Ovens & Murray: Grand final crowd of 10,156 the biggest since 2015
The MCG was at full capacity this weekend, but in country footy the O&M grand final will stay at Lavington after 10,000-plus fans watched Yarrawonga win.
The Ovens and Murray league pulled in its biggest grand final crowd in almost a decade to watch the Steve Johnson-coached Yarrawonga win its sixth flag on Sunday.
An official crowd of 10,156 people were at Lavington to see the Pigeons hold on for a four-point win after losing last year’s grand final to Wangaratta by three points.
It was the first time since 2015 that the crowd exceeded 10,000 people and there were also record gate takings of almost $90,000 after the general admission price went up from $22 to $25.
The grand final has been back at its traditional home for two years, but was free of a clash with the AFL grand final on the same weekend this year.
“After a challenging start to the year the league is delighted with how it’s finished,” O&M chairman David Sinclair said.
“The previous six years we’ve had challenges around weather, Lavington’s unavailability due to redevelopment, covid and last year’s various public holidays in the lead-up to our grand final which we played on the Sunday after AFL.
“There is no doubt the best time and venue for our grand final is the Sunday before the AFL grand final at Lavington.
“Hence why it’s locked in for the next three years.”
The Goulburn Valley grand final went head-to-head with the O&M on Sunday and had an estimated crowd of more than 6000 people and gate takings of $64,000 to see Echuca win again.
The GV league is closing in on a deal to extend its administration with the AFL Goulburn-Murray hub with the current three-year deal expiring on October 31.
On Saturday, the Gippsland league had a record crowd of 5654 people pay a record $59,381 in gate takings to watch Leongatha claim back-to-back flags.
“We’ve got a very even competition and the fact we had nine of our 10 clubs represented on grand final day helped,” Gippsland president Andrew Livingstone said.
“The talent that has come into the league over the last two or three years has increased the interest in the league as well.”
The Bendigo and Central Murray leagues both had gate-takings around the $60,000 mark.
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