The Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) has celebrated its 180th birthday with a raft of award wins, demonstrating its continued excellence and quest for innovation as the stadium manager of the MCG.
Australia’s oldest continuous sporting club, the MCC was founded on November 15 in 1838, when five people - Frederick Powlett, Robert Russell, George B. Smyth and brothers Alfred and Charles Mundy - agreed to form a cricket club.Since then, it has grown to be a club of more than 130,000 members and has been a central figure in the funding and development of the MCG since the venue was built in 1853.
Coinciding with the club’s birthday came news of two significant achievements in the venue industry.
Customer service excellence honoured
The MCC has also been recognised for its commitment to putting fans first, being named "Customer Service Organisation of the Year – Large Organisation" at the Australian Service Excellence Awards.A range of customer service initiatives have been introduced in the last 12 months to improve the experience for the more than three million annual visitors to the iconic stadium.
These include:
• Launch of a revamped MCG app designed to assist match day patrons.
• Installation of WaitTime technology in the venue to better inform customers about available food and beverage offerings nearby and approximate queue times.
• Introduction of MCC Plus, a rewards program designed to further engage and benefit MCC members.
• Partnering with Traveller’s Aid to offer a shuttle service for mobility-impaired patrons attending MCG games during the 2018 AFL season.
The Australian Service Excellence Awards are overseen by the Customer Service Institute of Australia, which is Australia’s peak customer service body to provide education, certification and recognition to organisations and individuals in the field of service excellence.
More than 5000 people who influence the customer experience have been trained in the key habits, values and behaviours that the MCC has identified as being critical to great customer service.
Recycling first gains international recognition
At TheStadiumBusiness Awards Design and Development Awards in London overnight, the MCC took out first place in the “Innovation category”, edging out a number of venues in the UK, USA and Spain.The MCC “demonstrated genuine, industry-changing innovation” for becoming the first sporting venue to close the loop on organics recycling, with waste produced at the stadium treated in-house via an organics dehydrator.
“Disposal of waste and issues with landfill are a global problem and venues in particular generate substantial organic material,” said the award judges.
“The solution implemented at the MCG not only recycles this waste in-house, reducing costs and emissions associated with transport, but also turns it into a useful product that can benefit local environment and communities.”
The award comes off the back of previous recognition for the organics dehydrator at the Green Sports Alliance Awards in the USA.
A commitment to sustainability
To round out a hugely successful fortnight, the MCC won the "Contribution to Sustainability" award at the Melbourne Awards, presented by City of Melbourne, on November 17.The award celebrates “projects or activities that create a more environmentally sustainable city through advancements in sustainable innovation and design, or the development of new sustainable projects or programs”.
Thanks to comprehensive waste management policies implemented since 2016, there are few things at the stadium that don’t get recycled.
From introducing new waste streams and reimagining the use of the humble plastic bag, to investing in the organics dehydrator and implementing strict policies for materials brought into the venue, the MCC has invested heavily in sustainability efforts throughout the iconic stadium.
The club also congratulates MCG Trust member Ian Carson, and his wife Simone, on being named joint Melburnian of the Year at the Melbourne Awards for their tireless work with SecondBite over the past 15 years.
AUSTRALIA’S OLDEST SPORTING CLUBS
| Year |
Club |
State |
| 1838 | Melbourne Cricket Club |
Victoria |
| 1841 |
Launceston Cricket Club |
Tasmania |
| 1842 |
Brighton Cricket Club |
Victoria |
| 1842 | Australian Turf Club (formerly Australian Jockey Club) |
NSW |
| 1847 | Tasmanian Turf Club |
Tasmania |
| 1852 | Williamstown Cricket Club |
Victoria |
| 1853 | Royal Yacht Club of Victoria (formerly Port Phillip Yacht Club) |
Victoria |
| 1853 | Melbourne Hunt Club |
Victoria |
| 1854 |
Monash Tigers Cricket Club (formerly Richmond Cricket Club) |
Victoria |
| 1854 | Ballarat Turf Club (formerly Ballarat and Creswick Turf Club) |
Victoria |