Sports+&+Events

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=//Cricket //=

//The Melbourne Cricket Club was the first club in Victoria and it is still a major part of the MCG. The MCG hosted the first Test match between Australia and England in 1877 and some of the greatest moments of cricket history have happened there. One such moment was the “under arm incident” in which the Australians rolled the ball under-arm which prevented the New Zealanders from hitting a six that could have made the game a draw. Another couple memorable moments were Shane Warne’s 700th test wicket and when David Hookes hit five fours in a row.//

=// Football //=

//The first football match played on the MCG was in 1859, 149 years ago, but it wasn’t until 1897 that the first Victorian football league (VFL) match was played there - and it still wasn’t until 1902 that the MCG hosted its first VFL grand final. Up to today there have been over 2200 VFL/AFL matches played at the MCG including 103 grand finals. Australian rules at the MCG has delivered some of the most astonishing, exciting and nail biting moments from the only two grand final draws (1948 - Melbourne Vs. Essendon and 1977 - Collingwood Vs. North Melbourne) to Alex Jesaulenko’s great screamer which started the catchphrase “Jesaulenko, you beauty” and of course Hawthorns 2008 great grand final win over Geelong and many more. These days the MCG is dominated by football and hopefully it will be like that forever.// 

=//Olympics //=

//When Melburnians found out that The 1956 Olympics where to be held in their home town they were ecstatic. Olympic fever had gripped hearts and minds. You couldn’t walk down the streets without seeing faces full of anticipation.The MCG was to be the main stadium and hosted the opening and closing ceremonies, the athletic events, soccer finals, hockey finals and an exhibition game of baseball which made a world record crowd for baseball of 103,000 which still lasts today. The young and then relatively unknown Ron Clarke was chosen to be the one to light the cauldron. Ron Clarke was a champion at running when he was a junior, holding many records and he then went on to have a fabulous career. Just before Ron lit the cauldron the torch spluttered and burnt holes in his shirt. When he lit the cauldron it burst in to flames burning his t shirt worse. Although carrying the torch was one of his greatest moments, his lighting the cauldron. The Melbourne Olympics was one the towns and the MCG’s most prestigious moment. Australia won four gold medals.//

=//Commonwealth Games //=

//With only 71 competing nations and only 4,500 competing athletes the 2006 commonwealth games are not as big as the Olympics but the passion of the dedicated athletes couldn’t be higher. Just like the Melbourne Olympics, the MCG was to be the main stadium hosting the majority of events. The total number of people attending the events held at the MCG was 765,515 with the highest number of spectators at a single event being 83,369. Australia dominated on the medal tally winning 84 gold medals, far above 2nd placed England on 36 gold. The opening and closing ceremonies were held at the MCG.//

=//Soccer //=

//The first time that soccer was played on the MCG was in 1912 in a match between Victoria and Tasmania. Since then only 45 matches have been played there but they include friendly matches all the way to Olympic competition and world cup qualifiers. The largest attendance at an MCG soccer match was 95,103 people when Australia played Greece in 2006. Some of the most famous teams have played on the MCG including Manchester United, Brazil, France, Greece and Argentina.//

=//Rugby league/union //=

//Rugby at the MCG has a good record of attracting large crowds with rugby union averaging 81,000 spectators when it hosted three Bledisloe Cup rugby matches and in rugby league the record crowd at the MCG was 87,161 people. Rugby league was first played at the MCG in 1914 when a New South Wales team played England.//

=//Concerts //=

//The first concert held at the MCG was a David Cassidy concert in 1974. Some of the biggest names in the world have showed their stuff at the MCG such as U2, Paul McCartney, Madonna (each three performed in the same year, having between 40,000 and 55,000 audiences. Other great performances at the ‘G’ are Michael Jackson, The Rolling Stones, Elton John and Billy Joel. The largest attendance at the MCG ever was for an evangelist event held by reverend Billy Graham in 1959 which gathered approximately 130,000 people.//

=//<span style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'">Other Events //=

<span style="COLOR: #03084f; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">//Some other events that have taken place at the MCG are the International Rules (Gaelic) Football matches between Ireland and Australia. Gaelic footy is sort of a mixture between Aussie rules and soccer as they can pick up the ball and kick it. Also, the goals are AFL goals with soccer goals in the middle.//

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