzroy, melbourne, st kilda, carlton, south melbourne and geelong). its first home ground was the east melbourne cricket ground, and at the end of the 1921 season the club moved to the essendon recreation reserve, known as windy hill. in 2000, the club moved its home ground to etihad stadium.