Melbourne Cricket Ground

Aboriginal cricket team with captain-coach Tom Wills, December 1866. In the background is the original MCC pavilion, built in 1854.

The MCG is built atop a Wurundjeri camping ground and site of numerous corroborees.[11] Founded in November 1838 the Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) selected the current MCG site in 1853 after previously playing at several grounds around Melbourne.[12] The club's first game was against a military team at the Old Mint site, at the corner of William and La Trobe Streets. Burial Hill (now Flagstaff Gardens) became its home ground in January 1839, but the area was already set aside for Botanical Gardens and the club was moved on in October 1846, to an area on the south bank of the Yarra about where the Herald & Weekly Times building is today. The area was subject to flooding, forcing the club to move again, this time to a ground in South Melbourne.

It was not long before the club was forced out again, this time because of the expansion of the railway. The South Melbourne ground was in the path of Victoria's first steam railway line from Melbourne to Sandridge (now Port Melbourne). Governor La Trobe offered the MCC a choice of three sites; an area adjacent to the existing ground, a site at the junction of Flinders and Spring Streets or a ten-acre (about 4 hectares) section of the Government Paddock at Richmond next to Richmond Park.

Between European settlement in 1835 and the early 1860s, this last option, which is now Yarra Park, was known as the Government or Police Paddock and served as a large agistment area for the horses of the Mounted Police, Border Police and Native Police. The north-eastern section also housed the main barracks for the Mounted Police in the Port Phillip district. In 1850 it was part of a 200-acre (81 ha) stretch set aside for public recreation extending from Governor La Trobe's Jolimont Estate to the Yarra River. By 1853 it had become a busy promenade for Melbourne residents.

An MCC sub-committee chose the Richmond Park option because it was level enough for cricket but sloped enough to prevent inundation. That ground was located where the Richmond, or outer, end of the current MCG is now.

At the same time the Richmond Cricket Club was given occupancy rights to six acres (2.4 hectares) for another cricket ground on the eastern side of the Government Paddock.

In 1861, a board of trustees was appointed to be responsible for the ground. Over the first forty years, most of the trustees were appointed by the MCC, giving the cricket club relative autonomy over the use of the ground. In 1906, the state governments' Lands ministry appointed five new trustees, putting the government-appointed trustees in the majority; and the government has appointed and overseen the trust since.[13] This gives the state government, via the trust, a level of control over the ground's use.

At the time of the land grant, the Government stipulated that the ground was to be used for cricket and cricket only. This condition technically remained until 1933[14][15] when the Melbourne Cricket Ground Act 1933 widened its allowable uses. The 1933 act has been replaced by separate acts in 1989 and 2009.[16]

In 1863, a corridor of land running diagonally across Yarra Park was granted to the Melbourne & Hobson's Bay Railway Company and divided Yarra Park from the river. The Mounted Police barracks were operational until the 1880s when it was subdivided into the current residential precinct bordered by Vale Street. The area closest to the river was also developed for sporting purposes in later years including Olympic venues in 1956.

Grandstand built for the English cricket team's 1877 visit

The first grandstand at the MCG was the original wooden members' stand built in 1854, while the first public grandstand was a 200-metre long 6000-seat temporary structure built in 1861. Another grandstand seating 2000, facing one way to the cricket ground and the other way to the park where football was played, was built in 1876 for the 1877 visit of James Lillywhite's English cricket team. It was during this tour that the MCG hosted the world's first Test match.

In 1881, the original members' stand was sold to the Richmond Cricket Club for £55. A new brick stand, considered at the time to be the world's finest cricket facility, was built in its place. The foundation stone was laid by Prince George of Wales and Prince Albert Victor on 4 July and the stand opened in December that year. It was also in 1881 that a telephone was installed at the ground, and the wickets and goal posts were changed from an east–west orientation to north–south. In 1882 a scoreboard was built which showed details of the batsman's name and how he was dismissed.

When the Lillywhite tour stand burned down in 1884 it was replaced by a new stand which seated 450 members and 4500 public. In 1897, second-storey wings were added to 'The Grandstand', as it was known, increasing capacity to 9,000. In 1900 it was lit with electric light.

MCG, ca. 1914. The 1881 members' stand is the smaller building on the left

More stands were built in the early 20th century. An open wooden stand was on the south side of the ground in 1904 and the 2084-seat Grey Smith Stand (known as the New Stand until 1912) was erected for members in 1906. The 4000-seat Harrison Stand on the ground's southern side was built in 1908 followed by the 8000-seat Wardill Stand in 1912. In the 15 years after 1897 the grandstand capacity at the ground increased to nearly 20,000, while the full ground capacity was almost 60,000.

In 1927, the second brick members' stand was replaced at a cost of £60,000. The Harrison and Wardill Stands were demolished in 1936 to make way for the Southern Stand which was completed in 1937. The Southern Stand seated 18,200 under cover and 13,000 in the open and was the main public area of the MCG. The maximum capacity of the ground under this configuration, as advised by the Health Department, was 84,000 seated and 94,000 standing.[17]

The Northern Stand, also known as the Olympic Stand, was built to replace the old Grandstand for the 1956 Olympic Games. By Health Department regulations, this was to increase the stadium's capacity to 120,000; although this was revised down after the 1956 VFL Grand Final, which could not comfortably accommodate its crowd of 115,802.[18] Ten years later, the Grey Smith Stand and the open concrete stand next to it were replaced by the Western Stand; the Duke of Edinburgh laid a foundation stone for the Western Stand on 3 March 1967, and it was completed in 1968; in 1986, it was renamed the W.H. Ponsford Stand in honour of Victorian batsman Bill Ponsford. This was the stadium's highest capacity configuration, and the all-time record crowd for a sporting event at the venue of 121,696 was set under this configuration in the 1970 VFL Grand Final.

The MCG was the home of Australia's first full colour video scoreboard, which replaced the old scoreboard in 1982, located on Level 4 of the Western Stand, which notably caught fire in 1999 and was replaced in 2000. A second video screen added in 1994 almost directly opposite, on Level 4 of the Olympic stand. In 1985, light towers were installed at the ground, allowing for night football and day-night cricket games.

During the 1980s, the Olympic Stand had corporate suites installed which led to the reduction of seating and standing capacity in the stand, the Ponsford Stand had seats installed on the ground level replacing the standing room and both the Southern Stand and Olympic Stand had their wooden bench seats removed and replaced with plastic bucket seats.[19][20]

View of the Great Southern Stand during the 1998 Boxing Day Test match. The Olympic Stand is visible at the bottom left of the photo.

In 1988, inspections of the old Southern Stand found concrete cancer and provided the opportunity to replace the increasingly run-down 50-year-old facility. The projected cost of $100 million was outside what the Melbourne Cricket Club could afford so the Victorian Football League took the opportunity to part fund the project in return for a 30-year deal to share the ground. The new Great Southern Stand was completed in 1992, in time for the 1992 Cricket World Cup, at a final cost of $150 million. It was renamed the Shane Warne Stand after Victorian bowler Shane Warne in 2022 shortly after his death.[21]

The W.H. Ponsford Stand undergoing reconstruction in 2003.

The Members Reserve as viewed from the Shane Warne Stand during the Australia vs South Africa Boxing Day Test in 2022.

The 1928 Members' stand, the 1956 Olympic stand and the 1968 W.H. Ponsford stand were demolished one by one between late 2003 to 2005 and replaced with a new structure in time for the 2006 Commonwealth Games.[22] Despite now standing as a single unbroken stand, the individual sections retain the names of W.H. Ponsford, Olympic and Members Stands. The redevelopment cost exceeded A$400 million and pushed the ground's capacity to just above 100,000. Since redevelopment, the highest attendance has been 100,024 at the 2022 and 2023 AFL grand finals.

From 2011 until 2013, the Victoria State Government and the Melbourne Cricket Club funded a $55 million refurbishment of the facilities in the Great Southern Stand, including renovations to entrance gates and ticket outlets, food and beverage outlets, etc., without significantly modifying the stand.[23] New scoreboards, more than twice the size of the original ones, were installed in the same positions in late 2013.[24]

From November 2019 until February 2020 all the playing field lights, including those in the light towers, were replaced with LED sports lighting with the lighting under the roof and in two of the light towers completed in time for the Boxing Day Test against New Zealand.[25]

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.[43] 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 honor 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.[43] On 14 March 1943 the marines hosted a giant "get together" of American and Australian troops on the arena.[43]

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.[43]

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.

The MCG's most famous moment in history was as the main stadium for the 1956 Olympic Games, hosting the opening and closing ceremonies, track and field events, and the finals in field hockey and soccer.[44] The MCG was only one of seven possible venues, including the Melbourne Showgrounds, for the Games' main arena. The MCG was the Federal Government's preferred venue but there was resistance from the MCC. The inability to decide on the central venue nearly caused the Games to be moved from Melbourne. Prime Minister Robert Menzies recognised the potential embarrassment to Australia if this happened and organised a three-day summit meeting to thrash things out. Attending was Victorian Premier John Cain, Sr., the Prime Minister, deputy opposition leader Arthur Calwell, all State political leaders, civic leaders, Olympic officials and trustees and officials of the MCC. Convening the meeting was no small effort considering the calibre of those attending and that many of the sports officials were only part-time amateurs.

As 22 November, the date of the opening ceremony, drew closer, Melbourne was gripped ever more tightly by Olympic fever. At 3 pm the day before the opening ceremony, people began to line up outside the MCG gates. That night the city was paralysed by a quarter of a million people who had come to celebrate.

The MCG's capacity was increased by the new Olympic (or Northern) Stand, and on the day itself 103,000 people filled the stadium to capacity. A young up and coming distance runner was chosen to carry the Olympic torch into the stadium for the opening ceremony.

Although Ron Clarke had a number of junior world records for distances of 1500 m, one mile (1.6 km) and two miles (3 km), he was relatively unknown in 1956. Perhaps the opportunity to carry the torch inspired him because he went on to have a career of exceptional brilliance and was without doubt the most outstanding runner of his day. At one stage he held the world record for every distance from two miles (3 km) to 20 km. His few failures came in Olympic and Commonwealth Games competition. Although favourite for the gold at Tokyo in 1964 he was placed ninth in the 5,000 metres race and the marathon and third in the 10,000 metres. He lost again in the 1966 Commonwealth Games and in 1968 at altitude in Mexico he collapsed at the end of the 10 km race.

Ron Clarke carrying the Olympic Torch through the MCG at the 1956 Olympic Games' opening ceremony.

On that famous day in Melbourne in 1956 the torch spluttered and sparked, showering Clarke with hot magnesium, burning holes in his shirt. When he dipped the torch into the cauldron it burst into flame singeing him further. In the centre of the ground, John Landy, the fastest miler in the world, took the Olympic oath and sculler Merv Wood carried the Australian flag.

The Melbourne Games also saw the high point of Australian female sprinting with Betty Cuthbert winning three gold medals at the MCG. She won the 100 m and 200 m and anchored the winning 4 x 100 m team. Born in Merrylands in Sydney's west she was a champion schoolgirl athlete and had already broken the world record for the 200 m just before the 1956 Games. She was to be overshadowed by her Western Suburbs club member, the Marlene Matthews. When they got to the Games, Matthews was the overwhelming favourite especially for the 100 m a distance over which Cuthbert had beaten her just once.

Both Matthews and Cuthbert won their heats with Matthews setting an Olympic record of 11.5 seconds in hers. Cuthbert broke that record in the following heat with a time of 11.4 seconds. The world record of 11.3 was held by another Australian, Shirley Strickland who was eliminated in her heat. In the final Matthews felt she got a bad start and was last at the 50 metre mark. Cuthbert sensed Isabella Daniels from the USA close behind her and pulled out a little extra to win Australia's first gold at the Games in a time of 11.5 seconds, Matthews was third. The result was repeated in the 200 m final. Cuthbert won her second gold breaking Marjorie Jackson's Olympic record. Matthews was third again.

By the time the 1956 Olympics came around, Shirley Strickland was a mother of 31 years of age but managed to defend her 80 m title, which she had won in Helsinki four years before, winning gold and setting a new Olympic record.

The sensational incident of the track events was the non-selection of Marlene Matthews in the 4 x 100 m relay. Matthews trained with the relay team up until the selection was made but Cuthbert, Strickland, Fleur Mellor and Norma Croker were picked for the team. There was outrage at the selection which increased when Matthews went on to run third in both the 100 m and 200 m finals. Personally she was devastated and felt that she had been overlooked for her poor baton change. Strickland was disappointed with the way Matthews was treated and maintained it was an opinion held in New South Wales that she had baton problems. One of the selectors, Doris Magee from NSW, said that selecting Matthews increased the risk of disqualification at the change. But Cuthbert maintained that the selectors made the right choice saying that Fleur Mellor was fresh, a specialist relay runner and was better around the curves than Matthews.

The men did not fare so well. The 4 x 400 m relay team, including later IOC Committee member Kevan Gosper, won silver. Charles Porter also won silver in the high jump. Hec Hogan won bronze in the 100 m to become the first Australian man to win a medal in a sprint since the turn of the century and despite injury John Landy won bronze in the 1500 m. Allan Lawrence won bronze in the 10,000 m event.

Apart from athletics, the stadium was also used for the soccer finals, the hockey finals, the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, and an exhibition game of baseball between the Australian National Team and a US armed services team at which an estimated crowd of 114,000 attended. This was the Guinness World Record for the largest attendance for any baseball game, which stood until a 29 March 2008 exhibition game between the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers at the Los Angeles Coliseum (also a former Olympic venue in 1932 and 1984) drawing 115,300.

The MCG was also used for another demonstration sport, Australian Rules. The Olympics being an amateur competition meant that only amateurs could play in the demonstration game. A combined team of amateurs from the VFL and VFA were selected to play a state team from the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA). The game was played 7 December 1956 with the VAFA side, wearing white jumpers, green collars and the Olympic rings on their chests, winning easily 81 to 55. One of the players chosen for the VFA side was Lindsay Gaze (although he never got off the bench) who would go on to make his mark in another sport, basketball, rather than Australian Rules.

The MCG's link with its Olympic past continues to this day. Within its walls is the IOC-endorsed Australian Gallery of Sport and Olympic Museum.

Forty-four years later at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, the ground hosted several soccer preliminaries, making it one of a few venues ever used for more than one Olympics.[45]

Melbourne Cricket Ground during the 2006 Commonwealth Games

The Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 2006 Commonwealth Games were held at the MCG, as well as athletics events during the games. The games began on 15 March and ended on 26 March.

The seating capacity of the stadium during the games was 80,000. A total of 47 events were contested, of which 24 by male and 23 by female athletes. Furthermore, three men's and three women's disability events were held within the programme. All athletics events took place within the Melbourne Cricket Ground, while the marathon and racewalking events took place on the streets of Melbourne and finished at the main stadium.

The hosts Australia easily won the medals table with 16 golds and 41 medals in total. Jamaica came second with 10 golds and 22 medals, while Kenya and England were the next best performers. A total of eleven Games records were broken over the course of the seven-day competition. Six of the records were broken by Australian athletes.

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.[46][47]

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.[48]

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.[49]

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.[50]

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.[51]

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.[52]

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.[53]

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.[54] 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.[55] 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.[56]

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.[57]

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.[58]

Rugby league was first played at the ground on 15 August 1914, with the New South Wales team losing to England 15–21.

The first ever State of Origin match at the MCG (and second in Melbourne) was Game II of the 1994 series, and the attendance of 87,161 set a new record rugby league crowd in Australia. The MCG was also the venue for Game II of the 1995 State of Origin series and drew 52,994, the most of any game that series. The second game of the 1997 State of Origin series, which, due to the Super League war only featured Australian Rugby League-signed players, was played there too, but only attracted 25,105, the lowest in a series that failed to attract over 35,000 to any game.[59]

The Melbourne Storm played two marquee games at the MCG in 2000. This was the first time that they had played outside of their normal home ground of Olympic Park Stadium which held 18,500 people. Their first game was held on 3 March 2000 against the St. George Illawarra Dragons in a rematch of the infamous 1999 NRL Grand Final. Dragons player Anthony Mundine said the Storm were 'not worthy premiers' and they responded by running in 12 tries to two, winning 70–10 in front of 23,239 fans. This was their biggest crowd they had played against until 33,427 turned up to the 2007 Preliminary Final at Docklands Stadium which saw Melbourne defeat the Parramatta Eels 26–10. The record home and away crowd record has also been overhauled, when a match at Docklands in 2010 against St George attracted 25,480 spectators. Their second game attracted only 15,535 spectators and was up against the Cronulla Sharks on 24 June 2000. Once again, the Storm won 22–16.

It was announced in June 2014 that the ground would host its first State of Origin match since 1997.[60] Game II of the 2015 series was played at the venue, with an all-time record State of Origin crowd of 91,513 attending the match.[61] The attendance is 19th on the all time rugby league attendance list and the 4th highest rugby league attendance in Australia.

The MCG hosted its fifth State of Origin match on 6 June 2018. In front of a crowd of 87,122, the third largest State of Origin crowd in Victoria, New South Wales defeated Queensland 22–12.[62]

Panoramic photo of the MCG in Rugby League mode from the Great Southern Stand during the 1st game of the 2018 State of Origin series

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.[63]

Australia and Greece playing an International Friendly at the MCG on 25 May 2006.

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:

• The Olympic final played between USSR and Yugoslavia on 8 December 1956
• An exhibition match between Australia and Juventus played on 13 June 1984
• A 1998 FIFA World Cup qualifier between Australia and Iran on Saturday 29 November 1997 with 95,000 in attendance.[64] The match was drawn 2–2, with Iran progressing on the away goals rule.
• An exhibition match between Manchester United and Australia on 15 July 1999 with 60,000 people in attendance.
• A friendly match between Brazil B and Australia on 17 November 1999 with 70,795 in attendance.
• An Olympic Tournament group match between Italy and the Olyroos on 13 September 2000 with 93,252 in attendance. Plus other preliminary matches during the Olympics which also included quarter final and the Semi final between Chile and Cameroon who went on to win the gold medal.
• A 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifier between the Australia and Uruguay on 20 November 2001 with 84,656 in attendance. The Socceroos won 1–0, however Uruguay progressed after later winning the second leg 3–0.
• A friendly match between Australia and the then European champions, Greece – which was played as a warmup to the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
• A friendly match between Australia and Argentina with 70,171 in attendance – Argentina had a full strength side with superstars such as Lionel Messi and Carlos Tevez
• A friendly match between Australia and the All Whites as a warm up before the 2010 FIFA World Cup in which Australia won in the last play of the game.
• A pre-season friendly in July 2013 between A-League outfit Melbourne Victory and Premier League side Liverpool, as part of Liverpool's pre-season tour of Australia and South East Asia drawing a crowd of 95,446.[65]
• The final match of the 2015 International Champions Cup in Australia, between Real Madrid and Manchester City, which drew a soccer MCG record crowd of 99,382
• Brasil Global Tour matches between Argentina and Brazil, and Australia and Brazil in June 2017.
• A friendly between Melbourne Victory and Manchester United on July 15, 2022.

Panoramic image of the MCG in soccer mode ahead of a pre-season tournament match between Real Madrid and Manchester City (24 July 2015).

In 1878 the Melbourne Cricket Club's Lawn Tennis Committee laid an asphalt court at the MCG and Victoria's first game of tennis was played there. A second court of grass was laid in 1879 and the first Victorian Championship played on it in 1880. The first inter-colonial championship was played in 1883 and the first formal inter-state match between NSW and Victoria played in 1884 with Victoria winning.

In 1889 the MCC arranged for tennis to be played at the Warehousemen's Cricket Ground (now known as the Albert Cricket Ground), at Albert Park, rather than at the MCG.

It was at the MCG in 1869 that one of Australia's first bicycle races was held. The event was for velocipedes, crude wooden machines with pedals on the front wheels. In 1898 the Austral Wheel Race was held at the MCG attracting a crowd of 30,000 to see cyclists race for a total of £400 in prize money, with 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winning £240, £120, and £40 respectively.[66]

• Queen Elizabeth II visited the MCG in 1954 twice for an assembly and display. She attended a Richmond versus Fitzroy match on 5 April 1970,[67] and also attended the Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony at the ground on 15 March 2006.
• A record for attendance at the grounds was set by religious leader Billy Graham whose event in 1959 was attended by at least 143,000 people.[68]
• 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.[69] The Rolling Stones held concerts in 1995, Michael Jackson in 1996, the Three Tenors in 1997, Elton John and Billy Joel in 1998.
• Pope John Paul II held a service at the MCG on 27 November 1986, and a celebration there of the Polish community the next day.
• 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.
• On 5 November 2010, the MCG hosted the Starting Line and opening challenge for The Amazing Race Australia 1.[70] This episode aired on 16 May 2011.
• The MCG held a Guns N' Roses concert on 14 February 2017.[71]
• The MCG held a free The Killers concert on 30 September 2017, after the 2017 AFL Grand Final.
• On 6 October 2018, the MCG hosted WWE Super Show-Down.
• The MCG held an Eminem concert on 24 February 2019 with the highest attendance for a single concert at the MCG with 80,708 tickets sold.[72]
• On 30 March 2022, the MCG hosted the state memorial service for Shane Warne.
• On 3 December 2022, the MCG held a Guns N' Roses concert on 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 hosted two Ed Sheeran concerts on 2 and 3 March 2023 as part of the +–=÷x Tour. The attendance on 2nd March was 108,000 and 3rd March was 109,500, exceeding the previous attendance record set by Eminem.[73]
• The MCG will be hosting three Taylor Swift concerts on 16, 17, and 18 February 2024 as part of The Eras Tour.[74]

• Highest ODI Total: 5/355 – Australia vs. England, 22 November 2022[94]
• Highest Individual ODI Score: 180 (151) – Jason Roy, England vs Australia, 14 January 2018[95]
• Best ODI Innings Bowling Figures: 6/42 – Ajit Agarkar, India vs. Australia, 9 January 2004 and Yuzvendra Chahal, India vs. Australia, 18 January 2019[96]
• Highest ODI Partnership: 269 (for the first wicket) – Travis Head & David Warner, Australia vs. England, 22 November 2022[97]

Last updated 26 December 2022.

• Highest Twenty20 Total: 5/186 – India vs. Zimbabwe, 6 November 2022[98]
• Highest Individual Twenty20 Score: 89 (43) – David Warner, Australia vs. South Africa, 11 January 2009[99]
• Best Twenty20 Innings Bowling Figures: 4/30 – Josh Hazlewood, Australia vs. England, 31 January 2014[100]
• Highest Twenty20 Partnership: 113 (for the fifth wicket) – Virat Kohli & Hardik Pandya, India vs. Pakistan, 23 October 2022[101]

Last updated 26 December 2022.

• Highest Team Score:
  • 32.24 (216) – Hawthorn vs. Essendon, 1 August 1992
  • 31.25 (211) – Richmond vs. St Kilda, 13 April 1985
  • 32.19 (211) – Geelong vs. Richmond, 27 May 1989
  • 32.17 (209) – North Melbourne vs. Richmond, 6 April 1990
  • 31.19 (205) – Hawthorn vs. North Melbourne, 30 April 1988
• Largest Winning Margin:
  • 165 pts – Hawthorn (197) def. Port Adelaide (32), 13 August 2011
  • 162 pts – Hawthorn (193) def. Greater Western Sydney (31), 8 July 2012
  • 160 pts – Hawthorn (216) def. Essendon (56), 1 August 1992
  • 151 pts – Richmond (187) def. Fitzroy (36), 25 August 1996
  • 148 pts – Essendon (184) def. Melbourne (36), 6 April 2013
• Lowest Team Score:
  • 0.8 (8) – Melbourne vs. South Melbourne, 13 July 1912
  • 1.2 (8) – Carlton vs. Melbourne, 8 June 1903
  • 0.9 (9) – Melbourne vs. Essendon, 13 May 1911
  • 0.9 (9) – University vs. Collingwood, 19 August 1911
  • 1.6 (12) – Richmond vs. Melbourne, 27 June 1908
• Most Goals in a Game:
  • 14 – Gary Ablett Sr., Geelong vs. Essendon, 1 May 1993
  • 14 – Gary Ablett Sr., Geelong vs. Richmond, 27 May 1989
  • 14 – John Longmire, North Melbourne vs. Melbourne, 7 July 1990
  • 13 – Matthew Lloyd, Essendon vs. Sydney, 10 April 1999
  • 12 – Jason Dunstall, Hawthorn vs. Richmond, 15 August 1992
• Most Disposals in a Game:
  • 54 – Tom Mitchell, Hawthorn vs. Collingwood, 24 March 2018
  • 53 – Gary Ablett, Jr., Gold Coast vs. Collingwood, 3 June 2012
  • 51 – Lachie Neale, Brisbane Lions vs. Richmond, 25 August 2019
  • 50 – Tom Mitchell, Hawthorn vs. Collingwood, 20 May 2017
  • 49 – Dane Swan, Collingwood vs. Hawthorn, 21 July 2012
• Most Games Played:
  • 200 – Kevin Bartlett (Richmond)
  • 193 – Scott Pendlebury (Collingwood)
  • 186 – Dustin Fletcher (Essendon)
  • 169 – David Neitz (Melbourne)
  • 165 – Nathan Jones (Melbourne)
• Most Goals Kicked:
  • 464 – Matthew Richardson (Richmond)
  • 461 – Matthew Lloyd (Essendon)
  • 386 – David Neitz (Melbourne)
  • 380 – Wayne Carey (Adelaide, North Melbourne)
  • 379 – Kevin Bartlett (Richmond)

All records correct as of 26 August 2019.

• Australian landmarks
• History of Test cricket (to 1883)
• History of Test cricket (1884 to 1889)
• History of Test cricket (1890 to 1900)
• List of Test cricket grounds
• List of international cricket centuries at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
• List of international cricket five-wicket hauls at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
• National Sports Museum, a museum dedicated to Australian sport, located within the Melbourne Cricket Ground
• List of Australian rules football statues, a list of Australian rules football-related statues across Australia
• Narendra Modi Stadium, the Indian stadium that surpassed MCG to be the largest cricket stadium.
• List of national stadiums

• Cashman, Richard (1995) Paradise of Sport Melbourne: Oxford University Press
• Cuthbert, Betty (1966) Golden Girl
• Gordon, Harry (1994) Australia and the Olympic Games Brisbane: University of Queensland Press
• Hinds, Richard (1997) Low blows. Sport’s top 10 Sydney Morning Herald 1 November
• Linnell, Garry (1995) Football Ltd Sydney: Ironbark Pan Macmillan Australia
• Pollard, Jack (1990) Australia Test Match Grounds London: Willow Books
• Plan of the Town and Suburbs of Melbourne 1843
• Vamplew, Wray; Moore, Katharine; O’Hara, John; Cashman, Richard; and Jobling, Ian [editors] (1997) The Oxford Companion to Australian Sport Second Edition Melbourne: Oxford University Press

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Melbourne Cricket Ground.

• MCG Official website
• Virtual tour of the Melbourne Cricket Ground
• Description at sportsvenue-technology.com
• Melbourne Cricket Ground at Austadiums
• "Around the Grounds" – Web Documentary – MCG