February 4, 2013
Essendon chairman David Evans reveals the club has ''self reported'' to ASADA and asked the AFL and the drug authority to conduct an investigation into the club's supplements program.

February 5
Former Essendon player Kyle Reimers tells Channel Nine the club knew it was pushing the boundaries with its fitness program. ''It does seem very odd, the type of stuff we were taking. They admitted to us it was right on the edge of the levels you could be taking.''

February 6
It emerges Essendon players were taken off site and injected with unknown substances multiple times the previous year. It is still unclear what those substances were.

Robinson is suspended pending the investigation into the use of supplements.

Dr Robin Wilcourt says Dank contacted him, concerned with the testosterone and human growth hormone levels of some of the Essendon players.

Reports emerge that senior players had sought assurances about the program, which resulted in consent forms being produced. In August 2013, Mark McVeigh confirmed Robinson and Dank held a session explaining the program to players, but Hird nor the coaching staff were present in this session.

Former Brownlow medallist and AFL commentator Gerard Healy says the AFL was informed last year that an Essendon official had made inquiries about peptides at a sports medicine conference 12 months ago.

McVeigh, who retired after 2012, confirmed players had signed consent forms, but insisted all supplements had been legal and he had only taken vitamins.

February 7
In a joint press conference, Sports Minister Kate Lundy, Justice Minister Jason Clare, the chiefs of the major sporting codes and the Australian Crime Commission release a report into a 12-month investigation into drugs in sport. It focuses on the NRL and the AFL and references the Essendon Football Club. The ACC found professional sport in Australia ''highly vulnerable to organised crime infiltration''. Former ASADA boss Richard Ings said Australians had been in denial about sports doping for too long. ''This is not a black day in Australian sport, this is the blackest day in Australian sport.''

February 8
The Age reveals Essendon footballers were injected in their stomachs by Dank at the club last season as well as being intravenously given supplements at a Botox clinic near Windy Hill.

February 11
Dank appears on the ABC's 7.30 and says he had not used any illegal drugs on the players, but that some coaches were injected with substances that were not WADA compliant. At the same time, the parents of Essendon players were at Windy Hill, where they were reassured about the nature of the supplements program.

February 12
It emerges that Evans and Hird received a presentation on the peptide AOD-9604, which is mentioned in the ACC report on drugs and organised crime in sport, by the product's Melbourne-based patent holder at a meeting in Melbourne before the start of 2012 season.

February 27
Evans announces Ziggy Switkowski will undertake a  review of Essendon's corporate governance practices from board level down.

February 28
At least three Essendon players confirm to officials that they were injected in the stomach by Dank twice a week over a three-month period in 2012. Those players also named two senior coaches who participated in this supplements program.

March 4
Evans tells supporters how sorry he is that ''mistakes have been made'', promising the club would ''get to the bottom'' of what had happened.

March 16
The Age reveals Essendon employed Dank without reference-checking the discredited sports scientist with any of his previous three club employers, including Gold Coast.

March 22
Hird says his players will emerge from the club's drug investigations a better team after Essendon's 35-point win over Adelaide at AAMI Stadium.

March 28
An alleged deal between ASADA and Essendon whereby Bombers players would escape doping sanctions with zero penalty, while Cronulla players would be given a minimum six-month ban, was reportedly aborted after protests from lawyers acting for ASADA and Cronulla.

April 11
The Age reveals claims that Dank injected Hird with hexarelin – which WADA banned in 2004 – and that before and during the 2012 season, players were given anti-obesity drug AOD-9604. Hird says: ''These claims are horrifying to me, and are being made by a person or people who appear determined to destroy my reputation.''

Dank says he gave players an extract from pigs' brains used to treat Alzheimer's, the first milk from a mother cow and a bark extract. But he says that nothing he gave the players was prohibited. Dank also stressed the supplements were safe for human use even though they were not listed as approved by regulators.

March 11
WADA says it would look at amending its rules so coaches who use substances prohibited under the code would incur sanctions.

March 12
AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou says Hird should consider stepping down while the investigation proceeds. Hird says: ''I won't be stepping down ... I'll get ready for the game.''

March 13
Former Hawthorn star Trent Croad spruiked banned or untested performance-enhancing supplements to AFL and A-League clubs, as well as the horse stable that trained Black Caviar, confidential emails reveal.

The Age prints a copy of the consent form, which warns the treatments were not risk-free and that some ''complications'' were regular. ''No intervention is completely risk-free,'' the players were told.

Essendon captain Jobe Watson says the players have pledged full support to the besieged coach, and look forward to the truth emerging in the anti-doping investigation.

March 16
Hird is interviewed by ASADA and AFL integrity officers at AFL headquarters.

Following speculation about the status of AOD-9604, WADA president John Fahey says he would be ''extremely surprised'' if ASADA had issued a letter approving use of the anti-obesity drug.

March 27
The Age reveals Essendon has discovered in its records an invoice for the banned performance-enhancing supplement hexarelin. In other revelations, Dank's lawyers signal they plan to sue Demetriou for defamation. They also examined whether they could sue the Bombers over Dank's sacking.

Confidential documents show the Melbourne Football Club told league officials in February that its club doctor, Dan Bates, had ''communications'' with Dank and that players had been given vitamin injections at an external clinic. Dr Bates also failed to disclose in an internal club review in March that he had asked co-captain Jack Trengove to use a cream containing AOD-9604. Bates is dismissed.

March 29
The Essendon board meets to discuss Switkowski's findings. It emerges that neither Dank nor Robinson were interviewed as part of the report.

April 22
David Kenley, the chief executive of Metabolic Pharmaceuticals which holds the rights to AOD-9604, claims about six Essendon players used AOD-9604 ''to assist in soft-tissue injury and to aid ... recovery''.

April 28
Speculation increases that the players may escape doping bans, which is a claim often repeated over the next few months.

May 6
ASADA begins interviewing Essendon players on the same day the Switkowski report is publicly released. Evans apologises again for the situation and offers to step aside if he is not endorsed by club members. The damning report described the supplements program as ''a pharmacologically experimental environment never adequately controlled or challenged or documented''. Thompson says the report into the club's governance was ''pretty much spot on''.

May 7
Evans suggests Hird will be ''fine'' when the truth over the coach's use of supplements is revealed and says the club is not prepared to admit the players took banned substances.

May 8
The clubs says it is still looking for a letter from Essendon club doctor Bruce Reid expressing misgivings about the supplements program.

May 21
Midfielder Jake Melksham admits ASADA interviews have been draining but Essendon's form continues to be strong, with victory over Richmond that week.

May 23
CEO Ian Robson's resignation is accepted after he accepts he should have known more about he supplements program.

June 24
Essendon captain Jobe Watson admits to taking the banned substance AOD-9604 during an interview on Fox Footy. Watson says his ''understanding after it being given by Bruce Reid and the club is that I was receiving AOD, yes''. Watson maintained ''it's my belief that we've done nothing wrong''.

June 25
Speculation mounts that Jobe Watson may lose his Brownlow Medal, and his father Tim Watson admits that eventuality has crossed his mind.

June 26
Hird says he would be surprised if any of his players have lost confidence in the club's medical staff, and that none have expressed any concern to him as the investigation into the club's 2012 supplements program continues. He strongly defends long-time club doctor Reid.

The AFL Players Association says the players were put in an ''untenable'' and ''unacceptable'' situation by their club.

June 27
West Coast fans jeer Jobe Watson every time he touches the ball at Patersons Stadium. After Essendon beats the Eagles by seven points Watson is visibly emotional.

June 28
Essendon says it will not allow its players to suffer financial penalties in the event that they are suspended by the AFL tribunal as a result of the supplements investigation.

June 30
More evidence emerges that players were used as virtual human ''guinea pigs'' by the club, receiving injections or infusions of AOD-9604 at a volume and frequency far exceeding that of its clinical trials. Fairfax Media reveals ASADA is investigating whether the physical performance of Essendon players given certain supplements, including AOD-9604, was measured against teammates who had not received the drugs and whether results were passed to external parties.

Dank says he will take High Court action to prevent being grilled by investigators following the bolstering of ASADA's powers.

July 4
Evans casts doubt on the status of AOD-9604, saying it is not considered performance enhancing. It is a claim repeated by Demetriou the next day.

July 5
The Age reveals the emergence of an invoice showing the club was billed for a ''Thymosin peptide''. Emails between Dank and biochemist Shane Charter in January 2012 show discussion about the best use of banned drug Thymosin beta 4.

July 6
WADA begins a review into four other drugs that were allegedly part of Essendon's peptide program: TA65, Melatonan II, Interleukin 6 and Cerebrolysin.

July 18
The Age reports that Hird was warned by the AFL in 2011 to avoid peptides.

July 19
Hird pleads with fans and the media to ''reserve their judgment'' until the final report into the club's supplements program is released. Hird said the ''constant innuendo, rhetoric, half-truths and lies that have been spun about the club, the players, the great people who work here and ... about myself are very hurtful and very damaging''.

July 24
It emerges that Hird claimed to ASADA during his interview that he believed Demetriou tipped off Evans about the ACC report following a phone call between the pair during an emergency meeting at the club on February 4. Demetriou and Evans deny those claims as Hird apparently takes a stand against his chairman and the AFL CEO.

July 25
An internal power struggle emerges at Essendon over the handling of the ASADA-AFL investigation, with Evans under pressure from key board members and apparently at odds with Hird, suggesting Evans has too close a relationship with the AFL.

July 26
Evans says there is no rift with Hird, saying they would remain friends for the next 20 years. He tells a pre-match club function that the club is in good hands.

Suspended high-performance manager Dean Robinson resigns and tells The Age he plans to issue proceedings against the club.

July 27
The stakes are raised as Demetriou says he knows who leaked information of his telephone call with Evans on February 4, although he stops short of fingering Hird.

Evans resigns as chairman after needing medical attention in the Essendon rooms.

July 29
Paul Little is appointed new chairman and says ''James Hird has not only my full and complete support, but the board's full support, and we look forward to James taking us into a successful finals campaign.''

Thompson says he and Hird would walk out of the club if Bombers players receive infraction notices from anti-doping agencies.

Elizabeth Lukin, the senior media strategist employed by Essendon at the start of the ASADA investigation, resigns.

July 31
Robinson claims in a paid 45-minute interview on Channel Seven that Hird wanted him to investigate a testosterone cream that was ''undetectable''. He says Hird had multiple injections himself and was considered ''untouchable'' at the club. Essendon dismisses Robinson's claims as nonsense from a bitter ex-employee.

Robinson adds that David Zaharakis did not partake in the injecting program in 2012.

August 2
The AFL confirms that it has received an interim ASADA report into Essendon's supplements program.

August 4
Essendon confirms it has received ASADA's interim report from the AFL.

August 5
Former Crows great Mark Ricciuto claims on Triple M radio in Adelaide that Hird was given an ultimatum to resign within days.

August 6
Hird and Essendon rejects Ricciuto's allegations, which he sticks to adamantly.

August 11
Paul Little gives a pre-game address at the Essendon-West Coast match, saying: "According to the weekend press, charges are expected to be laid against the club and some of our club employees in the next few days.

"Should this be the case, we will then be in a position to carefully examine the charges, understanding the evidence that the AFL has relied upon to lay the charges, and then, after due consideration and deliberation, [we will] determine our response.

"We also note, that should charges be laid, this will mean for the first time we are uninhibited in our ability to set the record straight. As to the claims of illegal and performance-enhancing drugs, we remain steadfast in our belief that the players did not take harmful or performance-enhancing substances."

August 13
Essendon charged by the AFL with bringing the game into disrepute along with Hird, Thompson, Corcoran and doctor Bruce Reid. The club has 14 days to consider charges and will face an AFL Commission hearing on August 26.