Prior to the final round vice-captain Mark McVeigh announced his retirement from football after 14 season and 232 games at the club.

After a three-year investigation, thirty-four players on the 2012 squad were suspected to have been administered the banned peptide Thymosin beta-4 and were suspended for the 2016 season.

Under the signature include the traditional Essendon Football Club motto 'suaviter in modo, fortiter in re' which dates back to the 1870s and translates as 'gentle in manner, resolute in deed.

This marked the end of a 114-year-long tradition as the first time the Essendon Football Club would play an AFL/VFL game without wearing its famous black and red stripe guernsey.

[3] Initially the match was reflected as a draw with no score on the NAB Cup Ladder,[4] but later St Kilda was awarded the four points.