The ANZAC Day blockbuster between Collingwood and Essendon has become one of our biggest national sporting events.

The spirit and emotion of ANZAC Day has helped build this event into one of the great sporting traditions of Australia.

The ANZAC Day match pays tribute to the sacrifice of the servicemen and women of Australia and celebrates the ANZAC spirit – courage, sacrifice, endurance and mateship.

Each year Collingwood and Essendon work closely with the RSL to highlight the contribution of Australians who have served in wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations around the world.

Secure your seat at the MCG on ANZAC Day with Collingwood's three-game membership.

There is no comparison between war and football however the game provides a platform to highlight the spirit of ANZAC, with its human qualities of courage, mateship, and sacrifice – qualities that continue to have meaning and relevance for our sense of national identity.

The traditional Veteran’s Motorcade will take place prior to the observance ceremony and the commencement of the game. This year the motorcade includes those currently serving along with returned veterans and returned nurses and servicewomen who served in WW2, Korea, Malaya/Borneo and Vietnam.

Over the past nineteen years the ANZAC Day clash between the Magpies and the Bombers at the MCG has become the biggest club match in Australia’s biggest national sport - second only to the AFL Grand Final.

Each year over 90,000 people attend the ANZAC Day blockbusters and millions watch on television.

This year’s blockbuster will be the 20th annual clash between the two clubs since the tradition began with the memorable 1995 drawn match played in front of 94,825.

That first match still represents the second biggest home and away crowd in AFL history, behind the 99,346 fans that saw the 1958 Queen’s Birthday clash between Collingwood and Melbourne at the MCG.

This year the match will be televised live on Channel 7 and is again a sell out with over 90,000 people making their way to the MCG to celebrate this great tradition.

The rivalry now stands at 10 victories to Collingwood, eight victories to Essendon and a draw.

Match Program
This year’s match will feature
- The Australian Army Band
- Entertainment from the Good Times Band
- Half time performance from Kate Ceberano
- Motorcade of ANZAC Veterans
- Observance Ceremony Catafalque Guard
- Slow march, flags are lowered to half-mast
- Major General David McLachlan recites “The Ode”.
- One minute's silence
- Last Post
- Reveille
- National Anthem

Timings
1.20pm - Australian Army Band
1.38pm - Teams preliminary on-field warm-up
1.56pm - Motorcade of Veterans
2.04pm - Entertainment
2.17pm - Joint Cheer Squad Banner Display
2.18pm - Presentation of Match Day Footballs
2.20pm - Essendon enters
2.23pm - Collingwood enters
2.33pm - Anzac Day Observance Ceremony
2.38pm - Coin Toss
2.40pm - First bounce
5.15pm - On-field post match presentation: ANZAC Trophy & ANZAC Day Medal winner announced

Gates
MCC Gates Open: 10.30am
Public Gates Open: 12.00pm.

Main entertainment starts from 1.25pm and the match will begin at 2.40pm.

Presentation of Match Footballs
Representatives from Collingwood and Essendon will present the footballs to the umpires on the MCG. Collingwood’s representatives are TBC.

Coin Toss: TBC

Cheer Squad Banner: The ANZAC Day match is unique in that the players from each team join together to run through a single cheer squad banner created by the cheer squads of both clubs - in recognition of the ANZAC Spirit and the way Australians came together as one in times of war.

The banner lists the names of footballers from each club who lost their lives in war. The Captains and players both teams will meet to shake hands before they run through the banner together.

ANZAC Day Logo
The Returned & Services League, Australian Football League, Collingwood and Essendon Football Clubs have established an ANZAC Day Logo. Each year the logo is proudly displayed on the guernseys of both clubs and the cheer squad banner.

RSL Collection: A collection for the Returned & Services League will be held at the match. One hundred and twenty volunteers will collect at the gates prior to the beginning of the match.

ANZAC Medal: A presentation of the ANZAC Day Medal will be made on the field at the conclusion of the The ANZAC Medal is awarded to the player in the match who best exemplifies the ANZAC spirit - skill, courage, self-sacrifice, teamwork and fair play. The medal is an engraved bronze disk, incorporating battlefield metal, surrounding a glass centre into which is set an image of the RSL badge.

ANZAC Day Trophy: A presentation of the ANZAC Day Trophy will be made on the field at the conclusion of the match. The President of the Victorian RSL, Vietnam Veteran Major General David McLachlan, will present the trophy to the Captain of the winning team.

The trophy comprises a silver bowl, which is supported by four bronze columns and a central glass pillar. The glass pillar has images of servicemen and footballers and is etched with the names of all VFL footballers that gave their lives on active service.

The wooden footing of the trophy comes from an ironbark plank, part of an ammunition wagon, which saw service in Villers-Brentonneux in France. The bronze columns incorporate metal salvaged from Gallipoli battlefields.

The trophy and ANZAC Medal were kindly donated to the RSL by UNIBIC, makers of ANZAC Biscuits.

ANZAC Veterans Motorcade
A motorcade of eight cars prior to the commencement of the game will include those currently serving along with returned veterans and returned nurses and servicewomen who served in WW2, Korea  Malaya/Borneo and Vietnam.

The veterans will be presented as follows:
CAR 1. EX POW
Mr Jim CAHIR
Age: 90
RAAF; 1942-1946, Jim was in Bomber Command, 466 Squadron, flying Halifax bombers, when he was shot down over Frankfurt, 1943. Imprisoned in Stalag 4B. Jim later returned to Germany and met the guard who had imprisoned him.

Mr Alex RYMER
Age: 92
ARMY; 8th Division, Alex was only 20 years old when captured by the Japanese in Singapore, 1942. Imprisoned in Changi and then taken as a forced labourer to Osaka, Japan to work in a steel foundry in appalling conditions.

CAR 2. WW2
Mr Alan OULD, OAM
Age: 90
ARMY; 1942-1946, Alan served with the Australian Army Service Corps as a driver with 2/153 General Transport Company.  Alan participated in the Landings at Balikpapan, Borneo.

Mr Ted HOLLINGSWORTH
Age: 89
RAN; 1942-1946.  ted served on HMAS Bendigo and later on HMAS Cairns from the Red Sea to Japan.  HMAS Cairns provided escorts for the Okinawa landings.

CAR 3. KOREA
Mr Stan GALLOP
Age: 84
ARMY; Stan served in the Royal Australian Infantry and saw operational service in Korea with 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment. Stan was took part in the Present at the Battle of Kapyong, 1951

Mr Kevin HARPER
Age: 82
ARMY; Kevin, served in the Royal Australian Infantry and saw operational service in Korea with 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment.  Kevin took part in the Battle of Kapyong, 1951

CAR 4. RETURNED SERVICEWOMEN/ RETURNED NURSES
Mr Alan BARRETT
Age: 60
RAN;  1987-current.  Alan had operational service on HNMAS Success in Iraq and Kuwait.

Ms Gloria WELCH
Age: 91
WAAAF (Womens Auxiliary Australian Air Force).  1942-1946 Gloria served as a Corporal performing clerical duties at RAAF Central Recruiting.  Testing up to 250 applicants per day.

CAR  5. MALAYA/BORNEO
Mr John LYNCH, OAM
Age: 79
RAN; 1952-1957, John served in the Fleet Air Arm as an Aircraft Electrician.  He saw operational service in the Malayan Conflict and as part of the Far Eastern Strategic Reserve.

Mr Alan DAY
Age: 92
RAAF; Alan was a medical orderly in Darwin 1942-1943 and then in Borneo in 1945, participating in the landings at Balikpapan.

CAR 6. VIETNAM
Mr Bill TELFER
Age: 68
ARMY; 1965-1988.  Bill served in Vietnam, 1966-1967 as a signaller with 101 Field Battery, Royal Australian Artillery.

Mr Dal CROCKER
Age: 65
ARMY; 1969-1971. Dal was a National Serviceman.  His operational service was in Vietnam, 1970-1971 with 1st Armoured Regiment, Royal Australian Armoured Corps, as a tank gunner.

CAR 7. CURRENTLY SERVING
Chief Petty Officer Adam BEAKLEY
Age: 35
RAN; 2000 – present.  Adam saw operational service in the Gulf War, Iraq, in 2003 and again in 2007 as part of the border protection force.

Leading Aircraftsman Derryn MURPHY
Age: 26
RAAF: 2006-present. Derryn is an aircraft technician based in Amberley, Queensland and saw operational service in the Middle East area of operations

CAR 8. CURRENTLY SERVING
Corporal Justin STREATFIELD
Age: 31
ARMY: 2003-present.  Justin serves in the Royal Australian Corps of Signals.  He saw operational service in Afghanistan 2011-2012. 

Sergeant Sean O’DONOHUE
Age: 40
ARMY: 1993-present.  Sean serves in the Royal Australian Corps of Signals.  He is an Information Systems Technician and had operational service in Iraq in 2007.