The following is a list of players who have captained the Essendon Football Club in the Victorian Football League/Australian Football League (VFL/AFL) and AFL Women's (AFLW).
VFL/AFL Seasons Captain Notes 1897–1900 George Stuckey 1897 premiership captain 1901–1902 Tod Collins 1901 premiership captain 1903–1904 Jim Anderson 1904 Hugh Gavin (stand-in) 1905 William Robinson 1906 Jack McKenzie 1907–1909 William Griffith 1910 Allan Belcher 1911 David Smith 1911 premiership captain 1912–1915 Allan Belcher 1912 premiership captain 1918 Fred Baring 1919 Allan Belcher 1920–1921 Percy Ogden 1922–1924 Syd Barker 1923 and 1924 premiership captain 1925–1928 Frank Maher 1929–1930 Norm Beckton 1931–1933 Garnet Campbell 1934–1935 Keith Forbes 1936–1937 Jack Baggott 1937 Keith Forbes (stand-in) 1938 Len Webster 1939–1950 Dick Reynolds 1942, 1946, 1949 and 1950 premiership captain 1951–1957 Bill Hutchison 1958–1964 Jack Clarke 1962 premiership captain 1965–1968 Ken Fraser 1965 premiership captain 1969 Don McKenzie 1970–1971 Barry Davis 1972–1975 Des Tuddenham 1976 Graham Moss 1977–1979 Ken Fletcher 1980–1981 Simon Madden 1982 Neale Daniher 1982 Ron Andrews (stand-in) 1983–1988 Terry Daniher 1984 and 1985 premiership captain 1989–1991 Tim Watson 1992–1995 Mark Thompson 1993 premiership captain 1996–1997 Gary O'Donnell 1998–2005 James Hird 2000 premiership captain 2006–2009 Matthew Lloyd 2010–2016 Jobe Watson 2016 Brendon Goddard 2017–2022 Dyson Heppell 2023–2025 Zach Merrett 2026– Andrew McGrath
AFL Women's Seasons Captain(s) 2022 (S7)–2025 Steph Cain/Bonnie Toogood 2026– Bonnie Toogood
Sources Essendon Football Club – club honours