Location Information:
The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG)
is an Australian sports stadium
located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and
is home to the Melbourne Cricket
Club. It is the largest stadium in
Australia and holds the world record
for the highest light towers at any
sporting venue. The MCG is within
walking distance of the city centre
and is serviced by the Richmond
railway station, Richmond and the
Jolimont railway station, East
Melbourne. It is part of the
Melbourne Sports and Entertainment
Precinct.
Internationally, the MCG is
remembered as the centerpiece
stadium of both the 1956 Summer
Olympics and the 2006 Commonwealth
Games. The open-air stadium is also
one of the world's most famous
cricket venues, with the
well-attended Boxing Day Test match
commencing on Boxing Day (26
December) each year. Throughout the
winter, it serves as the home of
Australian rules football, with at
least one game (though usually more)
held there each round. The stadium
fills to capacity for the AFL Grand
Final in late September.
The MCG, often referred to by locals
as "The G", has also hosted other
major events, including
International Rules between the
Australian Football League and
Gaelic Athletic Association,
international Rugby union, State of
Origin rugby league, FIFA World Cup
qualifiers and International
Friendly matches, serves as the
finish line for the Melbourne
Marathon and also major rock
concerts.
Until the 1970s, more than 120,000
people sometimes crammed into the
venue – the record crowd standing at
around 130,000 for a Billy Graham
evangelistic crusade in 1959,
followed by 121,696 for the 1970 VFL
Grand Final. Redevelopments have now
limited the maximum seating capacity
to just over 100,000. This makes it
the tenth largest stadium in the
world.
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