 Panorama of the 2011 Queen's Birthday match | |
| Other names | Queen's Birthday match (2001–2022) |
|---|---|
| Location | Melbourne,Victoria |
| First meeting | 11 June 2001 |
| Latest meeting | 9 June 2025 |
| Next meeting | 8 June 2026 |
| Broadcasters | Seven Network (2001, 2012–present) Network Ten (2002–2011) |
| Stadiums | Melbourne Cricket Ground |
| Statistics | |
| All-time series (Australian Football League only) |  Collingwood (16 wins)Draw(s) 1  Melbourne (7 Wins) |
| Largest victory | Collingwood: 88 points 13 June 2011 |
| Longest win streak | Collingwood: 5 2011–2015 |
| Current win streak | Collingwood: 2 2024–present |
TheKing's Birthday match, known as theQueen's Birthday match when the reigningmonarch is a woman, is an annualAustralian rules football match between theMelbourne Football Club andCollingwood Football Club in theAustralian Football League (AFL), held at theMelbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on theKing's Birthday public holiday inVictoria (the second Monday in June).
Since 2015, the match has been preceded bythe Big Freeze, a charitable event raising funds into research formotor neuron disease (MND). The event sees celebrities slide into a pool of ice water as acurtain-raiser to the match.
Football has been played on the Queen's or King's Birthday public holiday since beforethe first season of the Victorian Football League in 1897.[1] In most years, 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, 1898, with Melbourne winning by 10 points.[2] The teams have a long-standing rivalry that was solidified in the 1950s and 1960s when the two sides were the dominant forces in the VFL. Having defeated Collingwood in the1955 and1956 grand finals, Melbourne was prevented from equalling Collingwood's record four premierships in a row when Collingwood was victorious in the1958 grand final. That same year, a crowd of 99,256 saw a top-of-the-table match between the two teams on the Queen's Birthday public holiday; as of 2024, that remains a record for the highest ever home-and-away crowd.[3] Melbourne later defeated Collingwood in the 1960 and 1964 grand finals. Almost half of Melbourne's 13 VFL/AFL premierships came against Collingwood, and the teams have met in seven grand finals, the most of any pairing.
Since2001, the AFL has scheduled Melbourne against Collingwood at the Melbourne Cricket Ground as the only match played on the public holiday each year, and this is considered the start of the modern Queen's Birthday match as a stand-alone event. Prior to this, Melbourne and Collingwood had faced each other on the King's/Queen's Birthday public holiday on ten occasions: 1898, 1950, 1958, 1961, 1964, 1977, 1983, 1993, 1996 and 1999; among those, the 1996 match was the only time it was the sole match scheduled for the day. The round in which the game is played is sometimes referred to as the "King's/Queen's Birthday Round", although Queensland and Western Australia do not celebrate the monarch's official birthday public holiday on the same date as Victoria.
The fixture is traditionally staged at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which is the home ground for both teams. From 2001 until 2018, the match was always a designated Melbourne home game, resulting in Melbourne receiving a greater portion of the gate and its highest match profit of each season, typically in the order of $800,000 to $900,000. Collingwood, which had a substantially higher membership and more blockbuster fixtures than Melbourne, agreed to and encouraged the deal over that period.[4] Since 2019, when a period of success had seen Melbourne close the financial gap between the clubs, the clubs have agreed to alternate the home team designation between the two clubs each year, with Collingwood's first home game played in 2019.[5][6]
TheCOVID-19 pandemic interrupted the game's continuity for two years: the match was not played at all in 2020, and it was relocated to theSydney Cricket Ground at short notice due to a lockdown in Victoria in 2021.[7]
This table lists all Queen's/King's Birthday matches since it became an annual fixture between Melbourne and Collingwood in 2001.
| Year | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Score | Ground | Crowd | Result/Winner | M | H2H | NDT | |
| 1 | 2001 | Melbourne | 8.9 (57) |  Collingwood | 19.20 (134) | Melbourne Cricket Ground | 62,761 | Collingwood | 77 | +1 | Anthony Rocca (Col) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 2002 | Melbourne | 10.15 (75) | Collingwood | 19.12 (126) | 65,860 | Collingwood | 51 | +2 | Chris Tarrant (Col) | |
| 3 | 2003 | Melbourne | 10.17 (77) | Collingwood | 20.13 (133) | 60,010 | Collingwood | 56 | +3 | Paul Licuria (Col) | |
| 4 | 2004 | Melbourne | 12.10 (82) | Collingwood | 11.7 (73) | 56,988 | Melbourne | 9 | +2 | Josh Fraser (Col) | |
| 5 | 2005 | Melbourne | 17.15 (117) | Collingwood | 10.12 (72) | 65,347 | Melbourne | 45 | +1 | Travis Johnstone (Mel) | |
| 6 | 2006 | Melbourne | 22.9 (141) | Collingwood | 14.10 (94) | 78,773 | Melbourne | 47 | Cameron Bruce (Mel) | ||
| 7 | 2007 | Melbourne | 13.16 (94) | Collingwood | 11.15 (81) | 70,660 | Melbourne | 13 | +1 | Russell Robertson (Mel) | |
| 8 | 2008 | Melbourne | 13.17 (95) | Collingwood | 17.14 (116) | 59,548 | Collingwood | 21 | Tarkyn Lockyer (Col) | ||
| 9 | 2009 | Melbourne | 8.12 (60) | Collingwood | 19.12 (126) | 61,287 | Collingwood | 66 | +1 | Scott Pendlebury (Col) | |
| 10 | 2010 | Melbourne | 11.10 (76) | Collingwood | 9.22 (76) | 67,454 | Draw | 0 | +1 | Aaron Davey (Mel) | |
| 11 | 2011 | Melbourne | 6.5 (41) | Collingwood | 19.15 (129) | 75,998 | Collingwood | 88 | +2 | Sharrod Wellingham (Col) | |
| 12 | 2012 | Melbourne | 13.9 (87) | Collingwood | 19.15 (129) | 64,250 | Collingwood | 42 | +3 | Dane Swan (Col) | |
| 13 | 2013 | Melbourne | 5.9 (39) | Collingwood | 17.20 (122) | 50,835 | Collingwood | 83 | +4 | Dane Swan (Col) | |
| 14 | 2014 | Melbourne | 3.10 (28) | Collingwood | 8.13 (61) | 68,130 | Collingwood | 33 | +5 | Bernie Vince (Mel) | |
| 15 | 2015 | Melbourne | 13.7 (85) | Collingwood | 17.8 (110) | 66,120 | Collingwood | 25 | +6 | Travis Cloke (Col) | |
| 16 | 2016 | Melbourne | 16.8 (104) | Collingwood | 8.10 (58) | 60,158 | Melbourne | 46 | +5 | Max Gawn (Mel) | |
| 17 | 2017 | Melbourne | 15.14 (104) | Collingwood | 15.10 (100) | 70,926 | Melbourne | 4 | +4 | Christian Petracca (Mel) | |
| 18 | 2018 | Melbourne | 14.7 (91) | Collingwood | 20.13 (133) | 83,518 | Collingwood | 42 | +5 | Mason Cox (Col) | |
| 19 | 2019 | Collingwood | 15.8 (98) | .svg) Melbourne | 7.15 (57) | 74,036 | Collingwood | 41 | +6 | Adam Treloar (Col) | |
| 2020 | No match played due to theCOVID-19 pandemic | ||||||||||
| 20 | 2021 | Melbourne | 9.9 (63) | Collingwood | 11.14 (80) | Sydney Cricket Ground | 16,453 | Collingwood | 17 | +7 | Scott Pendlebury (Col) |
| 21 | 2022 | Collingwood | 12.10 (82) | Melbourne | 8.8 (56) | Melbourne Cricket Ground | 76,059 | Collingwood | 26 | +8 | Clayton Oliver (Mel) |
| 22 | 2023 | Melbourne | 8.18 (66) | Collingwood | 9.8 (62) | 83,578 | Melbourne | 4 | +7 | Jack Viney (Mel) | |
| 23 | 2024 | Collingwood | 14.5 (89) | Melbourne | 6.15 (51) | 84,659 | Collingwood | 38 | +8 | Jack Crisp (Col) | |
| 24 | 2025 | Melbourne | 10.11 (71) | Collingwood | 11.6 (72) | 77,761 | Collingwood | 1 | +9 | Josh Daicos (Col) | |
Notes:
Capacity in 2003, 2004 and 2005 was lessened due to the redevelopment of the Melbourne Cricket Ground for the2006 Commonwealth Games.
Since 2015 the best player afield has been awarded theNeale Daniher Trophy. Names prior to 2015 refer to the player awarded threeBrownlow Medal votes.
The 2021 match was played at theSydney Cricket Ground due to the COVID-19 pandemic and crowd restrictions imposed inVictoria.
In 2015, the Neale Daniher Trophy was first awarded to the best player of the match. It is named after former Melbourne coachNeale Daniher.[8]
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In 2014, Daniher made hismotor neuron disease (MND) diagnosis public, having been initially diagnosed the year before, and set about helping raise funds for researching the disease.[9] Since then, the Big Freeze at the 'G has a Motor Neuron Disease fundraiser event associated with the King's/Queen's Birthday match. In support of the "Cure for MND Foundation", well known football, sporting, entertainment and media personalities slide into a giant ice pool on the ground before the start of the game. Such personalities usually pledge to raise $10,000 for 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.[10][11] The first Big Freeze was held in 2015, and the Neale Daniher Trophy was established in the same year and awarded to the best player on the ground.[12]
OverA$2.2 million was raised.[13]
Over A$4 million was raised.[14]
Over A$6.3 million was raised.[15]
Over A$8.2 million was raised.[16]
Over A$5.4 million was raised.[17]
Over A$11.9 million was raised.[18]No Queen's Birthday match was played due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, but a Big Freeze television event occurred with a player from every club involved.[19]
Over A$14 million was raised.[20]Big Freeze 7 was held at theMelbourne Cricket Ground on the day of the Queen's Birthday match, but the match itself was staged at theSydney Cricket Ground due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Craig Bellamy, coach of theMelbourne Storm NRL team was also selected to slide, but was unable to leave his team's hub in Queensland, so instead did anIce bucket challenge.[21]
Over A$19 million was raised.[22]
Over A$15.8 million was raised.[23]
Over A$20.1 million was raised.[24]
Fundraising for Big Freeze 11 is currently being finalised. The FightMND Army has collectively raised over A$115 million since the inception of the Big Freeze events.[25]
The Federal Government announced it would match every dollar raised on Monday for the Neale Daniher-led campaign, with public donations closing in on $2.5m by Monday evening.
Fans dug deep to raise over $4m for the cause, as Sheedy and 10 other celebs plunged into icy waters.
FightMND has announced the Big Freeze 3 campaign has raised over $6.3 million.
In what has become a hallmark event on the Queen's Birthday long weekend for many, the Big Freeze 4 campaign has now raised over $8.2 million, a figure which continues to grow.
The Big Freeze 5 extravaganza was a resounding success with a total of $5.4 million raised during the campaign, which was greatly assisted by the generous contribution by the Federal Government once again.
Last year's Big Freeze 6 campaign was Coles' single biggest fundraising event ever, with more than $5.2 million being raised in the supermarket aisle, helping FightMND reach a record total funds raised for the campaign of $11.9 million.
The Big Freeze 7 was a record-breaking year for the fight against MND, raising more than $14 million for vital MND research and care.
In 2022, the Big Freeze campaign collectively raised over $19 million.
Funds raised at Coles helped bring FightMND's Big Freeze 9 final tally to $15.8 million
Thanks to your support, we've raised a record-breaking $20.1 million during Big Freeze 10.
The FightMND Army has raised more than $115 million, which has helped fund vital research, support Australians living with MND and drive progress toward a cure. Do your bit and donate today. >> CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO FREEZE MND.
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