Alex McCracken

Who was Alex McCracken?

Alex McCracken was the first president of the Victorian Football League.

He was also the first secretary of the Essendon Football Club, when he was seventeen years old.{The Stopover that Stayed, Grant Aldous.} The head of McCracken Breweries, he was elected as the first VFL President at a meeting at the Port Phillip Club Hotel on 12 April 1897.

His brother John became Essendon's first team captain. His nephew Coiler became Essendon's second captain. His father Robert was Essendon's first president. He has been named as one of the 16 "Legends of the Essendon Football Club". The Essendon football Club's early players were mainly horsemen rather than cricketers. In fact one of its players rode a winner at Moonee Valley before turning up to a game. Whether as a cause or a result, the club was refused the use of Windy Hill and played its first few seasons on Robert McCracken's "Ailsa". When seeking admittance to the V.F.A. they had to move to the East Melbourne Ground. Alexander was patron and/or founder of an incredible number of sporting or cultural organisations in the Essendon area.