At an announcement made at the MCG today, the Melbourne Football Club (MFC) once again became a Sporting Section of the Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC).
“This very important and historic agreement recognises a grand sporting tradition that is central to the competition and goes back to the very foundation of the game itself, said MCC president David Meiklejohn. “Appropriately, given its importance, the creation of this agreement has been many months in the making.”
The core objective of the agreement between the two organisations is to establish a close relationship for the benefit of the two clubs. The Melbourne Football Club, whilst remaining a separate legal entity, will become a Sporting Section of the MCC.
The agreement includes:
- MFC’s use of the MCC name and logo as an MCC Sporting Section.
- MFC’s administrative occupancy at the MCG.
- MCC support of the MFC in relation to:
- Facilities
- Administration, business and commercial assistance and opportunities
- Financial
- Social and cultural
- Qualification for MCC Playing membership as per the club’s guidelines.
Melbourne Football Club president Jim Stynes said: “The two clubs share much heritage and there is great symbolism in relation to this agreement. The way forward is very much about mutuality and support for our respective goals and objectives in coming years – and hopefully decades.
As football took hold in the 1850s and beyond, the relationship between the MCC and MFC also developed to such an extent that the football club became an MCC Sporting Section in 1889. The two clubs separated in 1980.
The Melbourne Football Club now joins a range of sporting activities affiliated with the MCC, including cricket, baseball, bowls, croquet, golf, hockey, lacrosse, real tennis, shooting, squash and tennis.
Today, the two presidents signed a document symbolising the renewed connection between the two entities. The wording of the document is as follows:
The relationship between the Melbourne Cricket Club and the Melbourne Football Club is as old as the game itself. Our clubs share both heritage and heroes, sparked by the spirit of Tom Wills in 1858 as he sought a means of keeping his Melbourne cricketers fit during the winter months. A game was born, and so was the Melbourne Football Club.
If the MCG is ‘the paddock that grew’, we cultivated it together, through hope and hardship, with characters and colour, and with a shared heart that always beats true.
Let it be known that, on this day, the clubs again unite for the greater good, and with a spirit of mutuality and reciprocity.
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