Essendon Football Club officially launched its 2014 season at Luminare in South Melbourne this evening.
In front of more than 500 guests, senior coach Mark Thompson made an impassioned plea to Essendon supporters to rally behind the players.
“There’s always a sense of excitement around the start of a new season and we know in particular our supporters are as just as eager for this season to get underway," Thompson said.
“Their passion and loyalty for our club is incredible. We love having them out at training and we can’t wait to see them fill the stands with red and black in Round 1, which is less than three weeks away.
“But more than ever, we need our fans to become members. There’s no reason we can’t pass 60,000 members this season, we are a strong and proud club and we have an incredibly talented group of players who have a clear vision and want to achieve success.”
“The players have trained extremely hard over the pre-season. We’ve had a couple of trial games to put the theory into practice and we can’t wait to see how this incredibly resilient group of young men stack up against the rest of the competition,”
Chairman Paul Little supported the senior coach’s calls and is confident the club can surpass 60,000 members for the first time.
“It’s fantastic to see our ‘Don the Sash’ membership campaign has been embraced wholeheartedly by our supporters,” Little said.
“The best way our fans can show their support for the players and coaches is by becoming a member, and we are on track to break the 60,000 mark for the first time in the club’s history.
“2014 is a season of much promise. We have moved the True Value Solar Centre, the best facility in the league, our players have trained extremely hard under the tutelage of Mark Thompson, and we can’t wait to watch the benefits of their hard work unfold on the field in 18 days time.”
The pinnacle of the tonight’s Season Launch was the presentation of the 2014 playing group with their official guernseys.
The night also celebrated the playing career of Anthony Daniher and contribution of songwriter Kevin Andrews, with both men awarded Life Memberships.
Daniher, the father of young forward Joe Daniher, played 233 career games for Essendon and Sydney between 1981 to 1994. The fullback from Ungarie in NSW played 118 games for Bombers and was selected in the All-Australian side in 1991.
Andrews is one of the original co-writers of the club song ‘See The Bombers Fly Up’. Sung to the tune of ‘Sunnyside Up’, Andrews co-wrote the song in approximately 1959.
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