Australian Football

Bendigo

Formed in order to give the football hotbed of Bendigo a presence in the VFL, the Diggers, as they were known initially, first entered that competition in 1998. In 2003, following an alignment with Essendon, the club changed its name to the Bendigo Bombers. Life tended to be tough for the short-lived club, and one particularly inauspicious phase between 2000 and 2002 saw it losing a calamitous 35 games in succession. The first glimmer of light came in 2004 when, under the coaching of Peter Banfield, the Bombers reached the finals series for the first time. In 2005, with former Richmond champion Matthew Knights at the helm, there was substantial improvement as the side went within one game of the grand final. However, the following season brought a dramatic slide, with just 4 wins from 18 home and away matches consigning the Bombers to twelfth place in the thirteen team competition. Finals qualification was narrowly achieved in 2007, but North Ballarat promptly doused the Bombers’ premiership hopes with a 21.22 (148) to 16.15 (111) preliminary final victory.

After the completion of the 2011 season, Essendon announced that the 2012 season would be the last of its affiliation with Bendigo with Essendon intending to field a stand-alone reserves team in the VFL from 2013, and Bendigo intending to field a stand-alone senior team. To reflect the impending change, the team changed its name to the Bendigo Gold, starting in 2012 (while the club was still affiliated with Essendon), and carrying on thereafter. However, its performances were woeful, and it went through the 2013 and 2014 seasons without winning a single match, after which it disbanded.