Essendon has welcomed back Craig Vozzo as its general manager of football operations.
Vozzo served as the chief executive at Tullamarine for three years between 2023 and 2025.
Prior to that, Vozzo was the general manager at West Coast during its successful 2013 to 2021 period.
The Eagles made finals in six consecutive years, reaching two Grand Finals and winning the 2018 premiership during that period.
Vozzo will work alongside John Longmire, the general manager of performance, and new coach Mark McVeigh.
Essendon said “Vozzo will oversee football operations, compliance, medical, wellbeing, list management and Total Player Payments”.
The Bombers have filled their vacancies superbly, putting Vozzo, Longmire and highly regarded assistant coaches Daniel Pratt and Paul Thomas alongside McVeigh.
Vozzo noticed a “real sense of excitement” walking back into Essendon.
“I’m very energised and looking forward to jumping back into the Football Department and working with Mark and John to help create the best environment we can for our players,” Vozzo said.
“Walking back into the Club, I’ve already noticed a real sense of excitement across the whole place.
“We have plenty of hard work ahead, but we will roll up our sleeves and get to work.”
Longmire said he and Vozzo offered a complementary balance to each other.
“When I joined the Club, it was important to me that we had real experience in the operations role, given how central it is to running a football department,” Longmire said.
“Craig and I complement each other well, and I’m looking forward to working with him to improve our football club.
“We’ve got the key people in place ahead of pre-season, and that’s really exciting.”