ALMOST 13,000 new fans have attended Melbourne’s first two instalments of ‘The Welcome Game’ with close to 6,000 new fans attending Sunday's match against the Saints at the 'G.
Chairman Glen Bartlett said ‘The Welcome Game’ was an important and great day for the club, even though Sunday’s match didn’t go the way the red and blue wanted.
"The club was excited to welcome thousands of new fans to the MCG yesterday to experience footy for the first time,” he told Melbourne Media.
"The Welcome Game allows us to celebrate Melbourne's diversity and inclusiveness and it was fantastic to see so many new people enjoying our great game and engaging with our club.
"Our members have been fantastic in backing our fan growth ambitions and welcoming new people to our game as illustrated by their support in donating thousands of scarves to new fans via our scarf drive initiative at the game.”
The day was a celebration of Melbourne and its diversity and inclusiveness and is one of many initiatives the club is undertaking to engage and build excitement among people new to the game of AFL.
Multicultural performances and a multitude of activities for kids and their families were a hit on the day.
Registrations for tickets came from more than 110 nationalities, whilst the scarf drive was a huge success with thousands of scarves donated by the club’s existing supporters and gifted to new fans.
The student match day experience was a huge success with the event booked out in advance.
200 university students from around the globe took part in a footy clinic at Gosch’s Paddock and experienced a Four'n'Twenty pie for the first time before being escorted to the game.
Melbourne ran an exclusive footy experience on the MCG for children aged five to 12 year olds.
The majority of these children had never made the trip to the 'G before and were ecstatic with the opportunity to kick a footy on the hallowed turf. The participants were recruited by the club's multicultural ambassadors.
A number of children from the club's multicultural schools program and Koori Auskick participants were part of the guard of honour, and passionate Melbourne supporter Salman Akbar, of Afghan heritage, was a junior mascot and ran out with his favourite player, Christian Petracca.
Everyone who attended the game for the first time had the opportunity to receive a Melbourne cap or flag and an information booklet, which included the rules of the game and club information.
The club thanks all organisations it engaged with for ‘The Welcome Game’. It was a pleasure opening the doors of the iconic MCG to new audiences and we hope to see everyone back to cheer on the team soon.
