Lord’s, Wembley, Eden Gardens and Yankee Stadium are considered among the greatest sporting arenas in the world, but for history, pure drama and emotion, it’s hard to look past the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
The ground was built way back in 1853 when the then 15-year-old Melbourne Cricket Club was forced by the government to move from its former site because the route of Australia’s first steam train was to pass through the oval.
Since then the MCG has established a marvellous history that compares favourably with any other in the world, hosting plenty of international cricket including the first-ever Test and the 1992 World Cup final, countless VFL/AFL Grand Finals, and the 1956 Olympic Games.
Other sporting spectacles that have been held there are Australian World Cup soccer qualifiers, rugby league home and away matches and State of Origin, international rugby union clashes and the 2006 Commonwealth Games.
Apart from its sporting events, the MCG has also witnessed many blockbuster music concerts, and even Pope John Paul II held a mass there when he visited Melbourne in 1986.
People from all over Australia, and indeed all over the world, speak reverently about the MCG, a ground that is as well known as any other.
Victorian sports fans can recount ample examples of games and events they have been part of at the ground, and it has a world-class reputation as a leading multi-purpose stadium.
Apart from the magnificent sporting contests it witnesses, the stadium also provides its visitors with world-class facilities, and has a collection which includes some of the most priceless pieces of memorabilia in Australian sporting history.
As well as a world record for the most people to ever attend a baseball match during the 1956 Games, the VFL/AFL Grand Final record attendance was an amazing 121,000 people for the 1970 decider between Carlton and Collingwood.
With the recent redevelopment of the northern side of the stadium complete, the MCG now boasts of a total capacity of 100,000.
Another fine feature of the MCG is its close proximity to the Melbourne Central Business District, with just a short train or tram ride required to reach the arena.
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