Through indifference and controversy, the Anzac Day match
From the 1910’s to the 1950’s, no football was played on Anzac Day. In fact, matches were moved between weekends when the public holiday fell on a Saturday.
Anzac Day football started with an Act of Parliament in 1960 to lift restrictions on events on the day, with conditions including donation of a portion of gate receipts to the RSL.
Initially the Victorian Football League (VFL) was lukewarm on the idea, and scheduled a couple of smaller matches in 1960.
The Victorian Football Association (VFA) took up the opportunity in 1961 to fill the void, playing a marquee match between Sandringham and Moorabbin at the MCG, with pre-match Anzac Day events much like those the AFL puts on today.
The VFA match drew a disappointing crowd of 14,000, smaller than their average Sunday crowd at the time.
In 1962 and 1967, the VFL put on representative matches. The representative Victorian team played a team representing the rest of the league.
Again, crowds were disappointing.
Within a few years the VFL played premiership matches on Anzac Day – with crowds growing quite large. The Anzac Day record crowd grew from 78,000 in 1975 to 92,000 in 1977.
The VFL trialled a double-header format in 1986, but disappointing crowds meant it remained just an experiment, and wasn’t tried again until 2020.
The modern form of the event was born in Kevin Sheedy’s garden shed.
The event should pay tribute to the Anzacs. The game would be more integrated with the RSL’s Anzac Day event, timed to start after the Anzac Day march, giving people enough time to get to the MCG. An Anzac Day service is held before the match, probably being the only Anzac Day event many people attend or witness.
The huge crowds are renowned for their strict observance of the silence during the Last Post, with Peter FitzSimmons remarking in 2008 on the electric atmosphere and reverent mood.
Kevin Sheedy’s Essendon played the RSL’s Bruce Ruxton’s Collingwood on 25th April, 1995. The police had to be called to disperse 20,000 fans who could not gain access to the ground.
Nowdays the match sells out in advance, and you can book your ANZAC Day Essendon v Collingwood tickets today in the Medallion Club before tickets go onsale to the public in April. Later in the year the two teams meet again at the MCG in July, for that match Collingwood v Essendon tickets are available already too.
In this game, Essendon lead by 16 points at half time, before being pegged back to a draw in the second half by Collingwood who outscored Essendon 6 goals to 2.
While other clubs have lobbied to be given access to the Anzac Day game, Fremantle have held their Len Hall Tribute game on Anzac Day as a West Australian football event. The event was cancelled in 2021 due to the Covid-19 lockdown.
The modern trophy awarded to the winner of the MCG match is engraved with the names of dead soldiers, and made in part from materials salvaged from battlefields.
The Anzac Day match has had its critics, with some commentators disparaging the commodification of the day and all it represents. Others have remarked on the crassness of a marketing gimmick designed to pass footballers off as modern day war heroes.
The AFL Anzac Medal has been awarded to the player on ground voted to exemplify the Anzac Spirit – skill, courage, self-sacrifice, fair play.
Though the medal was created in 2000, it has since been awarded retrospectively to players from games prior to 2000.
Starting recently in 2015, Richmond and Melbourne have quickly grown the ANZAC Day Eve match into an unmissable night on the AFL calendar. Fans have risen in silence as the MCG lights are dimmed for a touching pre-match ceremony.
With the Cauldron lit, and the Last Post played, the ANZAC Day Eve ceremony is a moving tribute to all members of our armed services past and present. You can already book your Richmond v Melbourne tickets for this match.
