Melbourne Sporting Clubs Guide: The AFL Capital of the World and How to Get Involved in Sport

Melbourne is, by virtually every measure, Australia's sporting capital: the city is home to ten of the AFL's eighteen clubs, the Melbourne Cricket Ground (the world's largest cricket ground by capacity and the largest stadium in Australia, seating 100,024), the Australian Open tennis Grand Slam (at Melbourne Park, one of the world's finest tennis facilities), the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix (at the Albert Park street circuit), the Melbourne Cup horse race (at Flemington Racecourse, the "race that stops a nation"), and world-class facilities for virtually every other major sport. The AFL is Melbourne's defining sport and cultural institution, with the eight Melbourne AFL clubs (Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Hawthorn, Melbourne, Richmond, St Kilda, Western Bulldogs, North Melbourne, and Geelong as an honorary Melbourne club) commanding tribal loyalties that cross every social, geographic, and demographic boundary in the city.

The AFL in Melbourne: Ten Clubs, One City — the ten AFL clubs based in the Melbourne metropolitan area (Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Hawthorn, Melbourne, North Melbourne, Richmond, St Kilda, Western Bulldogs, and Geelong as the Cats play many games at Melbourne's Marvel Stadium and MCG) create a sporting culture unlike any other city in the world. Friday night football at the MCG (Collingwood v Richmond is typically the highest-attended club match in world football), the Saturday and Sunday afternoon footy programs across Marvel Stadium and the MCG, and the community AFL competition (which has hundreds of suburban clubs across the Metropolitan Football League and the Eastern Football League) together make AFL the fabric of Melbourne social life.

Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) and the MCG — the Melbourne Cricket Club (founded 1838, one of the world's oldest sporting clubs) and the Melbourne Cricket Ground (the MCG) are at the heart of Melbourne's sporting identity. The MCG hosts the AFL Grand Final (the most attended annual sporting event in the southern hemisphere), the Boxing Day Test, and major concerts in addition to the regular Victorian Cricket Association and AFL programs. MCC membership (currently with a waiting list of many years) is one of Melbourne's most prized social institutions.

Community Sport — Melbourne's community sport sector provides outstanding opportunities for residents of all ages, with the community AFL competition, Tennis Victoria's community pennant competition, the metropolitan swimming competitions, and Melbourne's extraordinary cycling culture (the Melbourne to Geelong Great Ocean Road cycling event and the extensive off-road cycling network in the Dandenong Ranges and You Yangs) all providing accessible and rewarding community sport participation options.

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