One of 100 great things to do in Melbourne for under $10
the White Hat guide

Sport

Melbourne loves its sport.

For a start, it invented the best team game in the world - Australian Rules Football or 'footy'- before sports like soccer and rugby were codified..

The Melbourne Cricket Ground is one of the great stadiums of the world, and the recent expansions and improvements confirm its place as one of the three cathedrals in Melbourne - St. Pauls, St. Pats and the M.C.G. As well as being heavily used for footy, test cricket and pyjama cricket, the M.C.G. was the main stadium for the 1956 Olympic Games.

Melbourne people attend sport in vast numbers. It is not unusual for an 'ordinary' mid-season footy match to have an attendance of over 70,000 people.

But Melbourne people are not mere passive spectators. On any given weekend, an unusually high proportion of people take part in a wide range of sports at everything from social to professional level.

And although Melbourne people love their own sportsmen and women, they are quick to appreciate greatness from any source. As well as local heroes like Roy Cazaly, John Landy, The Oarsome Foarsome, Jack Dyer, Merv Hughes, Ted Whitten, Gary Ablett, Cathy Freeman, Melbourne has been quick to acknowledge sports people such as Vladimir Kuts, the West Indian Cricket Team and Yanas Kuros.

It is probably the only city in the world where pride of place in the museum is given to a stuffed racehorse - Pharlap.

Even if you are only vaguely interested in sport, you should really go out of your way to sit (or preferably stand) in the crowd at a major Melbourne sporting event.

If your budget runs to more than $10 you may wish to check out our listing of other Melbourne Events.