Anzac Day AFL 2021: What time is it, tickets, who is playing, what does it mean, history, Collingwood v Essendon

Kieran Francis

Anzac Day AFL 2021: What time is it, tickets, who is playing, what does it mean, history, Collingwood v Essendon image

Anzac Day is a huge part of the AFL annual schedule as the sport helps commemorate the Australian and New Zealand servicemen and women who have served or given their lives for their country.

Every year, the day of remembrance falls on a different day of the week, meaning it has a different effect on the AFL calendar.

Sporting News looks at the history of Anzac Day and examines how the AFL will pay respects to our armed forces of past and present.

When is the AFL's Anzac Day match and what time does it start?

The traditional Anzac Day match between Collingwood and Essendon will be held on Anzac Day - Sunday April 25th - at the MCG with the first bounce commencing at 3.20pm (AEST).

It will be the first time the match has been held in two years after the 2020 event had to be cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

With Anzac Day falling on a Sunday, two other AFL matches will also be held, with Hawthorn hosting Adelaide in Launceston at 12.30pm (AEST) and Port Adelaide welcoming St Kilda to Adelaide Oval at 6.40pm (AEST).

ANZAC DAY FIXTURES

Date Time/AEST Teams Stadium
Sun April 25 12.30pm Hawthorn v Adelaide University of Tasmania Stadium
Sun April 25 3.20pm Collingwood v Essendon MCG
Sun April 25 6.40pm Port Adelaide v St Kilda Adelaide Oval

How to buy tickets for Collingwood v Essendon and other Anzac Day matches?

For the main Anzac Day match, Collingwood and Essendon will have priority access to upgrade/redeem tickets - with tickets to go on sale on Wednesday April 21.

If any other tickets remain, a general public on-sale will begin at 3pm on April 21.

Essendon members, click here for details, while all the info for Collingwood members can be found here.

If the match is not sold out, general sale tickets, as well as tickets for the rest of the round six matches, will be available through Ticketek here.

You can find more information at the AFL's ticketing hub.

ANZAC Bugle

What is Anzac Day?

Anzac Day, which falls on April 25th every year, is a day of commemoration for Australia and New Zealand's armed forces - past and present - who have participated in wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations around the world.

It was originally designated as a day of remembrance to honour the ANZAC's (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) who served in the Gallipoli campaign during the first World War in 1915 - with the April 25th landing of Australian and New Zealand soldiers in Gallipoli the reason for the particular date.

During the eighth-month conflict, 8,709 soldiers died from Australia and 2,721 from New Zealand, with Allied forces eventually evacuating the Gallipoli peninsula without successfully capturing it.

The day has become a time of remembrance for what our armed forces sacrificed in their fight for a better future for their respective countries and has since morphed into a commemoration of all armed forces from Australia and New Zealand.

It is traditionally started with a dawn service, with hundreds of events all over both Australia and New Zealand, and Gallipoli in Turkey.

ANZAC Day

The AFL and its history with Anzac Day

A brainchild of football legend Kevin Sheedy, the first ever AFL Anzac Day match was held between Collingwood and Essendon at the MCG on April 25th 1995 in front of 94,825 people - which is still the second-biggest home-and-away match crowd of all time.

Incredibly the match ended in a draw - 111 apiece - with the result and huge crowd number immediately locking the occasion in as an annual event on the AFL football calendar.

Of the 25 Anzac Day matches played, Collingwood was won on 15 occasions, Essendon nine times, with the single draw in 1995 - bearing in mind that COVID cancelled the match in 2020.

Do only Collingwood and Essendon play on Anzac Day?

If Anzac Day falls mid-week, then traditionally the Collingwood-Essendon fixture is played as a standalone match on the day, but if April 25th is a Friday, Saturday or Sunday, then other matches are scheduled around the annual match - just like a normal AFL round.

Several other celebratory matches for Anzac Day have originated since with Melbourne and Richmond commencing an Anzac Day eve match in 2015, while Fremantle have a tribute match to the last Western Australian Gallipoli veteran Len Hall.

St Kilda also hosted an Anzac match in New Zealand between 2013 and 2015 but that has since been discontinued.

Kevin Sheedy James Hird ANZAC

Anzac Day AFL results history between Collingwood and Essendon

Year Winner Collingwood Score Essendon Score Anzac Medallist Crowd
1995 Draw 16.15 (111) 17.9 (111) Saverio Rocca (Coll) 94,825
1996 Collingwood 17.15 (117) 16.9 (105) Scott Russell (Coll) 87,549
1997 Collingwood 14.15 (99) 10.10 (70) Damian Monkhorst (Coll) 83,271
1998 Collingwood 15.18 (108) 12.16 (88) Saverio Rocca (Coll) 81,542
1999 Essendon 15.10 (100) 15.18 (108) Mark Mercuri (Ess) 73,118
2000 Essendon 15.10 (100) 21.14 (140) James Hird (Ess) 88,390
2001 Essendon 14.11 (95) 15.13 (103) Chris Tarrant (Coll) 83,905
2002 Collingwood 9.12 (66) 4.9 (33) Mark McGough (Coll) 84,894
2003 Essendon 12.13 (81) 23.9 (147) James Hird (Ess) 62,589
2004 Essendon 11.13 (79) 17.10 (112) James Hird (Ess) 57,294
2005 Essendon 10.9 (69) 11.17 (83) Andrew Lovett (Ess) 70,033
2006 Collingwood 15.16 (106) 12.17 (89) Ben Johnson (Coll) 91,234
2007 Collingwood 12.23 (95) 11.13 (79) Heath Shaw (Coll) 90,508
2008 Collingwood 23.16 (154) 12.9 (81) Paul Medhurst (Coll) 88,999
2009 Essendon 12.16 (88) 13.15 (93) Paddy Ryder (Ess) 84,829
2010 Collingwood 18.12 (120) 8.7 (55) Scott Pendlebury (Coll) 90,070
2011 Collingwood 16.11 (107) 11.11 (77) Scott Pendlebury (Coll) 89,626
2012 Collingwood 11.14 (80) 11.13 (79) Dane Swan (Coll) 86,932
2013 Essendon 10.15 (75) 18.13 (121) David Zaharakis (Ess) 93,373
2014 Collingwood 12.11 (83) 8.12 (60) Dane Swan (Coll) 91,731
2015 Collingwood 9.15 (69) 6.13 (49) Paul Seedsman (Coll) 88,395
2016 Collingwood 22.10 (142) 11.7 (73) Steele Sidebottom (Coll) 85,082
2017 Essendon 11.16 (82) 15.10 (100) Joe Daniher (Ess) 87,685
2018 Collingwood 14.17 (101) 7.10 (52) Adam Treloar (Coll) 91,440
2019 Collingwood 10.13 (73) 10.9 (69) Scott Pendlebury (Coll) 92,241
2020 DID NOT PLAY        

Kieran Francis

Kieran Francis Photo

Kieran Francis is a senior editor at The Sporting News based in Melbourne, Australia. He started at Sportal.com.au before being a part of the transition to Sporting News in 2015. Just prior to the 2018 World Cup, he was appointed chief editor of Goal.com in Australia. He has now returned to The Sporting News where his passions lay in football, AFL, poker and cricket - when he is not on holiday.