The Melbourne Cricket Ground, known by its initials of the MCG, is a VFL/AFL stadium that holds the honour of being the largest stadium in Australia with a capacity of a little over 100,000 people. Originally the home ground of Melbourne, Richmond became co-tenants in 1965. Nowadays a number of clubs play their home games at the MCG but it is more or less a neutral venue for the Victorian based clubs. The MCG has also hosted other events, including the 1956 Olympic Games, the 2006 Commonwealth Games, Test, One Day and T20 cricket as well as soccer, rugby union and rugby league. It has also hosted rock concerts, religious events (the Billy Graham Crusade holds the attendance record of about 143,000 in 1959) and even a professional wrestling event in 2018.
Early construction[]
The MCG was firstly the home for the Melbourne Cricket Club before football was even thought of. The land was originally a police paddock for the horses the police used. Development of the facilities at the ground was slow with the first wooden member's stand built in 1854. This was followed by the first public grandstand in 1861, and then a second grandstand which was a two way stand designed to watch cricket at the MCG during the summer and football when it was played in the parklands next door (where the first game between Melbourne Grammar and Scotch College was played) during the winter. This stand was also built for the purpose of the very first visit by a cricket team from England, James Lillywhite's tourists who played against Australia in the first ever test match between the two countries.
In 1881 the original wooden member's stand was sold to the Richmond Cricket Club and a new brick stand was built in it's place. In 1884 a fire destroyed the dubbed Lillywhite stand so it had to be replaced. It was expanded in 1897, while other stands were built in 1904, 1906, 1908 and 1912.
Modern construction[]
More modern facilities started being created, starting with a brand new member's stand in 1927. This version of the stand would last until the 21st century. This was followed in 1936 by the Southern Stand, which would last until the end of the 1980's. This work boosted the ground's capacity to 94,000. This layout would remain unchanged until 1956 when the old replacement for the Lillywhite stand was knocked down in favour of the Olympic Stand - boosting capacity to 120,000 in time for the 1956 Olympic Games. Capacity was increased further when another old stand was demolished in 1966 and by 1968 the Western Stand was built. This configuration remained unchanged for the next two decades.
Meanwhile, the MCG hosted the first colour video scoreboards in 1982. In 1992 the old Southern Stand was replaced by the new Great Southern Stand. Between 2003 and 2005, the Olympic, Members and Western Stands were all rebuilt in the same image as the Great Southern Stand creating the MCG of today.
Matches[]
The MCG was originally a cricket venue. Football wasn't played at the venue because the Melbourne Cricket Club wouldn't allow it. The first game was played there in 1869 - a trial game involving a police team. It wasn't until 1879 that Melbourne started playing there on a regular basis. They would remain the only tenants at the MCG during the football season, also training there. This changed in 1965 when Richmond started playing it's home games at the MCG as a result of losing a lot of it's capacity at their Punt Road home due to the increase in size of the road on the far side. This share arrangement continued until North Melbourne joined them from Arden Street which had become a fire hazard. This move caused Melbourne to move it's training venue out. Several clubs now play their home games at the MCG but this varies depending on club need and promotional purposes. Finals matches nowadays in the AFL where a Victorian club is deemed the host is always played at the MCG.
For all the big crowds that have attended the MCG over recent years, the attendance records for the venue are long standing. The biggest football attendance overall was 121,696 - for the 1970 VFL Grand Final between Carlton and Collingwood, a famous game in history in itself with Ron Barassi's game changing half time instructions on the back of Alex Jesaulenko's famous mark over Graham Jenkin late in the second quarter. With the capacity as it is today, this record for now is safe. However the attendance record for a match during the home and away season is reachable but stubbornly intact - the game between Melbourne and Collingwood on the Queen's Birthday weekend in 1958; 99,256.
Grand Finals[]
Even though it was the biggest venue, the VFL Grand Final was not played at the MCG until 1902 when Collingwood defeated Essendon. However from thereon, the grand final was always played at the venue, even if Melbourne were playing in it. There was no grand final in 1924, but the MCG lost the grand final in 1942 as it had been taken over by the military during World War 2. It remained unavailable until 1946. Consequent to that, again, it remained the venue for the grand final even if Melbourne were playing and later Richmond.
When the Southern Stand was being rebuilt, the 1991 grand final was moved to Waverley Park. But after that the MCG has hosted every AFL grand final - even if two interstate teams are contesting it as was the case in 2004, 2005 and 2006. This is because the AFL has signed a agreement with the MCG Trust for the MCG to host the AFL grand final every year, with the latest deal guaranteeing this until 2057. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic however in 2020 the grand final was played at the Gabba.
Infamous incidents[]
The MCG hasn't been well known for infamous incidents certainly involving football. But things have happened. During the 1982 VFL grand final between Carlton and Richmond, the ground played host to a female streaker. In 1999, the video scoreboard at the city end caught fire.
Other events[]
The MCG has of course been continuing serve it's original purpose during the summer months. It has hosted the Australian cricket team in test matches - mostly in the traditional Boxing Day Test - as well as one day matches and T20 matches more recently. It also usually hosts Victoria's Sheffield Shield home matches, and presently serves as the home ground for the Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League. One of the most infamous incidents in the history of cricket took place at the MCG, the underarm bowled by Trevor Chappell to New Zealand batsman Brian McKecknie.
As previously mentioned, the MCG hosted the opening and closing ceremony and the track and field events of the 1956 Olympic Games. It also served the same purpose for the 2006 Commonwealth Games. Rugby union, rugby league and soccer have also been played at the MCG, including a crowd of 99,382 for an International Champions Cup soccer match between Real Madrid and Manchester City.
In 1959, American religious leader Billy Graham visited Australia and held one of his crusade events at the MCG. It attracted an attendance of about 143,000 - taking advantage of the fact that the grassed arena was fully available. This record is unlikely to be beaten.
Rock concerts have been held at the MCG, the first of which featured David Cassidy in 1974. 80,518 people attended the Sound Relief Concert in 2009 for the Black Saturday bushfires in the biggest crowd.
In 2018, American professional wrestling promotion World Wrestling Entertainment presented a show called Super Showdown at the MCG. With the Western/Ponsford Stand covered up by the promotions pyrotechnics requirements, the capacity was reduced but with the grassed arena covered and with seating the show attracted an attendance of 70,309.