Queen's Birthday match

Football has been played on the Queen's or King's Birthday public holiday since the first season of the Victorian Football League in 1897.[1] In most year's the VFL scheduled three matches to take place on the public holiday. Since 1936 the public holiday has been set as the second Monday in June. Melbourne and Collingwood first faced-off in a Queen's Birthday fixture in Round 3 of the 1898 season with Melbourne winning by 10 points.[2]

Both teams have a long standing rivalry dating back to the 1950s and 1960s when the two side were the dominant forces in the VFL. Having defeated Collingwood in the 1955 and 1956 Grand Finals, Melbourne was prevented from equalling the Magpie's record four flags in a row in the 1958 Grand Final. That year a record home and away crowd of 99,256 saw a top of the table match between the two teams on the Queen's Birthday public holiday.[3]

Melbourne would later defeat the Magpies in the 1960 and 1964 Grand Finals. Almost half of Melbourne's 12 VFL Premierships came against Collingwood and the teams have met in seven grand finals, the most of any pairing.

Since 2001, the AFL has only scheduled Melbourne against Collingwood at the MCG on the public holiday. The round in which the game is played is sometimes referred to as the "Queen's Birthday Round", although this is somewhat misleading as Queensland and Western Australia do not celebrate a public holiday on that date.

Prior to the ongoing fixture established in 2001, Melbourne and Collingwood faced each other on the Queen's Birthday public holiday in the following years: 1950, 1958, 1961, 1964, 1977, 1983, 1993, 1996 and 1999.

The fixture is traditionally staged at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which is the home ground for both teams. In 2021, the match was played at the Sydney Cricket Ground, due to a COVID-19 outbreak in Victoria which plunged the state into its fourth lockdown since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Big Freeze, however, still went ahead at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.[4]

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.[5] It had previously been suggested that other teams such as North Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs should share the match.[6] In 2008 the AFL threatened to change the fixture to another club if the attendances did not remain above 60,000.[7]

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
¹ 2001–2014: three Brownlow votes, 2015–present: Neale Daniher trophy
² Player also received three Brownlow votes
³ Match was played at the Sydney Cricket Ground instead of the Melbourne Cricket Ground

In 2014, former Melbourne coach for ten years (1998–2007) Neale Daniher was diagnosed with motor neuron disease (MND) and set about helping raise funds for researching the disease.[8] The Big Freeze at the 'G is a Motor Neurone Disease fundraiser event at the MCG partner with the AFL's Queen's Birthday match. In support of the "Cure for MND Foundation", several well known football and television personalities get dunked into a giant ice pool before the start of the game. Such personalities usually 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.[9][10]

Introduced in 2015, the player adjudged best-afield is awarded the Neale Daniher Trophy.[11]

• The most wins is eleven, by Collingwood.
• The most consecutive wins is five, by Collingwood (2011–2015).
• The largest crowd was 83,518 in 2018. The lowest crowd was 16,453^a in 2021.
• The biggest winning margin is held by Collingwood who had an 88-point victory in 2011.
• The 2010 match is the only Queen's Birthday match to result in a draw and their first between each other 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.
• The most best on ground awards a player has received is two, which was achieved by Dane Swan (2012–2013).
• 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).
• Mark Neeld represented both sides in a coaching capacity at Collingwood (2008–2011 as an assistant coach) and Melbourne (2012–2013 as head coach).[15] The 2013 Queen's Birthday match was Neeld's final game as Melbourne head coach; he was sacked a week after the match.[16]

^a The 2021 match was played at the Sydney Cricket Ground, instead of the Melbourne Cricket Ground, due to COVID-19 concerns in Victoria.

• NRL Queen's Birthday Clash

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Queen's Birthday clash.

• Queen's Birthday match on AFL Tables.