'There is no other ground in the world of comparable size or significance that is as close to the centre business district as the MCG.'

'The MCG is a landmark and icon, and it belongs to the people.'

When Ray Weinberg arrived at boarding school in Melbourne in 1940 he heard for the first time about something called the Olympic Games. Before the decade was out he got to know about the Olympics first-hand, representing his country as a sprint hurdler. He competed at the 1948 and 1952 Olympic Games, and coached the outstanding Australian athletics team at the Mexico City Games of 1968.

A badly-timed eye affliction stymied his hopes of competing on the Melbourne Cricket Ground at the 1956 Olympics. However the venerable stadium is now his second home. The sprightly octogenarian is a guide at the MCG, steering visitors around the vast venue and sharing stories and insights about the great ground’s history. Despite his firm grasp on the past, he is enthusiastic about the present and the future.

‘I liked the MCG as it was (before it was rebuilt) and I like it even more now,’ he says. ‘The facilities provided are outstanding right around the ground, not just in the Members. It is the people’s ground, and we are enormously fortunate to have it.’