Sunday’s Anzac Day AFL match at the MCG saw 78,113 people rock up, making it the biggest crowd in the whole world since the start of the pandemic over 12 months ago.
It’s a wholesome achievement showing just how far we’ve come since those first few months, and it’s also something that almost everywhere else in the world can only really dream about at the moment.
“A crowd in excess of 73,000. The biggest in the world that we know of in the last 12 months,” Channel 7 AFL commentator Brian Taylor said at the beginning of the match.
“A good game of football, great game, big vibe, big occasion.”
Today’s official crowd is 78,113.
The biggest attendance at a global sporting event since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.#AFLPiesDons pic.twitter.com/ABrZharzdm
— AFL (@AFL) April 25, 2021
The record-breaking crowd was made possible after the Victorian Government increased the stadium’s crowd allowance to 85,000 people, or 85% of its usual capacity.
In the end, the AFL match comfortably beat the 67,200-odd crowd at last month’s Twenty20 cricket match between India and England, as well as the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade which hosted roughly 23,000 people at the SCG.
It’s also proof that COVIDSafe events are possible, hopefully signaling more to come, not just for sport but for other kinds of events like live gigs, too.
78,113 is the official attendance number from the MCG today. That makes it the biggest crowd to attend a sports match in the world since the pandemic began. @7NewsMelbourne pic.twitter.com/wWyVO5pSN3
— Sharnelle Vella (@SharnelleVella) April 25, 2021
The annual Anzac Day match between Collingwood and Essendon was also the first time since 2019 that the Last Post was observed by so many spectators at once.
Collingwood ultimately won the match by a massive 24 points, but it didn’t help that both AFL teams were wearing black guernseys.
“I actually asked the boys at halftime, is there anything in the guernseys?” Magpies coach Nathan Buckley said after the game.
“Are we not picking our players out who were 35-40 metres away, because it looked like we were not picking them. But that was not an issue.”
Breathtaking. All but full @MCG such a ritual @afl pic.twitter.com/02vseZpbmO
— Zoe Daniel (@zdaniel) April 25, 2021
At the risk of sounding extremely clichéd, the real winner here is us, the Australian people.
Last year was such a tough slog, but we made it, and now we can celebrate just how far we’ve come.
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