Former Essendon president and player Ron Evans has been inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame at Crown Palladium on Tuesday evening.

Evans’ enormous contribution to the club and the sport began when he first took the field for the Bombers in round five, 1958.

The powerful forward would go on to play 64 games in the sash, booting an impressive 210 goals and winning the Coleman Medal in 1959 (78 goals) and 1960 (67), while also representing Victoria in the same two seasons.

Evans followed up his Essendon career with a successful stint at West Perth, kicking 271 goals from just 60 games and claiming the WANFL’s leading goalkicker award in 1963 with 97 goals. 

But it wasn’t just on the field where Evans thrived in football as he went on to make an even bigger name for himself as an administrator. 

After serving on the EFC committee from 1978 to 1987, Evans took over as president in 1988, a role he took on until the end of the 1992 season. 

His departure proved fruitful for the AFL, where he served as a commissioner from 1993 to 1997 before his appointment as a respected chairman of the league from 1998 to 2007. 

Sadly, Evans passed away in March the following year, but his legacy lives on through the NAB AFL Rising Star Award with the Ron Evans Medal awarded to the winner each year.

Essendon president Lindsay Tanner lauded Evans on Tuesday, applauding his induction on behalf of the club.

“On behalf of the entire Essendon Football Club, I wish to extend my sincere congratulations to the Evans family on Ron's induction intot the prestigious Australian Football Hall of Fame,” Tanner said.

"As a club today, we continue to benefit from his incredible and selfless service to the red and black."

RON EVANS

Essendon – 64 games, 210 goals

2 x Coleman Medal winner (1959, 1960)

Victorian representative (1959, 1960)

West Perth – 60 games, 271 goals

Essendon president (1988-1992)

AFL chairman (1998-2007)