The North Melbourne Grand Final Breakfast is a breakfast function organised by the North Melbourne Football Club on the morning of the AFL Grand Final . The breakfast marks the traditional beginning to Grand Final day and is one of the biggest social highlights on the Australian sporting calendar. Watching the event is a ritual for many footy fans, and the function plays a huge role in the pre-match build-up for the Grand Final.
5-501: The first Grand Final Breakfast was held in 1967 at the Southern Cross hotel, as a valuable fundraising event. The inaugural guest speaker was the VFL's Administrative director Eric McCutchan . The event rose to prominence in the 1970s when the breakfast began to be televised across Victoria , and it was officially endorsed by the VFL as the official pre-match Grand Final function. Since then,
10-495: A 'who's who' of Australian business, sport, entertainment and politics. The breakfast includes a Grand Auction, with all proceeds being donated to the Starlight Children's Foundation . Former Prime Minister Bob Hawke described the event as “one of this nation’s great traditions”. Paul Keating referred to the function as “a tradition in itself” Prime Minister John Howard described it as “a tremendous institution …. and
15-503: The VFL, and from 1956 he was Secretary, a position he held until 1965. He was administrative director from 1966 to 1976. He played a major role in the development of Waverley Park . He presented the premiership Cup to Hawthorn after the 1991 Grand Final – the only Grand Final played at Waverley. McCutchan was inducted to the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1996. He was educated at Wesley College, Melbourne . He
20-512: The event has grown into a significant fundraiser for North Melbourne, and the guest list has grown to include prime ministers, state premiers, and other celebrities. Although many clubs hold their own Grand Final Breakfasts , the North Melbourne Breakfast was the first breakfast and is currently the only breakfast to be officially endorsed by the AFL . This ensures a guest list that reads as
25-471: The most eclectic gathering of people you could possibly imagine”. Eric McCutchan Eric Oswald McCutchan OBE (1913 – 22 November 1991) was a leading Australian rules football administrator in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Beginning his administrative career with the VFL in 1932, McCutchan gave 44 years service to the league. From 1945 to 1955 he was Assistant Secretary of
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