Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as The 'G,[10] is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria.[11] Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, with 95,000 seats and an additional 5,000 capacity in standing room for a total of just over 100,000[12] it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere, the 11th largest globally, and the second-largest cricket ground by capacity, after the Narendra Modi Stadium. The MCG is within walking distance of the city centre and is served by Richmond and Jolimont railway stations, as well as the route 70, route 75, and route 48 trams. It is adjacent to Melbourne Park and is part of the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct.[13]
"MCG" redirects here. For other uses, see MCG (disambiguation).Address
120 Brunton Avenue
East Melbourne, Victoria
Australia
109
- 109,500 – Ed Sheeran +–=÷× Tour[3]
- 143,000 – Billy Graham Crusade (pre-configuration)
Grass
1853
1992 (Southern Stand redevelopment)
2006 (Northern Stand redevelopment)
2032 (Proposed Shane Warne Stand redevelopment)
2 February 2024:
Australia v 
West Indies
Historic
a, g, h
26 December 2005
Melbourne Cricket Ground
State Registered Place
a, b, c, e, f, g
19 April 2001
H1928[9]
HO890[9]
Since it was built in 1853, the MCG has undergone numerous renovations. It served as the centrepiece stadium of the 1956 Summer Olympics, the 2006 Commonwealth Games and two Cricket World Cups: 1992 and 2015. Noted for its role in the development of international cricket, the MCG hosted both the first Test match and the first One Day International, played between Australia and England in 1877 and 1971, respectively. It has also maintained strong ties with Australian rules football since its codification in 1859, and has become the principal venue for Australian Football League (AFL) matches, including the AFL Grand Final, the world's highest attended league championship event. It hosted the Final for the 2022 T20 World Cup.
Home to the Australian Sports Museum, the MCG has hosted other major sporting events, including international rules football matches between Australia and Ireland, international rugby union matches, State of Origin (rugby league) games, and FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Concerts and other cultural events are also held at the venue with the record attendance standing at 143,750 for a Billy Graham evangelistic crusade in 1959. Grandstand redevelopments and occupational health and safety legislation have limited the maximum seating capacity to approximately 95,000 with an additional 5,000 standing room capacity, bringing the total capacity to 100,024.
The MCG is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register[14] and was included on the Australian National Heritage List in 2005.[15] In 2003, journalist Greg Baum called it "a shrine, a citadel, a landmark, a totem" that "symbolises Melbourne to the world".[16]
Cricket[edit]
Early years[edit]
The first cricket match at the venue was played on 30 September 1854, while the first inter-colonial cricket match to be played at the MCG was between Victoria and New South Wales in March 1856. Victoria had played Tasmania (then known as Van Diemen's Land) as early as 1851 but the Victorians had included two professionals in the 1853 team upsetting the Tasmanians and causing a cooling of relations between the two colonies. To replace the disgruntled Tasmanians the Melbourne Cricket Club issued a challenge to play any team in the colonies for £1000. Sydney publican William Tunks accepted the challenge on behalf of New South Wales although the Victorians were criticised for playing for money. Ethics aside, New South Wales could not afford the £1000 and only managed to travel to Melbourne after half the team's travel cost of £181 was put up by Sydney barrister Richard Driver.
The game eventually got under way on 26 March 1856. The Victorians, stung by criticism over the £1000 stake, argued over just about everything; the toss, who should bat first, whether different pitches should be used for the different innings and even what the umpires should wear.
Victoria won the toss but New South Wales captain George Gilbert successfully argued that the visiting team should decide who bats first. The MCG was a grassless desert and Gilbert, considering players fielded without boots, promptly sent Victoria into bat. Needing only 16 to win in the final innings, New South Wales collapsed to be 5 for 5 before Gilbert's batting saved the game and the visitors won by three wickets.[32]
In subsequent years conditions at the MCG improved but the ever-ambitious Melburnians were always on the lookout for more than the usual diet of club and inter-colonial games. In 1861, Felix William Spiers and Christopher Pond, the proprietors of the Cafe de Paris in Bourke Street and caterers to the MCC, sent their agent, W.B. Mallam, to England to arrange for a cricket team to visit Australia.
Mallam found a team and, captained by Heathfield Stephenson, it arrived in Australia on Christmas Eve 1861 to be met by a crowd of more than 3000 people. The team was taken on a parade through the streets wearing white-trimmed hats with blue ribbons given to them for the occasion. Wherever they went they were mobbed and cheered by crowds to the point where the tour sponsors had to take them out of Melbourne so that they could train undisturbed.
Their first game was at the MCG on New Year's Day 1862, against a Victorian XVIII. The Englishmen also wore coloured sashes around their waists to identify each player and were presented with hats to shade them from the sun. Some estimates put the crowd at the MCG that day at 25,000. It must have been quite a picture with a new 6000 seat grandstand, coloured marquees ringing the ground and a carnival outside. Stephenson said that the ground was better than any in England. The Victorians however, were no match for the English at cricket and the visitors won by an innings and 96 runs.
World War II[edit]
During World War II, the government requisitioned the MCG for military use. From 1942 until 1945 it was occupied by (in order): the United States Army Air Forces, the Royal Australian Air Force, the United States Marine Corps and again the RAAF.[49] Over the course of the war, more than 200,000 personnel were barracked at the MCG. From April to October 1942, the US Army's Fifth Air Force occupied the ground, naming it "Camp Murphy", in honour of officer Colonel William Murphy, a senior USAAF officer killed in Java. In 1943 the MCG was home to the legendary First Regiment of the First Division of the United States Marine Corps. The First Marine Division were the heroes of the Guadalcanal campaign and used the "cricket grounds", as the marines referred to it, to rest and recuperate.[49] On 14 March 1943 the marines hosted a giant "get together" of American and Australian troops on the arena.[49]
In 1977, Melbourne Cricket Club president Sir Albert Chadwick and Medal of Honor recipient, Colonel Mitchell Paige, unveiled a commemorative plaque recognizing the Americans' time at the ground.[49]
In episode 3 of the 2010 TV miniseries, The Pacific, members of the US Marines are shown to be camped in the war-era MCG.
Rugby union[edit]
The first game of Rugby Union to be played on the ground was on Saturday, 29 June 1878, when the Waratah Club of Sydney played Carlton Football Club in a return of the previous year's contests in Sydney where the clubs had competed in both codes of football. The match, watched by a crowd of between 6,000 and 7,000 resulted in a draw; one goal and one try being awarded to each team.[52][53]
The next Rugby match was held on Wednesday 29 June 1881, when the Wanderers, a team organised under the auspices of the Melbourne Cricket Club, played a team representing a detached Royal Navy squadron then visiting Melbourne. The squadron team won by one goal and one try to nil.[54]
It was not until 19 August 1899 that the MCG was again the venue for a Union match, this time Victoria v the British Lions (as they were later to be called). During the preceding week the Victorians had held several trial and practice matches there, as well as several training sessions, despite which they were defeated
30–0 on the day before a crowd of some 7,000.[55]
Nine years later, on Monday, 10 August 1908, Victoria was again the host, this time to the Australian team en route to Great Britain and soon to be dubbed the First Wallabies. Despite being held on a working day some 1,500 spectators attended to see the visitors win by 26–6.[56]
On Saturday, 6 July 1912 the MCG was the venue, for the only time ever, of a match between two Victorian Rugby Union clubs, Melbourne and East Melbourne, the former winning 9–5 in what was reported to be '... one of the finest exhibitions of the Rugby game ever seen in Victoria.' It was played before a large crowd as a curtain raiser to a State Rules match against South Australia.[57]
On Saturday 18 June 1921, in another curtain raiser, this time to a Melbourne-Fitzroy League game, a team representing Victoria was soundly beaten 51–0 by the South African Springboks in front of a crowd of 11,214.[58]
It was nine years later, on Saturday 13 September 1930, that the British Lions returned to play Victoria, again before a crowd of 7,000, this time defeating the home side 41–36, a surprisingly narrow winning margin.[59]
The first post war match at the MCG was on 21 May 1949 when the NZ Maoris outclassed a Southern States side 35–8 before a crowd of close to 10,000.[60] A year later, on 29 July 1950, for the first and only time, Queensland travelled to Victoria to play an interstate match, defeating their hosts 31–12 before a crowd of 7,479.[61]
In the following year the MCG was the venue for a contest between the New Zealand All Blacks and an Australian XV. This was on 30 June 1951 before some 9,000 spectators and resulted in a convincing 56–11 win for the visitors.[62]
Union did not return to the MCG until the late 1990s, for several night time Test matches, both Australia v New Zealand All Blacks as part of the Tri Nations Series. The first, on Saturday 26 July 1997, being notable for an attendance of 90,119, the visitors decisively winning 33–18 and the second, on Saturday 11 July 1998, for a victory to Australia of 24–16. Australia and New Zealand met again at the MCG during the 2007 Tri Nations Series on 30 June, the hosts again winning, this time by 20 points to 15 in front of a crowd of 79,322.[63]
Australia returned to the MCG as part of the 2023 Rugby Championship. They were defeated by New Zealand 38–7 in front of a crowd of 83,944.[64]
On 9 February 2006 Victorian premier Steve Bracks and Football Federation Australia chairman Frank Lowy announced that the MCG would host a world class soccer event each year from 2006 until 2009 inclusive.[69]
The agreement sees an annual fixture at the MCG, beginning with a clash between Australia and European champions Greece on 25 May 2006 in front of a sell-out crowd of 95,103, before Australia left to contest in the World Cup finals. Australia beat Greece 1–0. The Socceroos also hosted a match in 2007 against Argentina, losing 1–0, as well as 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification matches in 2009 against Japan, which attracted 81,872 fans as Australia beat Japan 2–1 via 2 Tim Cahill headers after falling behind 1–0 late in the 1st half. In 2010 it was announced that as a warm up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup which the Australians had qualified for, they would play fellow qualified nation New Zealand on 24 May at the MCG.
Other matches played at the MCG include the following:
Concerts[edit]
The MCG is a popular venue for concert acts, with the first rock concert to be held at the ground was one by David Cassidy in 1974, In 1978 David Bowie held a concert there. In 1993, Paul McCartney, U2 and Madonna held three concerts, with the highest attendances for a music concert at MCG, with 147,241 tickets sold.[75] The Rolling Stones held concerts in 1995, Michael Jackson in 1996, the Three Tenors in 1997, Elton John and Billy Joel in 1998.
The MCG hosted the Police with Special Guests Fergie & Fiction Plane on Australia Day 2008; the first MCG concert in 10 years.
The MCG hosted Sound Relief, a concert donating all revenues to the Red Cross Victorian Bushfire Appeal with performances from Kings of Leon, Midnight Oil, Split Enz, Paul Kelly, Hunters & Collectors, Wolfmother, Jet and Bliss N Eso, among others. It was held on 14 March 2009 with 80,518 in attendance.[76]
The MCG held a Guns N' Roses concert on 14 February 2017 with 73,756 in attendance.[76]
The MCG held a free The Killers concert on 30 September 2017, after the 2017 AFL Grand Final.
On 3 December 2022, the MCG held a Guns N' Roses concert as part of the Guns N' Roses 2020 Tour.
On 10 December 2022, the MCG held a Billy Joel concert as part of the Billy Joel in Concert tour.
The MCG held an Eminem concert on 24 February 2019 with 80,708 tickets sold, at the time the highest attendance for a single concert at the MCG. The concert also marked the highest attended show of Eminem's career.[76]
The MCG hosted two Ed Sheeran concerts on 2 and 3 March 2023 as part of the +–=÷x Tour. Playing in-the-round, the attendance on 2 March was 108,000, Sheeran's biggest concert and 3 March was 109,500, exceeding the previous concert attendance record set by Eminem.[77]
The MCG hosted three Taylor Swift concerts on 16, 17, and 18 February 2024 as part of The Eras Tour.[78] The three concerts were attended by 96,000 people each night,[79] drawing a collective audience of 288,000.[80] The shows broke the MCG's record for the most tickets sold by one artist at the venue, according to the promoter Frontier Touring.[81]
Last updated 26 December 2022.
Last updated 26 December 2022.
All records correct as of 16 April 2024.[113]
