Melbourne Cricket Ground

Melbourne Cricket Ground
The MCG The "G"
Melbourne Cricket Ground
Data
place	Melbourne
Coordinates	37 ° 49 '12.2 "  S , 144 ° 58' 59.5"  E Coordinates: 37 ° 49 '12.2 "  S , 144 ° 58' 59.5"  E
owner	State of Victoria
operator	Melbourne Cricket Club
opening	1854
Renovations	1992, 2006
surface	Natural grass
capacity	100,024 seats
playing area	174 m × 149 m
Societies)
Australian national cricket team Victorian Bushrangers Melbourne Stars Collingwood Magpies Hawthorn Hawks Melbourne Demons Richmond Tigers
Events
1956 Summer Olympics (main stadium) Commonwealth Games 2006 Olympic Summer Games 2000 (soccer tournament) Cricket World Cup 1992 Cricket World Cup 2015

The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) is one of the most important and largest stadiums in Australia . The history of the stadium can be traced back to 1853.

It is located in Yarra Park in the Richmond neighborhood, not far from Melbourne city ​​center . After a renovation that cost around AUD 400 million and was completed at the end of 2006, the stadium can hold 100,024 spectators. The MCG, also rarely called The G , is one of the largest stadiums in the world.

History and construction

After Melbourne was founded in 1835, the local cricket club Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) was established on November 15, 1838. The venue used at that time became unusable when the area was to be used for railway construction. The club moved for the first time in 1840 before the current location was bequeathed to the club by the government on September 23, 1853. First construction measures erected a pavilion in the same year and in 1856 the area was fenced off. The first grandstand was built in 1876 before the first scoreboard was added in 1881. The grandstands were gradually built in the first half of the 20th century and so the third test of the Ashes Tour in 1937 attracted 350,534 spectators over six days, a record for visits to a test match to this day . The grandstands have been modernized in recent years.

Events

Major international events

The MCG was the stadium for the 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics and the 2006 Commonwealth Games . During the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, the MCG hosted group matches in the football tournament.

Australian football

The MCG regularly hosts Australian Football League (AFL) games. Australian football , related to rugby and Gaelic football , is the most popular sport in Australia. Four Melbourne clubs play their home games at the MCG: the Collingwood Magpies , the Melbourne Demons , the Hawthorn Hawks and the Richmond Tigers . In addition, The G each September the venue for the Grand Finals, the final of the AFL. The AFL Grand Final is currently the largest national sporting event in terms of the number of spectators present, followed by the final of the Australian National Rugby League (NRL), which takes place around a week earlier in Sydney at the 2000 Olympic Stadium, renamed ANZ Stadium .

Cricket

In summer the stadium is mainly used for cricket . The first test match ever took place here between England and Australia in 1877, as did the first One-Day International in 1971. At the Cricket World Cup in 1992 and 2015 , in addition to numerous games, the final was held here. The stadium is the home of Victoria in national cricket and the Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League . The MCG has been using so-called drop-in pitches since 1996 , which have repeatedly come under criticism. For example, a Sheffield Shield game had to be canceled in December 2019 because it was too dangerous to play.

Concerts and other major events

Over the years international superstars such as David Bowie , Paul McCartney , U2 , Madonna , the Rolling Stones and Michael Jackson have given concerts at the MCG. Pope John Paul II held a mass here in 1986.

Attendance records

The record attendance at the MCG is 130,000 spectators who were present at a mass by the American revival preacher Billy Graham in 1959 . The record for a sporting event is 121,696 viewers during the VFL Grand Finals in Australian Rules Football between Carlton Football Club and Collingwood Football Club in 1970.

gallery

• 

  Melbourne Cricket Ground 2006

• 

  Melbourne Cricket Ground 1998

• 

  Melbourne Cricket Ground 1878

• 

  Melbourne Cricket Ground 1864

See also

• List of the largest football stadiums in the world
• List of the largest stadiums in the world

Web links

Commons : Melbourne Cricket Ground  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• mcg.org.au: Official website (English)
• austadiums.com: data and history of the stadium (English)
• stadionwelt.de: picture gallery

Individual evidence

1. ↑ austadiums.com: stadium capacity (English)
2. ↑ MCG Historical Timeline ( English ) MCG. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
3. ↑ Official IOC Report 1956 (PDF; 34.1 MB)
4. ↑ Sheffield Shield match abandoned after MCG pitch deemed still too dangerous ( English ) Guardian. December 8, 2019. Retrieved December 8, 2019.