MCG Timeline

• The Wurundjeri people inhabited the area.

• Melbourne founded

• The earliest recorded cricket match in Melbourne was played between teams of civilians and military officers on open land near the corner of William and La Trobe streets (November 17). This match featured Frederick Armand Powlett, Robert Russell, Captain George Brunswick Smyth and Donald Gordon McArthur.

• The MCC began to play cricket matches adjacent to Batman’s Hill.

• MCC members began using a site on the south side of the Yarra River, opposite King Street, on October 3. This became the first Melbourne Cricket Ground.

• The MCC was granted permission by Lt-Governor La Trobe to fence the club’s reserve.

• In October the MCC played two matches near the Flagstaff, before they resumed playing at their South Bank ground.

• A football match was played on the enclosed Melbourne Cricket Ground as part of the Separation Sports and Games on November 16.

• The MCC hosted a match between Victoria and Tasmania at the club’s ground, the first intercolonial cricket match to be played in Victoria. The home side won by 61 runs (March 29-30).

• On September 23 the government granted the MCC a new site for a ground in the Government Paddock, the current site of the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Work commenced on clearing the site and erecting a pavilion.
• The first MCC Members’ Pavilion was erected.

• The first cricket match on the current MCG was played between the members on September 30.
• In November the 40th Regiment band played a late-afternoon recital at the MCG. This was just one week before the Regiment confronted miners at the Eureka Stockade.

• The first intercolonial cricket match played on the new MCG was the inaugural Victoria-New South Wales clash. The visiting side won by three wickets (March 26-27).
• The Public Works Office sought tenders to erect a three-rail fence at the Police Paddock.

• The earliest known pedestrian (running) race on the present MCG site was conducted between MCC Member H. Ryder and Mr. Were. It was a steeplechase and included a water jump.

• Thousands of people assembled in Richmond Paddock (Yarra Park) on July 1 to witness the ceremonial turning of the first sod for the Melbourne and Suburban Railway line.
• The first recorded football games in Richmond Paddock (Yarra Park) were played. Parade Hotel (East Melbourne) publican Jerry Bryant provided a football for a scratch match in the park on July 31. A match between Scotch College and Melbourne Grammar took place in the park over three Saturdays – August 7 & 21 and September 4. On September 27 a team of
• Melbourne gentlemen played South Yarra gentlemen under South Yarra’s rules.
• The first football match on the MCG’s current site was a scratch match played on August 21.

• The Melbourne and Suburban Railway line through Richmond Paddock (Yarra Park), from Princes Bridge to Richmond was opened on Tuesday February 8. At 2:15pm the first train of five carriages (first and second class) departed from the Melbourne terminus carrying 150 to 200 passengers, including the Mayor of Melbourne.
• The first inter-club game under Melbourne Football Club rules (the basis of Australian rules football) was played at the MCG over two Saturdays, July 9 and 23. The Melbourne Football Club defeated South Yarra three goals to nil.

• The MCG was connected to the Yan Yean Reservoir water supply.

• The first Trustees, chosen by the club, were appointed by the government (December 10): Hon. William Clark Haines, John Goodman, and Thomas Hamilton (president of MCC).
• Plans to redesign and drain the ground were presented by civil engineer Robert Bagot on November 8.
• A celebration of Caledonian Games, including football, was held on the ground from December 26-28. The Caledonian Society donated the first Australian rules football cup for the Melbourne v University match.

• The first international cricket match in Australia, XVIII of Victoria versus H.H. Stephenson’s All England XI, was played on the MCG (January 1-4).
• Robert Bagot supervised major ground works by MCG caretaker Rowland Newbury and his men during the winter of 1862. The quality of the turf was enhanced, the bandstand was removed and enlarged, and Ferdinand Von Mueller, Director of Melbourne Botanic Gardens, provided 400 “choice trees” for the perimeter of the MCG.

• On September 10 the Melbourne Athletic Sports Committee (est. August 3) staged its inaugural meeting of Athletic Sports on the MCG.

• The MCC established a bowling green in the MCG reserve.
• On May 24 the first match for the Melbourne Athletic Sports Committee’s football challenge cup was played between Melbourne and Geelong at the MCG.

• An Aboriginal cricket team under Tom Wills played against an MCC team on the MCG before 11,000 spectators on December 26-27. The Aboriginal team played on the MCG a further three times up to 1869.

• Royalty visited the ground for the first time. HRH The Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, was received at the MCG on November 27.
• On December 26 Dick Wardill made the first century in an intercolonial match, for Victoria against NSW.
• Government Paddock was officially named “Yarra Park”. The Crown Grant proclaimed: Land to be used for “Athletic Sports meetings ... public recreation and amusement”.

• The eighth meeting of Athletic Sports on the MCG (November 14) was under the management Melbourne Cricket Club for the first time.
• On November 30, Scotch College held its first sports meeting on the MCG. This was the first Public School Sports meeting ever held in the colony.

• On July 10 the earliest known bicycle races in Victoria were held during the winter meeting of Athletic Sports on the MCG (Croxton Park racecourse included bicycle races at its meeting on the same afternoon).

• The MCC Library collection was established at the MCG with the donation of bound volumes of The Australasian. This was the start of the heritage collections at the MCG.
• Melbourne City Council and Board of Land and Works become joint trustees for Yarra Park.

• A skittle alley was erected at the MCG in the old cow shed.

• The MCC began construction of the first permanent public grandstand, the reversible stand on the northern side of the ground.
• The “best skittles facility in the colonies” was constructed under the new reversible grandstand.

• Teams representing Australia and England played what is regarded as the first Test match (March 15-19). During the match, Charles Bannerman scored the first century in Test cricket.
• The first football match on the ground since 1871 was played between Carlton and Melbourne on June 9. The “entire cricket-ground circle” was used. It attracted 8-10,000 spectators with 2,000 in the (reversible) grandstand.
• The seating of the reversible grandstand is reconfigured to face the park. The earliest record of the stand in this configuration was for the Melbourne v Barwon football match on June 23. The stand was filled to capacity.

• In March, Moonlight Concerts conducted by Julius Herz were held on the ground for the first time.
• On June 29, Sydney’s Waratah Club played Carlton at the MCG under rugby rules. On July 1, the teams played under Victorian rules.
• In a post-season play-off for the football premiership of Victoria, Geelong defeated Melbourne five goals to one at the Melbourne Football Ground (Yarra Park) on October 5. It attracted a crowd estimated at 7,000-11,000 spectators.

• To attract events to the ground, the MCC financed the tour of Lord Harris’s England cricket team. It was the first of many tours organised by the MCC over the next 20 years.
• Fred Spofforth took the first Test hat trick on the opening day of the only Test that summer (v England, January 2-4). Spofforth took 13 wickets for the match, becoming the first player to take 10 wickets in a Test.

• Night football was first played on the MCG under electric lights on August 5 when Collingwood Rifles played East Melbourne Artillery. Melbourne played Carlton under lights on August 13.
• The MCC laid asphalt tennis courts at the MCG, the first club courts in Victoria.

• MCC players held the first Victorian lawn tennis Double-Handed Championship on the MCG’s recently laid asphalt court. A single-handed tournament was staged shortly afterwards.

• The ground hosted its first interstate football match (Victoria v New South Wales) on July 1.
• The foundation stone for a new Members Pavilion was laid by TRH Princes Albert Victor and George of Wales on July 4. The Pavilion was opened in time for the match between Victoria and Alfred Shaw’s English XI on December 16.
• A scoreboard, reputed to be the first of its type in the world, was erected. It showed the batsman’s name and how he was dismissed.
• Sightboards were used for the first time.
• Pitches, which previously ran east-west, were realigned to run north-south.
• A telephone was installed at the MCG.
• A two-table billiard salon was opened on the first floor of the Second Pavilion.

• Arrangements were made by which the Carlton Football Club played several of their best matches on the MCG.
• Last use of the Melbourne Football Ground on September 8 for a match between Melbourne and Hotham. Prior to the next football season, Melbourne’s Parks and Garden Committee planted trees across the open ground.

• The reversible stand was burnt to the ground.

• Building works commenced on the replacement public grandstand that survived until demolished in 1954 for the construction of the Northern (later Olympic) Stand.
• Officers from the USS Enterprise played baseball against a team of MCC members in the sport’s first recorded match at the MCG (October 8).

• Cyclists competed at the MCG for the Drummond Trophy, forerunner to the Austral Wheel Race (November 13).

• The first recorded British Football Association rules (soccer) match on the MCG was played between Victoria and New South Wales on Monday July 18, resulting in a 2-0 victory to Victoria.

• On June 16, Carlton played Great Britain in an Australian rules football match before 25-30,000 spectators. The British side was comprised of rugby players and its match at the ground was their first game in Victoria.
• The Carlton v South Melbourne football match on July 14 attracted a crowd estimated at 30-35,000. The Melbourne Sportsman claimed it was the largest football crowd in Victoria. It was probably the largest football attendance of any code in the world until then.

• During December 1888 and January 1889 the MCG hosted baseball matches as part of A.G. Spalding’s world tour by the Chicago White Stockings (later the Chicago Cubs) and an “All-America” team of Major League Baseball players.

• On March 7 the Melbourne Football Club became affiliated with the Melbourne Cricket Club.
• Arrangements are made with the Trustees of the Warehousemen’s Cricket Ground (the Albert Ground from 1908) for the MCC to have joint occupancy of the venue.
• On August 8 a crowd of 32,595 attended the Carlton v South Melbourne match at the MCG. The MCC at the time believed it to be “the highest recorded at any football match in Australia or Great Britain.”

• On July 11 the Yarra broke its banks and much of the MCG was flooded. The football match scheduled that day between Carlton and South Melbourne was played nonetheless.

• Future Olympic champion Edwin Flack won the mile race at the first Australasian Athletic Championships in November.

• MCC Bowls Section was formed following the takeover of Richmond Bowling Club. Two greens were laid outside the western end of the MCG. In November, MCC members began using the new bowling greens at the ground.

• The fifth Test between Australia and England from March 1-6 drew a total match attendance of 103,636 over the five days. It was the first time in Australia that a cricket match attracted over 100,000 spectators. The second day of the Test also drew an Australian record crowd for a single day’s play of 29,123.

• A charity football carnival was held at the MCG on June 6. Essendon defeated Port Melbourne in the final. Collingwood and South Melbourne also competed.

• On May 15 the MCG hosted its first match in the newly formed Victorian Football League (now AFL). Melbourne 9.10 (64) defeated Geelong 3.1 (19).
• An extension (double-deck) was added to the Grandstand.

• On August 19 the England rugby team defeated Victoria 30 – 0. It was the first representative rugby match at the MCG.

• The Grandstand at the MCG was wholly lit by electric light.
• The first lawn bowls Championship of Australia was staged at the MCG in November.

• A brick structure replaced the 1881 scoreboard on the western side of the ground. It was the first permanent scoreboard at the MCG.

• MCC player Hugh Trumble took a hat-trick to conclude the Test against England at the MCG on January 4.
• Moving pictures were being shown at the ground.
• The MCG hosted the VFL grand final for the first time.

• On March 8 Hugh Trumble repeated his hat-trick feat of 1902, in his final Test and first-class match. He is the only bowler to take two hat-tricks in Ashes Tests.
• The open wooden stand on the southern side of the ground was erected.

• Premier Thomas Bent appointed an additional five politicians to the Trust, which assumed complete control of the ground, thereby curtailing the MCC’s freedom of action and making the committee’s management “subject to the trustees’ approval or consent”.
• Smoker’s Pavilion was removed and donated to the Richmond Cricket Club.
• The first Australasian singles tennis championship was conducted at the Warehousemen’s Cricket Ground under the auspices of the MCC.

• Construction of a new grandstand began in the Members Reserve. It was known from 1912 as the Grey Smith Stand.

• Australia’s first international lacrosse match was played at the MCG against Canada on July 27 before a crowd of 14,000.
• A second scoreboard was erected at the eastern end of the MCG.

• The MCC erected the Harrison Stand in the outer reserve.
• The first Australasian Football Jubilee Carnival was hosted at the MCG in August. The carnival commemorated 50 years of Australian football and the competing teams represented all Australian states and New Zealand. The tournament was won by Victoria.
• The first Wallabies (Australia’s rugby union team) stop at Melbourne en route to the United Kingdom and defeat Victoria 26-6 at the MCG on August 10.
• On September 1 an exhibition match of American football (gridiron) was played at the MCG between teams from the visiting Great White Fleet of the United States Navy.
• The Warehousemen’s Cricket Ground was renamed the Albert Ground. The MCC with the Lawn Tennis Association of Victoria financed construction of a new pavilion there. In November the LTAV hosted the Davis Cup challenge round on its courts north of the cricket ground. Australasia defeated the United States 3-2.

• On October 9, South Melbourne (the Victorian premier) defeated West Adelaide (the South Australian premier) in a football match at the MCG promoted as the “Australian club championship”.

• South Africa played its first MCG Test match, December 31 to January 4.

• University Football Club played its first VFL matches as a tenant of the MCG.
• The Wardill Stand, built in the public section on the southern side of the ground, was opened on the first day of the Second Test against England (December 30-January 3).

• Victoria won the Australian lacrosse carnival held in August. Many games were at the MCG. Teams from New South Wales, Tasmania, South Australia, Western Australia and Queensland also participated.
• On July 17 Victoria defeated Tasmania eight goals to nil. It was the first soccer match at the MCG since 1887.

• On January 7 Major League Baseball teams, the New York Giants and Chicago White Sox, played at the MCG.
• On July 18 Collingwood’s Dick Lee kicked 11 goals against University. He was the first player to score 10 or more goals in a VFL match at the MCG.
• Rugby league (NSW v England) was played on the MCG for the first time on August 15.
• University’s loss to St Kilda at the ground on August 29 was its last VFL game and its 51st consecutive defeat.

• Jack Blackham donated the “most cherished possession of his cricketing career… the ball used in what cricketers regard as the most important and stirring match ever played,” the 1882 Test in which “Australia for the first time defeated the pick of England on English soil.” VCA Annual Report 1915-16, pp.5-6. Following a suggestion from John Wren, subscribers contributed £617 to acquire the ball for “the museum of the Public Library, as the property of Australian patrons of cricket”. The Argus, January 1, 1916, p.10.

• From Easter Thursday (April 20) until the end of the first week in May, commemorations of various sorts were held throughout Victoria in honour of the first anniversary of the Gallipoli Landing. The main Anzac commemoration for the day was held at the MCG.

• On February 24, in Yarra Park at the back of the Grandstand, the Minister for Defence, Senator Pearce, unveiled a memorial to the soldiers who had fallen in the Great War. The temporary memorial, believed to be the first in Melbourne, was in the shape of a broken column. It was designed by A Phipps Coles and was a gift of the Timber Merchants’ Association and other groups.
• On February 24 a recruiting depot was set up in the gymnasium at the MCG.
• The MCC Patriotic Carnival attracted 68,000 over a fortnight and raised £7750 for the State War Council.
• On December 10, a record crowd estimated at 75,000 attended a pro-conscription meeting at which the main speaker was Prime Minister Billy Hughes.

• A Grand Review by the Governor-General of the Victorian Returned Naval Men and members of the AIF was held at the MCG.

• On May 31, HRH The Prince of Wales visited the ground for a children’s display.

• Arthur Mailey took 9/121 in a Test against England at the MCG, the best Test bowling figures by an Australian at the ground.

• A touring Chinese soccer team defeated Victoria 3 goals to 1 at the MCG on Tuesday October 9.
• In December the Austral Wheel Race was held at the MCG for the first time since 1910.

• On July 2 an Australian soccer XI graced the MCG for the first time when it played a touring Canadian team.
• Footscray the VFA premier defeated Essendon the VFL premier in a match at the MCG styled the “champion football premiership”.

• Radio station 3AR received MCC committee approval to broadcast two MCG Tests against England.

• A Melbourne Football Club intra-club practice match was played at the MCG on Anzac Day. The proceeds from the match (£19/3/7) went to the Melbourne branch of the Returned Sailors and Soldiers’ Imperial League of Australia (later the RSL).
• Australia played an England professional soccer XI before 10,696 spectators on May 23. It was the second of two practice matches before a five-Test series.
• The last asphalt tennis courts were removed from the MCG to make way for the construction of the Open Concrete Stand.

• The brick scoreboard on the western side of the MCG (operational from 1901) was demolished to make way for the Open Concrete Stand.
• In the Sheffield Shield match beginning December 24, Victoria made 1107 in its 1st innings against NSW, a world record score in a first-class match. The Vics won by an innings and 656 runs.

• TRH The Duke and Duchess of York (Later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth) visited the MCG for a children’s display on April 26.
• The Concrete Stand was completed on the site of the club’s tennis courts at the western end of the ground.
• The Sixth Australian National Football Council Carnival is staged at the MCG from August 10 to 20.
• Bill Ponsford scored 437 for Victoria against Queensland, the highest individual score in a first-class match on the MCG.

• MCC president Sir Leo Cussen laid the foundation stone for the third Members Pavilion on February 25. The Pavilion was completed and opened for the Victoria v England match in November.

• The fifth Test of the 1928/29 Ashes series was the longest Test match on Australian soil. It took eight playing days, March 8-9 and 11-16, before Australia won the match by five wickets. England had won the series before the match commenced.
• Radio station 3LO paid the MCC a fee of £200 for a 12-month agreement to broadcast cricket and football at the MCG.

• The MCG hosted the inaugural Australian Women’s Amateur Athletic Championships.

• The first MCG Test match against the West Indies was played (February 13-14).

• Australia defeated England by 111 runs at the MCG. It was Australia’s only win of the infamous “Bodyline” series. Don Bradman was bowled for a duck in Australia’s first innings but made 103 not out in the second innings.

• The 1933 MCG Act declared that the trustees controlled the ground “upon trust for the use of the public”, with power to delegate “as they thought fit” its management to the club.

• On August 11 Laurie Nash kicked 18 goals for Victoria against South Australia. It was the most goals kicked by a player in a senior football match at the ground.
• As part of the Victorian Centenary celebrations, a children’s display was attended by HRH The Duke of Gloucester.
• A Victorian Women’s Centennial Sports Carnival was held at the MCG.

• The MCG hosts its first women's cricket Test (Australia v England, January 18-21). Peggy Antonio takes 6/49 in first innings of the match.

• A state memorial service was held at the ground on February 1 following the death of King George V, an Honorary MCC member since 1881. A week later, 3900 members of the armed services honoured the King in a “dignified but colourful” parade on the ground.

• The Third Test between Australia and England (January 1-7) drew the current world record crowd of 350,534 over six days, despite the new Southern Stand being incomplete.
• The Southern Stand was finished in time for the Fifth Test (February 26-March 3), which was celebrated as the Diamond Jubilee of Test cricket.

• Brunton Avenue was opened in December. The road was named in memory of Alderman Sir William Brunton, a former Lord Mayor of Melbourne.
• A first-class cricket match between D.G. Bradman’s XI and K.E. Rigg’s XI was held to commemorate the centenary of the MCC. Referred to in the press as “Australia v The Rest”, the match ran from December 9 to 13 and was a draw.

• On New Year’s Day, the Victoria v South Australia match drew a crowd of 30,837, a Sheffield Shield record for the MCG.

• On April 3 the club’s ground was requisitioned by the Commonwealth for quartering service personnel.
• The MCG was occupied by:
  • The 11th Replacement Control Depot of the United States Army Air Forces, to whom the ground was known as Camp Murphy (April 7, 1942 to late-1942).
  • About 1500 personnel from the RAAF’s No.1 School of Technical Training from December 3, 1942 to January 5, 1943.
  • The First Regiment of the First Division of the United States Marine Corps (January 6, 1943-October 1943).
  • The Royal Australian Air Force’s No.1 Embarkation Depot (November 3, 1943 to April 30, 1944). During this period, the site name RAAF Ransford was introduced in honour of MCC secretary Vernon Ransford. From May 1, 1944 to October 29, 1945, No.1 Embarkation Depot was known as No.1 Personnel Depot.

• The RAAF vacated the MCG and control of the ground reverted to the club on October 29.

• League football returned to the MCG after a five-year absence when Melbourne played Hawthorn on August 17.

• India played its first MCG Test match.
• First drawn VFL grand final was played between Melbourne 10.9 (69) and Essendon 7.27 (69). Melbourne won the replay 13.11 (89) to 7.8 (50).
• A testimonial match honouring Don Bradman was held on the MCG from December 3- 7. Bradman scored 19 first-class and nine Test centuries at the MCG.

• On January 22, 25,000 spectators attended a meeting organised by the Victorian Women’s Amateur Athletic Association. London 1948 Olympians Fanny Blankers-Koen and Shirley Strickland de la Hunty featured.

• A crowd of 29,652 watched the Victorian soccer team play an England XI on June 9. Jackie Sewell scored all of England’s goals in the 7-0 win.

• On January 12 the MCC committee resolved unanimously “to give wholehearted support to the Government for the use of the Melbourne Cricket Ground for the Olympic Games in 1956…”

• A testimonial match for Lindsay Hassett was held on January 15-19.
• In the first visit to the ground by a reigning sovereign, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh visited the MCG, where an assembly of ex-servicemen and women's organisations greeted them on February 25. The Duke was made a life member of the club.
• On March 4, the Queen and Duke returned to the MCG for the Education Department’s Children’s Display. Admission was by ticket only and there were 17,000 participants. The crowd of 92,438 was, at this time, the second-highest ever for an event at the MCG. (Tickets were so highly sought after that 28,971 attended the rehearsal by the 17,000 children on February 26.) All proceeds went to children’s charities. For many of the people in attendance, these Royal events marked their only visit to the MCG.

• The Northern (later Olympic) Stand was completed. MCC Membership was increased to 9800 to help finance the new stand.
• A crowd of 115,802 attended the VFL grand final between Melbourne and Collingwood on September 15. It was the first event at the MCG to draw more than 100,000 spectators.
• MCC honorary life member, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, opened the Games of the XVI Olympiad at the MCG on November 22. The MCG was the main arena for the Olympic Games. It hosted the Opening Ceremony, athletics, hockey, soccer, demonstration baseball and Australian rules matches as well as the Closing Ceremony.
  • 107,700 attended the Opening Ceremony on November 22.
  • The athletics events, held from November 23-24 and 26-30 and December 1, drew massive crowds of 85,001, 102,800, 103,800, 95,423, 107,100, 100,100, 101,000 and 104,400.
  • On December 1, a demonstration baseball match between a USA services team and an Australian side was played before the athletics finals.
  • 10,805 tickets were sold for the semi-finals of the Olympic Hockey tournament on the MCG on December 3. India beat Germany 1-0 and Pakistan beat Great Britain 3-2.
  • The bronze medal play-off for the hockey was held on December 4 before a crowd of 15,617 (including officials and athletes). Germany defeated Great Britain 3-1.
  • The gold medal hockey final drew 16,626 to see India defeat Pakistan 1-0 on December 5.
  • The football (soccer) semi finals were attended by 21,079 when the USSR defeated Bulgaria 2-1 and Yugoslavia defeated India 4-1.
  • For football’s bronze medal match on December 7, 21,236 saw Bulgaria defeat India 3-1. The game was preceded by an Australian rules football demonstration between a combined VFL-VFA amateur team and the VAFA.
  • On December 8, 104,700 attended the football final and the Closing Ceremony of the XVI Olympic Games. The USSR defeated Yugoslavia 1-0 for the football gold medal.

• Reserve seating, for public, for VFL Finals matches introduced.

• On March 3, HM Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother visited the ground to attend a children’s display.
• A crowd of 99,256 attended the Melbourne-Collingwood match on Queen’s Birthday, June 16. It remains the record attendance for a home and away football match.
• To celebrate the centenary of Australian rules football matches for the 13th Australian National Football Council Carnival were staged at the MCG from July 2 to July 12.

• Evangelist Billy Graham held a crusade that set an all-time record for attendance at the MCG of at least 130,000.
• HRH Princess Alexandra of Kent visited the ground for the VFL preliminary final on September 19.

• On February 15, Sir Donald Bradman made the inaugural presentation of the Frank Worrell Trophy at the conclusion of the Fifth Test of the Australia v West Indies series.
• The first VFA premiership match held on the Anzac Day holiday was played between VFA clubs Sandringham and Moorabbin at the MCG.

• To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first English cricket tour to Australia, a re-creation match was held during the New Year Test match (December 29-January 3).

• First VFL/AFL premiership match held at MCG on Anzac Day was played between Melbourne and Hawthorn.

• Pakistan played its first MCG Test match (December 4-8).

• Richmond Football Club played its first home match at the MCG on April 19, against Melbourne.

• Bob Cowper made 307 during Australia’s first innings of the Fifth Test v England (February 11-16). It was the highest Test score at the MCG.

• On March 3 the foundation stone for the new Western Stand was laid by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh.
• The “Bushfire Test” between “Australia (South Africa)” and “Australia (New Zealand)” was held at the ground from April 7-10. Arranged between the two Australian touring teams to raise money for the Tasmanian Bushfire Relief Fund, a total of $31,561 was collected.

• The Western Stand (from 1986 known as the Ponsford Stand) was completed.
• The MCC Squash Section was established following the creation of courts in the new Western Stand.
• On March 11 Gaelic football was played on the MCG between County Meath from Ireland and a team of Australian footballers (some recently retired) called “the Galahs”. A crowd of 28,636 attended.

• The MCC Cricket Museum was opened.
• On March 23 a second Billy Graham Crusade was held at the MCG with approximately 75,000 in attendance.

• On April 5, 38,617 fans saw Fitzroy defeat Richmond in first VFL match played on a Sunday. It was attended by HM Queen Elizabeth II, and TRHs The Duke of Edinburgh, The Prince of Wales and The Princess Anne.
• Carlton defeated Collingwood before a record VFL grand final crowd of 121,696. It was the highest attendance of any football code in Australia. Carlton’s Alex Jesaulenko takes one of Australian football’s most famous marks.
• Permanent cricket practice wickets are installed at the north end of the lawn bowls green.

• The first official international one-day limited-overs cricket match was played between Australia and England on January 5, after the Third Test was abandoned due to rain.

• The Eucharistic Congress was held at the MCG with three crowds exceeding 100,000 over seven days. A crowd estimated at 120,000 attended the finale on February 25. Among the congregation were Mother Teresa of Calcutta and the Archbishop of Krakow, Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope John Paul II.
• New Zealand played its first Test match at the MCG (December 29-January 2, 1974).

• The David Cassidy concert, the first rock concert on the ground, was staged before 21,085 fans on March 10.

• On January 22, 32,908 watched Victoria lose to Western Australia in the final of the Gillette Cup. This was a record crowd for a one day domestic match in Australia (40 eight-ball overs per team).
• The Centenary Test match was held at the MCG from March 12-17. Australia won by 45 runs, the same margin as 100 years earlier.
• A crowd of 92,436 attended the Richmond v Collingwood match on Anzac Day at the MCG.
• The second drawn VFL grand final was played between Collingwood 10.16 (76) and North Melbourne 9.22 (76). North Melbourne won the replay 21.25 (151) to 19.10 (124).

• On November 18 David Bowie performed before 18,706 fans in pouring rain.

• The first Melbourne Military Tattoo was held on the MCG.
• A Linda Ronstadt concert held on February 24 attracted a crowd of 28,307.

• The MCC Committee conceived the idea of establishing a publicly owned sports museum at the MCG.

• Prior to the last ball of the third World Series Cup final on February 1, Australian captain Greg Chappell instructed his brother Trevor to bowl an underarm delivery to New Zealand’s Brian McKechnie. This denied the Kiwi an opportunity to hit the six runs needed to draw the match.
• VFL matches are played on a Sunday at the MCG for the first time since 1970. Essendon played Collingwood on August 2 and South Melbourne met Carlton on August 9. Alcohol is banned at both matches.
• Dennis Lillee claimed his 310th Test wicket (West Indian Larry Gomes caught by Greg Chappell) on day two of the 1981/82 Boxing Day Test to break Lance Gibb’s world record for career Test wickets.

• From May 8 the VFL prohibited the carriage of alcohol into all league venues and limited its sale at booths.
• A new wicket area was laid with a grid of electric cables below. These were the first Test pitches to boast an underground heating system to stimulate grass growth.
• The first Mitsubishi Diamond Vision electronic scoreboard was unveiled. The 1907 scoreboard was relocated to Manuka Oval, Canberra.
• England defeated Australia in the Boxing Day Test. Late on the fourth day Australia required a 74-run final-wicket stand for victory. Jeff Thompson and Allan Border reduced the chase to 37 runs by start of final day, and they slowly ate into English lead that morning. With England just three runs ahead Thompson edged an Ian Botham delivery to Chris Tavare, who fumbled but the ricochet was caught by a diving Geoff Miller.

• The Members' Pavilion was opened to female guests on match days. Mrs Elizabeth Hayes was the first lady to enter the Long Room under this system on July 2.
• On July 26 a touring Dublin Colleges (Ireland) Gaelic football team and Melbourne’s Under 17 Australian rules side drew the first composite/international rules match played at the MCG, 72 points apiece.
• On August 6, a crowd of 81,966 watched Richmond’s Kevin Bartlett become the first footballer to play 400 games of league football. Bartlett’s 403rd and last league match on August 27 was his 200th on the MCG. He was the first player to reach this milestone.
• 125 years of Australian rules football celebrated at a conference of sporting historians held at the MCG.

• A one-day international cricket record crowd of 86,133 attended the Australia v West Indies match on January 22.
• North Melbourne played its first MCG home game against Melbourne on April 28.
• Four soccer matches between Australia, Manchester United, Glasgow Rangers, Nottingham Forest, Juventus and Iraklis were played on the MCG as part of World Series Soccer from May 27 to June 17.
• When Victorian Premier and MCG trustee John Cain switched on the newly installed arena lighting on December 3, cricket was played under lights at the MCG for the first time. Members of the MCC First XI provided the entertainment.

• The Australia v England limited-overs match on February 17, part of the World Championship of Cricket at the MCG, was played under lights. This was the first time since 1879 that a major sporting fixture had been played under lights at the ground.
• The MCG hosted its first VFL/AFL premiership match under lights between North Melbourne and Collingwood on Friday evening March 29.
• A double-header night of soccer was played under the MCG lights on May 26. Vasco da Gama (Brazil) played Udinese (Italy) and Australia played Tottenham Hotspur (England). Australia defeated Vasco da Gama to win the World Series Trophy on June 9 at the MCG.
• A football match was played between an Aboriginal All Stars team and the Victorian Premier’s All Stars side under lights at the MCG. The game was played on Friday September 13 as part of the National Aborigines Week celebrations.

• The first VFL/AFL double-header was held at the MCG on Anzac Day. The Melbourne v Sydney and the North Melbourne v Geelong Round 5 matches took place before a crowd of 40,117.
• The Australian Gallery of Sport was opened on November 22, the 30th anniversary of the Opening Ceremony of the XVI Olympic Games.
• During his Australian visit, HH Pope John Paul II held an Ecumenical Service at the ground on November 27. On the following day the Pope also hosted the Polish Community celebration at MCG on November 28.
• The Western Stand was renamed the W.H. Ponsford Stand (December 6).

• The Northern Stand was renamed the Olympic Stand.

• Melbourne Cricket Club’s 150th celebration dinner for 2220 members and guests was held in a marquee on the MCG on November 15.
• The final of the Shell Bicentennial Women's Cricket Cup was held on December 18.

• During the first final for the World Series Cup between Australia and the West Indies on January 14, Merv Hughes’ stretching prior to bowling was mimicked by thousands of fellow Victorians in Bay 13.
• A huge crowd of 91,960 people attended the Victoria v South Australia State of Origin football match on July 1. The Big V defeated South Australia 22.17 (149) to 9.9 (63).

• On April 11 representatives of the MCC, MCG Trust, AFL and the Government of Victoria signed an agreement to finance the building of a new southern stand. Part of the agreement stipulated that a minimum of 45 AFL matches, including the grand final, preliminary final and at least two other finals, must be played at the MCG annually for 40 years from 1992. A portion of the seating in the proposed stand will be allocated to AFL Members.
• The Southern Stand was demolished following the AFL grand final (the roof was removed before the finals).
• Hawthorn’s Michael Tuck played his 400th VFL/AFL game on August 3 and his 404th on September 1 to break Kevin Bartlett’s record as the league’s most prolific player. Tuck retired at the close of the 1991 season after 426 career games.
• On August 26 approximately 10,000 Richmond Football Club supporters attended its Save Our Skins rally at the MCG. The rally raised $189,500 in the club’s campaign to raise $1 million by October 31 to ensure its survival.

Tony Prior’s sculpture “The Legend” in Yarra Park was installed as part of the art commissions for the Great Southern Stand, to be opened in March 1992.

• Before the start of the World Cup cricket final on March 25, MCC president Dr Donald Cordner opened the Great Southern Stand. Pakistan defeated England before a then one-day international world record crowd of 87,182 (broken at the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup final at the MCG).
• The Mitsubishi Diamond Vision scoreboard was replaced by a far more advanced model.
• Essendon Football Club played its first home games as a tenant of the MCG.
• Collingwood celebrated its centenary with a Thursday evening match under lights against Carlton on May 7. A crowd of 83,262 watched Carlton 16.9 (105) upset the Magpies 9.18 (72).
• Kimberley played Tiwi Islands in an all-Aboriginal Australian rules match on September 13 as the curtain-raiser to the Geelong v West Coast AFL second semi final.
• Following the AFL grand final, the MCC began its biggest arena renovation program since establishing the ground in 1853. A sand profile was constructed to enable the ground to drain quickly and provide a much more durable playing surface. The new turf was grown at StrathAyr’s Tallarook farm and transplanted by hand in pre-washed strips.

• Paul McCartney concerts were held on March 9 (crowd of 49,816) and 10 (40,578).
• The MCG hosted the AFL’s first night final on Saturday September 4. Carlton 15.10 (100) defeated Essendon 14.14 (98) in the qualifying final before 79,739.
• U2 concerts were staged on November 12 (attendance 44,339) and 13 (35,742).
• Madonna concerts were held on November 26 (attendance 50,933), 27 (50,974) and 29 (45,332).

• In December 1993 the Collingwood Football Club decided to play a majority of their home matches at the MCG from 1994. The Magpies played seven home games, as well as six away matches at the MCG. Three other home games were at its traditional ground Victoria Park.
• NSW 14 defeated Queensland 0 in the first rugby league State of Origin match at the MCG on June 8 before a crowd of 87,161 an Australian rugby league attendance record at the time.
• A second electronic scoreboard (Sony JumboTron) was installed in the Olympic Stand at the eastern end of the ground.
• On November 28 the MCG Trust determined that the MCG’s lawn bowls greens were to be converted into permanent outdoor cricket training wickets.
• In the Boxing Day Test match against England, Australian spin bowler Shane Warne took the first Test hat trick on the MCG since Hugh Trumble in 1904.

• The Rolling Stones’ “Voodoo Lounge” concerts were staged on March 27 (attendance 50,934) and 28 (37,500).
• The opening ceremony of the World Police and Fire Games was held on February 26 before an estimated crowd of 65,000.
• Queensland 20 defeated NSW 12 in a rugby league State of Origin match on May 31.
• Sri Lanka played its first Test match at the MCG. On Boxing Day Umpire Darrell Hair no-balled Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan seven times in three overs for throwing.
• Collingwood and Essendon played their first MCG Anzac Day match before a crowd of 94,815. The match was drawn 111 points apiece.

• On April 16 the AFL Centenary Ball was staged on the arena for more than 3000 guests.
• Footscray Football Club played four home matches on the MCG.
• Michael Jackson concerts attracted 43,014 and 48,689 on November 22 and 24 respectively.
• Drop-in cricket pitches, developed by turf specialists StrathAyr, were laid as a trial on the edge of the MCG wicket table on October 3.
• On December 6 the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame was officially launched by Prime Minister John Howard at the Australian Gallery of Sport.

• The Three Tenors performed before a crowd of 44,730 on March 1.
• On March 21 the ground hosted the AFL night series/pre-season grand final for the first time before 74,786 fans.
• NSW 15 defeated Queensland 14 in a rugby league State of Origin match on June 11.
• A Bledisloe Cup rugby union Test, between Australia and New Zealand on July 26, before crowd of 90,119 an Australian rugby union attendance record at the time.
• A World Cup soccer qualifying match between Australia and Iran was staged on November 29 before 85,022 fans. It was the first FIFA-recognised full international on the MCG. The match resulted in a 2-2 draw.

• The Elton John and Billy Joel concerts on March 20-21 attracted 43,272 and 32,956 fans.
• Over three million people (3,116,341) attended AFL premiership matches at the MCG during the year.
• The Mushroom Records 25th Anniversary Concert on November 14 drew a record crowd of 55,447.

• The MCG is declared smoke-free venue for the 1999 football season.
• Collingwood was officially accorded “tenant” status at the MCG. It had played a majority of its home matches at the ground since 1994.
• On May 29 the Victorian AFL State of Origin team defeated South Australia by 54 points, 17.19 (121) to 19.7 (67).
• A Manchester United exhibition match against the Socceroos was played on July 15 before a crowd of 71,215.
• On the evening of August 27 the Jolimont end scoreboard caught fire. It delayed the start of the Richmond v Carlton AFL match by 25 minutes.
• Australia played Ireland in an international rules football Test on October 8 before 64,404 fans.
• In Spring 1999 a project to replace the entire surface by a partially synthetic Motz System turf began. The turf was grown at the HG Turf Group Farm, south-east of Alexandra.
• On November 17, Australia played a soccer friendly against Brazil (attendance 79,795).
• The first first-class cricket match played on a drop-in pitch takes place at the MCG on December 1-4 (Victoria v Western Australia). Henceforth, all cricket matches at the MCG were played on drop-in pitches.

• Hawthorn played its first home match as a MCG tenant club.
• The Melbourne Storm played two home National Rugby League matches at the MCG. The Storm wins both matches. It defeated St George Illawarra 70-10 on March 3, and Cronulla 22-16 on June 23.
• A perpetual Anzac Day Trophy was provided by the Returned and Services League for the AFL match scheduled at the MCG on Anzac Day. An Anzac Day Medal was also struck and presented to the player, "whose conduct and play during the game best exemplifies the 'ANZAC spirit' - skill, courage in adversity, self-sacrifice, teamwork and fair play." It would be determined by a former league player associated with the services.
• The Olympic Flame returned to the MCG on July 30.
• Olympic football (soccer) staged at the MCG attracted 327,010 for 12 men's and women's matches played over seven days between September 13 and 26.

• A statue was installed outside the MCG to commemorate a football match played in the park during 1858 by Melbourne Grammar and Scotch College, the oldest continuing football rivalry in the country.
• Australia played a soccer friendly against France on November 11 before 53,178.
• A World Cup soccer qualifying match on November 20 drew 84,656 to see Australia defeat Uruguay 1-0.
• On December 22 the Melbourne Cricket Club and the MCG Trust released a proposal to erect a massive grandstand on the northern side of the ground in readiness for the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

• On June 27 Grocon was announced as building contractor for the MCG northern side redevelopment.
• Demolition of the Ponsford Stand began after the AFL grand final as part of the MCG redevelopment.
• The opening ceremony of the 2002 World Masters Games was staged on October 6 with a crowd of approximately 50,000 spectators and competitors.

• MCC members were the first to occupy sections of the new grandstand, completed in time for the AFL preliminary final.
• The MCG celebrated its 150th birthday on September 23 with a black-tie dinner in the MCC Long Room attended by a who’s who of Australian sport.
• The MCG tapestry, seven metres wide and two metres high, was unveiled on September 23 as the Melbourne Cricket Club’s contribution to the ground’s milestone.
• More than 35,000 people attended MCG Open Week from September 28 to October 4, a chance to farewell the Members Pavilion and Australian Gallery of Sport and Olympic Museum before demolition later that month.
• Statues of Australia’s greatest ever cricketer, Sir Donald Bradman (May 14), Australia’s golden girl, Betty Cuthbert (August 8), and Melbourne legend Ron Barassi (September 22) were the first three of 10 to be unveiled as part of the Tattersall's Parade of the Champions project.
• An aggregate crowd of 179,662 attended the Boxing Day Test to witness Australian captain Steve Waugh’s penultimate match, and his final appearance at the MCG. Ricky Ponting starred with an innings of 257 as 29,262 took advantage of free admission on the final day to say goodbye to their hero in a nine-wicket win over India.

• The MCG’s longest-serving grandstand, the 1928 Members Pavilion, was demolished.

• The Victorian Bushrangers won their first Pura Cup title since 1990/91 with a comprehensive win over Queensland by 321 runs.
• As part of the build-up to the 2004 Athens Games the Olympic Flame returned to the MCG on June 5 at half-time in the Hawthorn-Essendon match. Torchbearers inside the MCG on the day were Betty Cuthbert, Matt Welsh, Herb Elliott, and Brooke Hanson.
• Statues of Australia’s finest all-rounder Keith Miller (February 16), former Essendon champion Dick Reynolds (June 20), and dual gold medallist at the 1956 Olympics Shirley Strickland de la Hunty (November 22) were unveiled as part of the Tattersall's Parade of the Champions project.
• On September 23, one year after the ground’s 150th birthday, Victorian Premier Steve Bracks announced that the western section of the new grandstand would again be named after Australian opening batsman, Bill Ponsford. Relocated foundation stones from the old Ponsford Stand and the 1906 Grey Smith Stand were unveiled by Governor John Landy.
• Port Adelaide, watched on by 77,671 fans, won its first AFL grand final and in the process denied the Brisbane Lions the chance of a record-equalling fourth successive premiership.
• On September 28, three days after the AFL grand final, the MCG turf was ripped up as work commenced on installation of the athletics track in preparation for the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.
• In October, demolition commenced on the final stage of the redevelopment project, the eastern end of the Olympic Stand.

• On January 10, a crowd of 70,101 watched an ICC World XI defeat the Asian XI in a charity match that helped raise $14.6 million for victims of a tsunami that struck South-East Asia two weeks earlier.
• Statues of triple Brownlow Medallist Haydn Bunton (April 16), Hawthorn champion Leigh Matthews (August 28) and cricket legend Bill Ponsford (December 16) were unveiled outside the MCG as part of the Tattersall’s Parade of the Champions project.
• A Breast Cancer Network Australia Field of Women event was staged on May 6. Thousands of women from around the country transformed the MCG’s hallowed turf into a sea of pink prior to the Melbourne-Adelaide game.
• About 500 cattlemen and women gathered with horses in Yarra Park prior to riding through Melbourne’s CBD to the Victorian Parliament on June 9. They protested the state’s decision not to reissue licences to graze cattle in the Alpine National Park.
• The first “Dreamtime at the ’G” football match between Richmond and Essendon was held on Saturday July 9 as part of NAIDOC (National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee) Week events.
• On August 5, the AFL, MCC and MCG Trust announced a revision to their current long-term agreement to allow preliminary finals to be hosted by the teams that earn the right to do so.
• The MCG hosted its 100th VFL/AFL Grand Final. Sydney ended a 72-year drought with a four-point win over West Coast before 91,898 fans.
• On Boxing Day the MCC honoured former Australian captain Bill Lawry, announcing that the new indoor cricket complex at the MCG would be known as the Cricket Victoria Bill Lawry Centre.
• The MCG was granted Australia's highest heritage honour - inclusion on the National Heritage List - in recognition of its outstanding significance to the nation.

• The staging of the Victorian Athletic championships on February 17 marked the return of athletics to the MCG for the first time since the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games. On the same day, the completion of the $434 million MCG northern stand redevelopment project was commemorated with plaques unveiled by Governor John Landy and Premier Steve Bracks.
• The MCG was one of six winners of the Victorian Heritage Icon Awards announced on March 2 for its outstanding contribution to Victoria’s cultural identity.
• The XVIII Commonwealth Games were held from March 15-26. The MCG was the main stadium for the Games and staged the Opening Ceremony, 10 track and field sessions including the finish of the marathon events, and the Closing Ceremony.
  • On March 15, the MCG skyline erupted in a blaze of fireworks as the city celebrated the ground-breaking Opening Ceremony to mark the start of the XVIII Commonwealth Games.
  • On March 19, Australian Kerryn McCann won the women’s marathon in dramatic circumstances, when she pulled away from her Kenyan rival Hellen Cherono Koskei inside the stadium.
• In a late start to the AFL season, football returned to the MCG on Anzac Day with the arena transformed from an athletics track to a grassed arena within a month.
• On April 22, the Federal Government committed $15 million to a National Sports Museum at the MCG.
• On May 25 Australia defeated Euro 2004 champion Greece 1-0 in a soccer friendly before 95,103 fans, a record for an Australian international in Australia.
• On September 28 the Melbourne Cricket Club Library was officially reopened in the new MCC Pavilion.
• Before 97,431 fans, West Coast claimed the club’s third flag after seeing off a heroic Swans challenge to claim a stunning one-point win in the 2006 AFL Grand Final.
• On October 10, the MCG was awarded the Sport Australia Hall of Fame’s “Spirit of Sport” award for its role in staging the Commonwealth Games in March.
• The Melbourne Cricket Club’s new museum – a magnificent, world-class facility that showcased the rich history of the club and the ground it manages – was officially opened by MCC president David Jones on November 15.
• On November 22, more than 300 athletes from almost 30 countries turned out at the MCG to celebrate the 50-year anniversary of the Melbourne Olympic Games. The touching ceremony included runner Ron Clarke recreating his lighting of the Olympic cauldron, while fellow 1500m athlete John Landy again read the Athletes' Oath.
• The tenth and final statue in the Tattersall’s Parade of the Champions project – champion Australian fast bowler Dennis Lillee – was unveiled on December 22 outside Gate 1.
• Shane Warne captured his 700th Test wicket before 89,155 fans on the opening day of the Boxing Day Test against England. Warne, Justin Langer and Glenn McGrath appeared in their final MCG Test as 244,351 people watched Australia beat England inside three days.

• Thousands of people took the opportunity to view the Ashes Urn in the MCC Museum between January 9 and 14 as part of the Marylebone Cricket Club Travelex Ashes Exhibition.
• In the first domestic Twenty20 final held at the MCG, Victoria won its second KFC Twenty20 Big Bash trophy in succession against Tasmania before 28,960 fans on January 13.
• A crowd of 79,322 saw the Wallabies come from behind to record a stirring 20-15 victory over New Zealand in the Bledisloe Cup at the MCG on June 30.
• Argentina overcame a determined effort from the hosts to win its friendly against the Socceroos 1-0 in front of a crowd of 70,171 on September 11.
• A bumper crowd of 97,302 witnessed Geelong break its 44-year premiership drought by crushing a hapless Port Adelaide by a record 119 points in the AFL Grand Final on September 29.
• On October 7, the Melbourne Marathon celebrated its 30-year anniversary by finishing with a lap of the MCG. Rohan Walker won the men’s event in 2:19:16, and Hanny Allston the women’s in 2:40:34.
• The MCG became the second cricket ground in history to witness 100,000 Test match runs, a milestone reached during India’s second innings in the 2007 Boxing Day Test on December 29.

• On January 26, 30,062 attended concert by The Police.
• On February 1 the MCG hosted its first International Twenty20 match. Australia defeated India by nine wickets before 84,041 spectators. Australia defeated England by 21 runs in the women’s match played prior to the men’s.
• The National Sports Museum opened to the public on March 13.
• On May 10 an AFL Hall of Fame tribute match between the Victorian State of Origin side and the “Dream Team,” a combined side drawn from the other states and territories was played before 69,294 fans. It was the first AFL representative match on the MCG since 1999.
• The Australian Football Hall of Fame in the National Sports Museum was opened on August 5.
• Hawthorn upset Geelong in the AFL Grand Final before 100,012 spectators. It was the first time since 1986 that an MCG attendance exceeded 100,000.
• South Africa defeated Australia in the Boxing Day Test to win their first series in Australia.

• A crowd of 80,518 attended the Melbourne Sound Relief benefit concert on March 14 for victims of the Black Saturday bushfires.
• The Melbourne Football Club is reinstated as a MCC Sporting Section on April 1. It had not fallen under the umbrella of the MCC since 1980.
• The National Sports Museum hosted “League of Legends – 100 Years of Rugby League in Australia”, the inaugural exhibition in its temporary exhibition gallery.
• Australia defeated Japan 2-1 in a 2010 soccer World Cup qualifier before 74,100 on June 17 to finish top of their pool.
• In mid-2009 the MCC installed movable arena lighting rigs by Stadium Grow Lighting to assist turf growth.
• Geelong 12.8 (80) defeated St. Kilda 9.14 (68) to win a closely contested AFL grand final before 99,251 fans.

• Victoria’s Twenty20 match against Tasmania on January 15 was attended by 43,125, a record crowd for single day’s attendance at an interstate cricket match in Australia.
• State legislation was passed transferring Yarra Park management to the MCG Trust/MCC from March 15. Yarra Park was listed on the Victoria Heritage Register in April.
• On May 24 an international soccer friendly was played between Australia and New Zealand. It was a send off for the Socceroo’s FIFA World Cup campaign in South Africa.
• The third drawn AFL grand final was played between Collingwood 9.14 (68) and St Kilda 10.8 (68) before 100,016 spectators. Collingwood won the replay.
• The ground drew over three million people to AFL matches during the year. It was the best attended season since 1998.
• On September 30, the Champions gallery, home of the Australian Racing Hall of Fame is opened in the National Sports Museum.
• England defeated Australia in the Boxing Day Test to retain the Ashes on Australian soil. It was England’s first series victory in Australia for 24 years.

• As part of the Yarra Park Master Plan, construction began in June on the underground water recycling facility in the park. Funding was provided by the MCC ($18 million) and Victorian Government ($6 million).
• The ground drew over three million people to AFL matches for the second consecutive the year.
• On December 17 the MCG based Melbourne Stars hosted the Sydney Thunder in their first match of the revamped Twenty20 Big Bash League.
• A statue of Shane Warne by Louis Laumen, the first of five in the Australia Post Avenue of Legends series was unveiled on December 22.The Melbourne Stars’ spinner was the first active athlete celebrated with a sculpture in the MCG precinct.
• The first day’s play of the Boxing Day Test between Australia and India draws 70,068 spectators. The total attendance over the four days play was 189,347. The latter is a record for a Test match between the nations in Australia.

• The 100-millionth patron to attend a VFL/AFL match at the MCG since 1897 attends the Richmond v Hawthorn game on Saturday May 26.
• Lis Johnson’s statue of Norm Smith, Melbourne’s six-time VFL premiership coach is unveiled on September 25 in Yarra Park as part of the Australia Post Avenue of Legends series.
• Melbourne Marathon finished with a lap inside MCG on October 15. It attracted over 32,000 entries across the five events of the Melbourne Marathon festival.

• The Twenty20 Big Bash League derby between the Melbourne Stars and Melbourne Renegades on January 11 was attended by 46,581, then a record crowd for single day’s attendance at a domestic cricket match in Australia.
• Melbourne City Mission’s Sleep at the ‘G’ was held on Thursday April 18 to raise money for youth homelessness.
• 93,373 attended the Anzac Day match between Collingwood and Essendon on April 25, the third highest attendance for a VFL/AFL home and away match.
• 95,446 attended the Melbourne Victory (A-League) v Liverpool (English Premier League) match on July 24.
• An elimination final record crowd of 94,690 attended the Richmond v Carlton first elimination final on September 9.
• Lis Johnson’s statue of Essendon champion John Coleman is unveiled on September 18 in Yarra Park as part of the Australia Post Avenue of Legends series.
• A crowd of 100,007 attended the AFL Grand Final between Hawthorn and Fremantle on September 28.
• On October 13 Dominic Ondoro won the Melbourne Marathon. He crossed the line on the MCG in a race record 2:10:47. Lisa Weightman was the first female with a time of 2:26:05 and bettered the race record by six minutes. An Australian record of 6852 competitors finished the full 42km marathon (bettering the 6218 finishers the previous year) and 34,000 participated in the five events.
• To mark the MCC’s 175th anniversary a dinner was held for 1500 members at the MCG on Friday November 15. The MCG’s Open Day on the 175th anniversary of the MCC’s first cricket match (November 17) attracted over 30,000 visitors.
• The MCG’s two new scoreboards were unveiled on Monday December 16. Each measured 322 square meters, the digital area is almost three times the size of those that they replaced and they were the largest to be installed in an Australian sports stadium. They were first used for a Big Bash League match on December 20.
• On December 26 a crowd of 91,112 attended the opening day of the Fourth Test against England. It was a world record attendance for a single day of Test cricket and bettered the crowd of 90,800 at the MCG for the second day of the Fifth Test against the West Indies on February 11, 1961.

• Lis Johnson’s statues of Australian cricket great Neil Harvey and Irish born Melbourne footballer Jim Stynes were unveiled on January 31 and September 17 in Yarra Park as part of the Australia Post Avenue of Legends series.
• The arena’s surface and sand-based profile were removed and totally rebuilt following the AFL Grand Final.
• On November 18 Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott attended a reception at the MCG with many great cricketers from both nations. The Border-Gavaskar Trophy and the ICC Cricket World Cup trophy were displayed.
• The Boxing Day Test from December 26-30 drew 194,481 spectators, the largest attendance for a Test match between Australia and India.

• On March 29 the MCG hosts the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup final before a world record attendance of 93,013 for a single day of cricket in any format. The tournament was staged in Australia and New Zealand, and Australia claimed its fifth ICC World Cup by defeating New Zealand in the final.
• Carlton’s Michael Malthouse coached his 715th VFL/AFL match on May 1 to become the most prolific coach in league history.
• Essendon’s Dustin Fletcher becomes the third player to play 400 VFL/AFL games on May 30 (v Richmond).
• The rugby league State of Origin match on June 17, where New South Wales defeated Queensland 26-18, drew a record State of Origin crowd of 91,513.
• The International Champions Cup soccer events at the MCG on July 18, 21 and 24 drew crowds of 80,746 (Real Madrid v AS Roma), 41,134 (AS Roma v Manchester City) and 99,382 (Manchester City v Real Madrid). The latter set a record crowd for a stand-alone soccer match at the MCG and an interclub soccer match in Australia.
• Hawthorn won their third successive premiership before 98,633 spectators at the AFL grand final on October 3.

• On January 2, a crowd of 80,883 saw he Melbourne Stars beat Melbourne Renegades by seven wickets in the Big Bash League Melbourne “Derby” at the MCG. This was a BBL, Australian and world record crowd for a domestic cricket match.
• Cinema at the ’G was launched on Friday February 12. The screening of Million Dollar Arm on the Punt Road end scoreboard was the first time in over a century that the MCG was used as a public open air cinema. The Martian was watched by 2000 from the hallowed turf on February 13. (Silent films were shown during “moonlight concerts” from the summer of 1901/02, but discontinued following the outbreak of the Great War in 1914.)
• The Western Bulldogs won their second VFL/AFL premiership on October 1. The club’s only other league premiership was when it was called Footscray in 1954. Bulldog’s coach Luke Beverage called injured captain Bob Murphy to the podium and gave him his premiership coach’s medal.
• Australia’s first innings of 8/624 declared v Pakistan in the Boxing Day Test was the highest team total for Test match at the MCG. Steven Smith scored 165* while David Warner made 144 for Australia. Pakistan’s Azhar Ali had earlier top scored for the match with 205*. However, Pakistan’s second innings collapsed, losing 9 wickets in the final two sessions of the match for an Australian victory by an innings and 18 runs.

• Lis Johnson’s statue of Richmond football and MCG VFL/AFL games record holder Kevin Bartlett was unveiled on March 22 in Yarra Park as part of the Australia Post Avenue of Legends series.
• Gun N’ Roses performed before 73,756 fans on February 14. It was a part of GNR’s Not in this Lifetime… world tour.
• Argentina v Brazil Superclásico de las Américas soccer match was played on June 9 before a crowd of 95,969.
• On September 30 Richmond defeated Adelaide before a grand final crowd of 100,021, to win their first VFL/AFL premiership since 1980. One week earlier, in the preliminary final between Richmond and Greater Western Sydney, the crowd of 94,258 make possibly the loudest in-play roar at the MCG, recording 125db (on the arena) following a Daniel Rioli goal in the second quarter.
• Alastair Cook scores 244* in England’s first innings of the Boxing Day Test. It was the highest Test score by an opener who carried their bat, and the highest score by a non-Australian at the MCG.

• $225 million deal between the MCC, AFL and the Victorian Government is agreed upon on April 12. The AFL grand final is to be held at the MCG until 2057 (20 year extension), and the MCG's Great Southern Stand is to be upgraded over the next 10 years.
• From Round 4 of the AFL season, the MCC rolls out a free Mobility Shuttle Service between the MCG and Richmond Station for people who are mobility impaired. Later the service was expanded to include Jolimont Station and the Accessible Parking Area and the shuttles would be branded ’G-Trains.
• New South Wales defeated Queensland 22-12 in the rugby league State of Origin match on June 6, before a crowd of 87,122.
• West Coast defeated Collingwood by 5 points in a classic VFL/AFL grand final on September 29. The attendance of 100,022, was just two short of capacity.
• World Wrestling Entertainment’s Super Show-Down is staged at the MCG on October 6 before 70,309 fans.
• Bon Jovi’s “This House Is Not For Sale” tour concert held at the MCG on December 1 before 61,858 fans.
• The first day’s play of the Boxing Day Test between Australia and India draws 73,516 spectators, a record crowd for a day’s play in a Test match between the nations in Australia.

• Eminem’s “Rapture” 2019 Tour concert held at the MCG on February 24 before 80,708 fans. [Largest single concert crowd at MCG until Ed Sheeran’s concerts in 2023].

• On March 8, the MCG hosts the 2020 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup final before an Australian women’s sporting record attendance of 86,174. Australian women claimed their fifth T20 World Cup by defeating India by 85 runs.
• National Sports Museum refreshed as Australian Sports Museum.
• COVID-19 outbreak interrupts the AFL season. Only nine matches are played at the ground, all before a closed stadium, and state wide shutdown entails that none are played after July 5.
• Boxing Day Test is held at MCG despite ongoing pandemic, although daily capacity was restricted to 30,000 by Victorian Health Authorities under the MCG’s COVID-Safe Plan. The Johnny Mullagh Medal was first awarded to the best player in the Boxing Day Test. The medal was presented to India’s stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane for his match-winning 112 against Australia that helped India win the Boxing Day Test.

• COVID-19 outbreak interrupts the AFL season. Capacity was restricted for all AFL matches (peaking at 85% from the ANZAC Eve and ANZAC Day games to May 23). AFL matches take place in a closed MCG from July 17 to 22 August. It was the second season in which no AFL finals are played at the MCG.
• Capacity crowd permitted to attend each day of the Boxing Day Test – albeit attendees over the age of 12 and two months were to be fully vaccinated, in line with government regulations. Scott Boland, an Indigenous Victorian playing his first Test match for Australia, was awarded the Johnny Mullagh Medal after he took six wickets and conceded just seven runs in England’s second innings.

• On March 5, the day that Shane Warne’s death was publically announced, the cabinet of the Victorian state government determined that the Great Southern Stand and its successors will be renamed the “SK Warne Stand”. Shane Warne’s statue outside the MCC Members’ entrance was a focus for mourners from that weekend. A state memorial service for Shane Warne was held at the MCG on March 30 and is attended by 55,000 people. That evening the Great Southern Stand was formally renamed the Shane Warne Stand.
• On April 20 a state memorial service was held for Tom Reynolds, a former MCG Trustee, at the MCG.
• On July 4 New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern dined in the MCC Long Room.
• A capacity crowd of 100,024 attended the 2022 AFL grand final on September 24. It drew the largest attendance at the grand final since 1986. It was the first AFL grand final staged at the MCG in two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The 2022 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup is staged in Australia. The MCG was scheduled to host seven matches including the final (although three pool matches would be abandoned). The match between India and Pakistan at the MCG was a classic played before a record T20 International attendance of 90,293 on October 23. The final held on November 13, in which England defeated Pakistan by 5 wickets, drew a crowd of 80,462.
• Guns N’ Roses played a concert on December 3 before 52,745 fans, and Billy Joel played on December 10 to an audience of 76,339.
• On December 20 a state memorial service was held in the MCC Dining Room for John Landy, a 1956 Olympian and world record holder for the mile, as well as a former member of the MCC Committee, and Governor of Victoria.
• Australia defeated South Africa by an innings and 182 runs in the Boxing Day Test to win the series. David Warner made a double century and was awarded the Johnny Mullagh Medal.

• Two Ed Sheeran concerts attracted 96,594 on March 2 and 107,243 on March 3. Both are larger than any previous concert at the MCG, and the March 3 attendance was the largest at the MCG for any event since the 1983 VFL grand final.
• The MCG achieved a new attendance record across its first 10 matches for the 2023 AFL Season with 661,447 fans and members coming through the gates, surpassing the record set in 2015 (612,281).

• Taylor Swift lit up the MCG across three record-breaking nights that will long live in the minds of the 288,000 fans who witnessed the global phenomenon of Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour. With 96,000 fans attending each night, the three shots were the highest individual crowds of her career.
• The 2024 Boxing Day Test became the highest attended Test match at the MCG in history following a thrilling five-day contest between Australia and India. The historic Test included three days with attendances above 80,000 including a record 74,362 fans through the gates on Day 5 for a total attendance of 373,691. This total surpassed the previous record of 350,534 set across six days in 1936/37.