For the first time in the league’s history, the 2020 AFL Grand Final will be played outside of Victoria, away from its traditional home of the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Due to the coronavirus pandemic and restrictions across the country, footy’s biggest game will instead be held at the Gabba in Brisbane on October 24.
AFL chief Gillon McLachlan made the announcement this afternoon at the league’s quarantine hub Queensland, also revealing more details of the upcoming 2020 AFL Grand Final. He confirmed that the big dance will be a night game, with the time of first bounce to be confirmed.
“It is my pleasure to formally announce that the 2020 Toyota AFL Grand Final will be played in Queensland at the Gabba,” Gillon said.
“In another historic first, the Grand Final will be scheduled for the night of Saturday, October 24 with the exact start time to be confirmed as we talk to partners given daylight savings and other issues.”
The other big change to the AFL’s biggest clash is in the stands, where the size of the crowd will be affected by social distancing restrictions. In Melbourne, the game usually attracts an attendance of between 90k to 100k fans in the stands, but it’s believed the Gabba will hold at least 30,000 punters for the 2020 grand final.
In the case of a COVID outbreak in Brisbane, Gillon confirmed that the league’s Plan B for the Grand Final will be either reducing attendance numbers, or moving the game to South Australia.
“In case there are COVID outbreaks that threaten the viability of safely hosting a crowd outside at the Gabba, we can reduce numbers or move the Grand Final to Adelaide Oval.” he said.
As for who’s playing the half time performance, that’s also yet to be locked in. But we’ll absolutely let you know when that gets confirmed.
It’s the first time the game has been played away from the MCG since 1991, when the final was moved to accommodate upgrades to the stadium. Before that, the only other time the grand final was played away from the MCG was between 1942 and 1945, when the stadium was used during the Second World War.
