Melbourne Hosts World Record Crowd Of 78,000 At The AFL

Melbourne played host to a lot of sporting action over the weekend and one code managed to set a world record.

Due to the pandemic, we haven't been allowed to gathered in big numbers.

But restrictions have eased over the past few months to the point that people can attend sporting matches and get amongst the action.

However, the 78,112 people who rocked up to the MCG yesterday (April 25) for the Anzac Day test match between Collingwood and Essendon was the largest sporting match the world has seen in more than a year.

The Melbourne Cricket Ground was permitted to have 85 per cent capacity and many revellers took advantage of that.

Channel 7 commentator Brian Taylor said at the start of the match: "A crowd in excess of 73,000. The biggest in the world that we know of in the last 12 months.

"A good game of football, great game, big vibe, big occasion."

Melbourne would have no doubt been the envy of the world as tens of thousands of people packed in the stadium to watch their team battle it out.

It's a far cry from this time last year when a lone bugler stood in an empty MCG to blast the Last Post.

It was also a spine-tingling moment after the national anthem was played when the 78,000 plus crowd roared with pride.

The AAP's Oliver Caffrey wrote: "Not since the 2019 finals series has there been such a loud noise at a football game in Victoria."

The world-record setting crowd comes after New Zealand also held a huge concert in Auckland.

A whopping 50,000 people turned up to Eden Park on Saturday (April 24) to see Six60, a six piece band who has been on tour since measures were lifted.

The band posted on Instagram a photo of the huge crowd from a bird's eye view and captioned it with: "Next time they tell you it's impossible. Show them this. Thank You Auckland."

Matiu Walters, the band's lead singer, found it to be an incredible experience.

"We know what it's like to be in lockdown. It sucked. And we didn't know if we'd be able to play gigs again. But we are fortunate, for a few reasons, here in New Zealand," he said.

Topics: Australia

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Trending Journalist at LADbible. His first job was as a newsreader and journalist at the award winning Sydney radio station, Macquarie Radio. He was solely responsible for the content broadcast on multiple stations across Australia when the MH17, Germanwings and AirAsia disasters unfolded. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign.

@stewartperrie