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King's Birthday match

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The King's Birthday match is an annual Australian rules football match between the Melbourne Football Club and Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL), held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on the King's Birthday public holiday in Victoria (the second Monday in June).

King's Birthday match
Panorama of the 2011 Queen's Birthday match
Other namesQueen's Birthday match (2001–2022)
LocationMelbourne, Victoria
TeamsMelbourne
Collingwood
First meeting11 June 2001
Latest meeting10 June 2024
Next meetingTBA
BroadcastersSeven Network (2001, 2012–present)
Network Ten (2002–2011)
StadiumsMelbourne Cricket Ground
Statistics
Most player appearancesScott Pendlebury (Collingwood)
14 matches
All-time series (Australian Football League only)Collingwood (14 Wins)
Draw(s) 1
Melbourne (7 Wins)
Largest victoryCollingwood: 88 points
13 June 2011
Longest win streakCollingwood: 5
2011–2015
Current win streakCollingwood: 1
2024–present

Since 2015, the match has been preceded by the Big Freeze, a charitable event raising funds into research for motor neuron disease (MND). The event sees celebrities slide into a pool of ice water as a curtain-raiser to the match.

History

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Football has been played on the Queen's or King's Birthday public holiday since before the first season of the Victorian Football League in 1897.[1] In most years the VFL scheduled three matches to take place on the public holiday. Since 1936 the public holiday has been set as the second Monday in June.

Melbourne and Collingwood first faced off in a Queen's Birthday fixture in Round 3 of the 1898 season, with Melbourne winning by 10 points.[2] Both teams have a long-standing rivalry dating back to the 1950s and 1960s when the two side were the dominant forces in the VFL. Having defeated Collingwood in the 1955 and 1956 Grand Finals, Melbourne was prevented from equalling the Magpies' record four flags in a row in the 1958 Grand Final. That year, a crowd of 99,256 saw a top of the table match between the two teams on the Queen's Birthday public holiday; as of 2022 that crowd figure remains a record for the highest-ever home-and-away crowd.[3] Melbourne would later defeat the Magpies in the 1960 and 1964 Grand Finals. Almost half of Melbourne's 13 VFL/AFL Premierships came against Collingwood and the teams have met in seven grand finals, the most of any pairing.

Since 2001, the AFL has scheduled Melbourne against Collingwood at the MCG as the only match played on the public holiday each year, and this is considered the start of the modern Queen's Birthday match as a stand-alone event. Prior to this, Melbourne and Collingwood had faced each other on the King's/Queen's Birthday public holiday on ten occasions: 1898, 1950, 1958, 1961, 1964, 1977, 1983, 1993, 1996 and 1999; among those, the 1996 match was the only time it was the sole match scheduled for the day. The round in which the game is played is sometimes referred to as the "Queen's Birthday Round", although Queensland and Western Australia do not celebrate the Queen's Birthday public holiday on the same date.

The fixture is traditionally staged at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which is the home ground for both teams. However, from 2001 until 2018, the match was always a designated Melbourne home game, resulting in Melbourne receiving a greater portion of the gate and its highest match profit of each season, typically in the order of $800,000 to $900,000. Collingwood, which had a substantially higher membership and more blockbuster fixtures than Melbourne, agreed to and encouraged the deal over that period.[4] Since 2019, when a period of success had seen Melbourne close the financial gap between the clubs, the clubs have agreed to alternate the home team designation between the two clubs each year, with Collingwood's first home game played in 2019.[5][6]

The COVID-19 pandemic interrupted the game's continuity for two years: the match was not played at all in 2020, and was relocated to the Sydney Cricket Ground at short notice due to a lockdown in Victoria in 2021.[7]

Match results

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This table lists all Queen's/King's Birthday matches since it became an annual fixture between Melbourne and Collingwood in 2001.

Year Winner Melbourne score Collingwood score Margin Attendance Best on ground1
2001 Collingwood 8.9 (57) 19.20 (134) 77 62,761 Anthony Rocca (COL)
2002 Collingwood 10.15 (75) 19.12 (126) 51 65,860 Chris Tarrant (COL)
2003 Collingwood 10.17 (77) 20.13 (133) 56 60,010* Paul Licuria (COL)
2004 Melbourne 12.10 (82) 11.7 (73) 9 56,988* Josh Fraser (COL)±
2005 Melbourne 17.15 (117) 10.12 (72) 45 65,347* Travis Johnstone (MEL)
2006 Melbourne 22.9 (141) 14.10 (94) 47 78,773 Cameron Bruce (MEL)
2007 Melbourne 13.16 (94) 11.15 (81) 13 70,660 Russell Robertson (MEL)
2008 Collingwood 13.17 (95) 17.14 (116) 21 59,548 Tarkyn Lockyer (COL)
2009 Collingwood 8.12 (60) 19.12 (126) 66 61,287 Scott Pendlebury (COL)
2010 Draw 11.10 (76) 9.22 (76) 0 67,454 Aaron Davey (MEL)
2011 Collingwood 6.5 (41) 19.15 (129) 88 75,998 Sharrod Wellingham (COL)
2012 Collingwood 13.9 (87) 19.15 (129) 42 64,250 Dane Swan (COL)
2013 Collingwood 5.9 (39) 17.20 (122) 83 50,853 Dane Swan (COL)
2014 Collingwood 3.10 (28) 8.13 (61) 33 68,124 Bernie Vince (MEL)±
2015 Collingwood 13.7 (85) 17.8 (110) 25 66,120 Travis Cloke (COL)
2016 Melbourne 16.8 (104) 8.10 (58) 46 60,158 Max Gawn (MEL)
2017 Melbourne 15.14 (104) 15.10 (100) 4 70,926 Christian Petracca (MEL)
2018 Collingwood 14.7 (91) 20.13 (133) 42 83,518 Mason Cox (COL)
2019 Collingwood 7.15 (57) 15.8 (98) 41 74,036 Adam Treloar (COL)
2020 No match played due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021 Collingwood 9.9 (63) 11.14 (80) 17 16,4532 Scott Pendlebury (COL)
2022 Collingwood 8.8 (56) 12.10 (82) 26 76,059 Clayton Oliver (MEL)±
2023 Melbourne 8.18 (66) 9.8 (62) 4 83,578 Jack Viney (MEL)
2024 Collingwood 6.15 (51) 14.5 (89) 38 84,659 Jack Crisp (COL)

* Capacity reduced due to redevelopment at the Melbourne Cricket Ground for the 2006 Commonwealth Games
± Best on ground awarded to a player from the losing team
1 2001–2014: three Brownlow votes, 2015–present: Neale Daniher trophy
2 Match was played at the Sydney Cricket Ground instead of the Melbourne Cricket Ground

Big Freeze at the 'G

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In 2014, former Melbourne coach for ten years (1998–2007) Neale Daniher made his motor neuron disease (MND) diagnosis public, having been initially diagnosed the year before, and set about helping raise funds for researching the disease.[8] The Big Freeze at the 'G is a Motor Neurone Disease fundraiser event at the MCG partner with the AFL's Queen's Birthday match. In support of the "Cure for MND Foundation", several well known football, sporting, entertainment and media personalities get dunked into a giant ice pool on the ground before the start of the game. Such personalities usually pledge to raise $10,000 for vital MND research after being nominated, and once successful at hitting this target, they then get to pass on the challenge and nominate the next personality into the "cold seat". This person in turn will raise funds and agree to "Freeze for MND" if their fundraising goal is met. The challenge will continue right up until the game, with each celebrity challenging the next.[9][10] The first Big Freeze was held in 2015, and the Neale Daniher Trophy was established in the same year and awarded to the best player on the ground in the game.[11]

Participants

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Big Freeze 1 (2015)

Over $2.2 million was raised.[12]

Big Freeze 2 (2016)

Over $4 million was raised.[13]

Big Freeze 3 (2017)
Big Freeze 4 (2018)
Big Freeze 5 (2019)
Big Freeze 6 (2020)

No Queen's Birthday match was played due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but a Big Freeze television event occurred with a player from every club involved.[14]

Big Freeze 7 (2021)

Big Freeze 7 was held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on the day of the Queen's Birthday match, but the match itself was staged at the Sydney Cricket Ground due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Craig Bellamy, coach of the Melbourne Storm NRL team was also selected to slide, but was unable to leave his team's hub in Queensland, so instead did an Ice bucket challenge.[15]

Big Freeze 8 (2022)
Big Freeze 9 (2023)
Big Freeze 10 (2024)

See also

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References

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  1. ^ 1897 Match Results (Queen Victoria was born on 24 May)
  2. ^ "1898 Season Scores and Results".
  3. ^ Memorable Moments Archived 17 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Greg Denham (6 July 2011). "Collingwood confirm they'll back Melbourne Demons in AFL bid for Queen's Birthday clash at the MCG". FoxSports. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  5. ^ "Melbourne's 2019 fixture revealed". Melbourne Football Club. 1 November 2018. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  6. ^ Jay Clark (25 July 2017). "Collingwood considering reclaiming share of Queen's Birthday blockbuster from Melbourne". Herald Sun. Melbourne, VIC. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  7. ^ "Big Freeze match moves to the SCG". Australian Football League. 4 June 2021. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  8. ^ Neale Daniher interview with Tim Watson (18 Aug 2014)
  9. ^ Cure 4 MND: Tim Watson interviews Neale Daniher
  10. ^ Freeze MND official site
  11. ^ Collins, Ben (8 June 2015). "Best player to receive Neale Daniher Trophy". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  12. ^ Big Freeze at the 'G: Stars take the plunge to raise huge sum
  13. ^ Navaratnam, Dinny (13 June 2016). "Big freeze 2: Sheeds turns Tinkerbell as fans raise over $4m to help fight MND". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
  14. ^ Knox, David (25 May 2020). "Returning: AFL: The Big Freeze". TV Tonight. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  15. ^ "Craig Bellamy gets 'Frozen' in hilarious Big Freeze effort for FightMND". Fox Sports. 14 June 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
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