There’s nothing quite like the finals atmosphere and Sunday’s game will go down in North’s history as one of its biggest blockbusters.
90,186 fans went through the turnstiles at the home of football and while the Richmond supporters left disappointed, the Roos’ faithful basked in finals glory.
“They rode us home in the end and I had to look around to if there was more North supporters, because were louder I thought,” Ben Jacobs told NMFC.com.au after the game.
Remarkably, it was the biggest crowd a North side has ever played in front of outside of Grand Finals.
Among the other fascinating facts to come out of the day:
- The crowd of 90,186 was the highest of the year so far, surpassing the 88,395 that attended the Anzac Day clash between Essendon and Collingwood.
- It was the second highest Elimination Final crowd ever, only beaten by the 94,690 mark set by Richmond and Carlton in 2013.
- It was the club’s largest crowd figure since the 1999 Grand Final, when it played in front of 94,228 fans.
- Just three players on the Roos’ list have played in front of larger crowds – Nick Dal Santo (2009 and 2010 Grand Finals), Brent Harvey (1999 Grand Final) and Jarrad Waite (2013 Elimination Final).
- It was the second biggest crowd between North and Richmond in 156 clashes between the two sides. The 1974 Grand Final drew 113,839 fans to the MCG.
North’s biggest crowds
113,839 – Grand Final, 1974 v Richmond
110,551 – Grand Final, 1975 v Hawthorn
110,143 – Grand Final, 1976 v Hawthorn
108,224 – Grand Final, 1977 v Collingwood
101,704 – Grand Final, 1978 v Hawthorn
98,491 – Grand Final replay, 1977 v Collingwood
94,431 – Grand Final, 1998 v Adelaide
94,228 – Grand Final, 1999 v Carlton
93,102 – Grand Final, 1996 v Sydney
