Queen's Birthday clash

The Queen's Birthday Holiday clash is an annual Australian rules football match between the Melbourne Football Club and Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL), held on the Queen's Birthday Holiday at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

History

Football has been played on the Queen's or King's Birthday holiday since the first season of the Victorian Football League in 1897.^[1]

In 1958 a record home and away crowd of 99,256 saw a top of the table clash between Melbourne and Collingwood.^[2]

Since 2001, the AFL has officially recognised the entire round as the Queen's Birthday Round and only scheduled Melbourne against Collingwood at the MCG on the public holiday.

Introduced in 2015, the player adjudged best-afield is awarded the Neale Daniher Trophy.^[3]

Benefits

As Collingwood has one of the largest supporter bases in Victoria, the opportunity to host them on a public holiday is seen as a major financial benefit to Melbourne.^[4] It had previously been suggested that other teams such as North Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs should share the clash.^[5] The AFL also threatened to change the fixture to another club if the attendances did not remain above 60,000.^[6]

Match results

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

* Capacity reduced due to redevelopment at the MCG
¹2001–2014: three Brownlow votes, 2015–present: Neale Daniher trophy
²Player also received three Brownlow votes

Big Freeze at the 'G

In 2014, Neale Daniher was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease (MND) and set about helping raise funds for researching the disease.^[7] The Big Freeze at the G is a Motor Neurone Disease fundraiser event at the MCG partner with the AFL's "Queen's Birthday Clash" match. In support of the "Cure for MND Foundation", several well known footy and television personalities will get dunked into a giant ice pool before the start of the game. Each person will 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.^[8]

• Freeze MND official site

Big Freeze 2015

Over $2.2 million was raised. ^[9]

• Tim Watson, Former Essendon FC Champion, AFL Commentator for Channel 7.
• Sam Lane, Australian Journalist, Television and Radio personality, AFL Commentator for ABC Radio.
• Ross Stevenson, Radio personality, AFL Commentator for 3AW Radio.
• Dermott Brereton, Former Hawthorn FC Champion, Television and Radio personality, AFL Commentator for Fox Footy and Sen Radio.
• Sam Newman, Former Geelong FC Champion, TV and Radio Personality, Host of The Footy Show (AFL).
• Brian Taylor, Former Collingwood FC Champion, TV and Radio Personality, AFL Commentator for Channel 7 and Triple M Radio.
• Garry Lyon, Former Melbourne FC Champion, TV and Radio Personality, Host of The Footy Show (AFL).
• Mick Molloy, Comedian, TV and Radio Personality, Triple M.
• Mark Robinson, Australian Journalist, Television and Newspaper personality, Host of AFL 360.
• Bryan 'Strauchanie' Strauchan, Former Collingwood FC draftee, 6 games for Victoria, TV and Radio Personality.

Big Freeze 2016

Over $4 million was raised ^[10]

• Matthew Richardson, Former Richmond FC Champion, AFL Commentator for Channel 7.
• Matthew Lloyd, Former Essendon FC Champion, AFL Commentator for 3AW radio.
• Kevin Sheedy, Legendary AFL player and coach, AFL Commentator and Media Personality.
• Eddie McGuire, President Collingwood FC, AFL Commentator for Fox Footy and Triple M radio.
• David Koch, President Port Adelaide FC, Host of Sunrise.
• Samantha Armytage, Australian Journalist, Host of Sunrise.
• Jonathan Brown, Former Brisbane FC Champion, TV and Radio Personality, Fox Footy and Nova FM.
• Anthony Lehmann, Comedian, TV and Radio Personality, Channel 10 and Gold FM.
• Cameron Ling, Former Geelong FC Champion, AFL Commentator, Channel 7.
• Gerard Whateley, Sports Commentator, ABC Journalist, Host of AFL 360.
• Dave Hughes, Comedian, TV and Radio Personality, Supporting star of The Footy Show (AFL).

Trivia

• The largest crowd was 78,773 in 2006. The lowest crowd was 50,853 in 2013.
• The biggest winning margin is held by Collingwood who had an 88-point victory in 2011. Melbourne's biggest winning margin of 47 was achieved in 2006.
• The 2010 match was the first Queen's Birthday clash to result in a draw and their first since 1957.
• The highest score was 141 points, by Melbourne in 2006. The lowest score by a team was 28 points, also by Melbourne in 2014. Collingwood's scores in these categories were 134 and 58 in 2001 and 2016, respectively.
• The most goals kicked by a Melbourne player in a single match is seven, which was achieved by Russell Robertson in 2007.
• The most goals kicked by a Collingwood player in a single match is also seven, which was achieved by Chris Tarrant in 2002 and Travis Cloke in 2015.
• The youngest player to play in the game is Mark McGough of Collingwood who was 17 years and 353 days old (2002).
• The oldest player to play in the game is Nathan Buckley of Collingwood who was 33 years and 321 days old (2006).
• Five players have made their debut in a Queen's Birthday Holiday match;
  • Danny Stanley of Collingwood in 2007.
  • Jack Watts of Melbourne in 2009.
  • Alex Fasolo of Collingwood in 2011.
  • Adam Oxley of Collingwood in 2013.
  • Tom Phillips of Collingwood in 2016.
• Six players have represented both teams in a Queen's Birthday Clash game.
  • Shane Woewodin (1999–2002 with Melbourne and 2003–2005 with Collingwood).
  • Darren Jolly (2002 with Melbourne and 2010 with Collingwood).
  • Chris Dawes (2011–2012 with Collingwood and 2013–2014, 2016 with Melbourne).
  • Heritier Lumumba (2007–2014 with Collingwood and 2015 with Melbourne; 2007–2013 as Harry O'Brien).
  • Ben Kennedy (2013 & 2015 with Collingwood and 2016 with Melbourne)
  • Jeremy Howe (2011–15 with Melbourne and 2016 with Collingwood)
• Mark Neeld represented both sides in a coaching capacity at Collingwood (2008–11 as an assistant coach) and Melbourne (2012–2013 as head coach).^[11]

References

Coordinates: 37°49′12″S 144°59′00″E / 37.82000°S 144.98333°E / -37.82000; 144.98333