The ANZAC Day blockbuster between Collingwood and Essendon is one of Australia’s biggest national sporting events.
The traditional Anzac Day clash between the two teams began with the memorable 1995 drawn match played in front of 94,825.
The rivalry now stands at 15 victories to Collingwood, 10 victories to Essendon and a draw. The match was not played in 2020 due to the Covid-19 Pandemic.
Since 1995 Collingwood, Essendon and the AFL have worked closely in partnership with the RSL to and to shine a light on the Anzac Appeal and highlight the contribution of Australians who have served in wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations around the world.
The minute’s silence before the game, in respect of those who have served, is one of the great moments of Anzac Day and Australian sport.
The match pays tribute to the sacrifice of the servicemen and women of Australia. Whilst no comparison is made between war and football, the game provides a platform to highlight the spirit of Anzac, with its human qualities of courage, mateship, and sacrifice.
The traditional Veteran’s Motorcade will take place prior to the observance ceremony and the commencement of the game.
The clubs and the AFL make a significant donation to the Anzac Appeal from the gate receipts in addition to collections at the match and other fundraising initiatives.
COLLINGWOOD ANZAC DAY GUERNSEY 2022
The Collingwood Anzac Day Guernsey will feature sprigs of rosemary. Australians traditionally wear sprigs of rosemary as a symbol of remembrance on Anzac Day or Remembrance Day. Rosemary grows wild on the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey, where the original Anzacs served in World War I. In 2022 Collingwood is the away team and wearing a clash guernsey. The black stripes of the Collingwood guernsey will depict lines of rosemary sprigs.
Lippa and Kreugs looking real nice in the #AnzacDay kit.
— Collingwood FC (@CollingwoodFC) April 19, 2022
PRESENTATION OF MATCH FOOTBALLS
Representatives from both clubs present the footballs to the umpires on the MCG.
COIN TOSS
A representative from Essendon FC will toss the coin.
CHEER SQUAD BANNER
The Anzac Day match is unique in that the players from each team 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 of each team meet to shake hands before they run through the banner together.
MATCH PROGRAM
This year’s match will feature
▪ Entertainment – TBC
▪ Motorcade of ANZAC Veterans.
▪ Presentation of Match Day Footballs
▪ Joint Cheer Squad Banner
▪ Coin Toss
▪ Observance Ceremony
▪ Catafalque Guard slow march, flags are lowered to half-mast
▪ Major General David McLachlan recites “The Ode”
▪ One minutes Silence
▪ Last Post
▪ Reveille
▪ National Anthem
Timings
2.10pm Entertainment – Australian Army Band
2.30pm Motorcade of Veterans
2.40pm Entertainment - TBC
2.51pm Joint Cheer Squad Banner Display
2.52pm Presentation of Match Day Footballs
2.53pm Essendon Enters
2.55pm Collingwood Enters
3.08pm Anzac Day Observance Ceremony
3.18pm Coin Toss
3.20pm Match commences
5.55pm On-field post-match presentation
Anzac Trophy & Anzac Day Medal winner announced
GATES
MCC Gates and Public Gates open at 12.30pm. Main entertainment starts from 2.10pm and the match will begin at 3.20pm.
ANZAC VETERANS MOTORCADE 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.
RSL – ANZAC APPEAL
Collingwood and Essendon have worked closely with the RSL for the past 27 years to develop the Anzac Day match into one of Australia’s great sporting events. The clubs and the AFL make a significant financial contribution to the RSL from the gate receipts in addition to the collection at the match and other fundraising initiatives.
ANZAC DAY GUERNSEY AUCTION
Each year Collingwood conducts an on-line auction of signed player guernseys to raise funds of the Anzac Appeal. All players on the senior list sign a guernsey for the auction. Match worn guernsey’s by players selected in the game are a feature. The auction begins before the game.
ANZAC MEDAL
A presentation of the ANZAC Day Medal will be made on the field at the conclusion of the game.
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 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-Bretonneux 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.
COLLINGWOOD FOOTBALL CLUB 1917 HORSESHOE
Each year Collingwood takes a special horseshoe to the game for good luck and in honour of two former players Paddy Rowan and Malcolm Seddon. The horseshoe was sent from the Western Front by Malcolm ‘Doc’ Seddon. The inscription on the horseshoe, fashioned out of a German shell, says “From France to CFC, Good luck from Doc, 1917.”
Jock McHale used the horseshoe to inspire Collingwood to the 1917 Premiership.
Doc’s best friend and teammate Paddy Rowan had been killed in action nine months earlier. Doc promised to look after Paddy’s wife Louise and their child if anything happened to Paddy. Eventually, some years later, Doc and Louise married.
Newspaper article – “Made Under Fire from Hun Shell and Aeroplane”
Mr E. W. Copeland, secretary of the Collingwood Football Club, today received a welcome gift from one of the old players who is now doing “his bit” in the great match against the Germans. The gift, which is a horseshoe, was displayed in the Collingwood dressing-room at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, and it cheered the Collingwood players.
It was from the old Collingwood player, Malcolm (“Doc”) Seddon, now at the front.
Accompanying the horseshoe is a letter from Seddon, explaining that it was made under fire by the shoeing smith with his company. The shoe was made from the driving-band of a German 15-inch shell which Seddon found at Bapaume. The nails were made from pieces of a German aeroplane which the Australians brought down at the Somme. He had recently seen Dan Minogue, the old Collingwood captain, who was looking well.
“I hope”, wrote Seddon, “that this shoe will bring the boys to the top of the tree this year.” The players regarded the arrival of the shoe as a good omen.
