Melbourne Cricket Club boss Stuart Fox said it was a “wonderful” sight to see footy fans descend on the home of football in such big numbers.“While it was the largest sporting crowd since the pandemic began, it was only possible because of footy fans who have continually adhered to the COVID-safe measures over the first six weeks of the season,” Mr Fox said.Among the Collingwood faithful was ADF reservist Steven Coles, who was attending the game with his daughter Madelaine. Mr Coles said it was a “beautiful thing” to see big crowds despite the “unfair” stricter restrictions placed on Anzac commemorations. “We know that we’re in a beautiful situation and we’re lucky,” he said. “We’re not like the rest of the world.”Before his Pies were downed by the Bombers, Mr Coles joked his biggest concern for the day had been “whether we win or lose”. Jason Antonelli headed to the game with his two-year-old son Myles for the youngster’s first AFL match.“We’re excited, really excited,” he said.“It’s a very special day.”Other first-timers included seven-month-old Milo Austin, brought by parents Hala and Jordan. “Last year was horrible, I remember watching the Anzac Day match on TV without any crowds and it was just so eerie,” Ms Austin said. “It really is incredible to be part of it.”Fans filled the stands to the back rows of the MCG’s top deck for the first time since the 2019 Grand Final between Richmond and Greater Western Sydney.At first, there was silence and total respect for the Anzac Day ceremony and Last Post as both sides stood shoulder-to-shoulder in the middle of the ground.But once the service concluded and the service men and women were clapped from the field, a familiar roar erupted for the first bounce in front of an almost full house.There had been bit-part and half-filled Melbourne crowds over the past five weeks, but Sunday’s crowd was a return to normal in a sense for the biggest and most special day of the home-and-away season.It smashed the previous record for the biggest post-COVID crowd of 67,200 at a Twenty20 match between India and England last month in Ahmedabad.Closer to home, the biggest domestic crowd was held by Perth Stadium for last week’s West Coast win against Collingwood with 54,159 fans. Sunday’s record was achieved thanks to a ticket boost, after an extra 10,000 went on sale on Thursday bringing the total to 85,000 — or 85 per cent of the MCG’s seating.
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