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Sport & Recreation

The Europeans who arrived in Port Phillip in 1835 brought with them established practices of labour that assumed times of rest. The gradual adoption of an Eight Hour Day from 1856 and a compulsory half-day holiday on Saturday demarcated the week firmly into work and leisure for the waged labour force. Civic authorities, drawing on British precedent, fixed ideas of leisure and recreation in the physical environment through the allocation of space and resources.

Melbourne has a reputation for being the 'sporting capital' of Australia (even the world), and there are some historical grounds for this claim. While the sporting obsessions of Australians in general have often been commented on by international observers, and regularly documented by domestic writers, the people of Melbourne seem to have a particular passion for both watching and playing sport.

See also

Anti-Football League
Archery
Athletics
Australian Gallery of Sport and Olympic Museum
Australian Open Tennis Championships
Australian Racing Museum
Ballooning
Baseball
Basketball
Betting and Gambling
Billiards, Snooker and Pool
Bocce
Boxing
Calder Park Thunderdome
Carbine Club
Carlton Football Club
Caulfield Cup
Caulfield Racecourse
Collingwood Football Club
Cricket
Croquet
Cruises
Deep Rock
Eight Hours' Day Movement
Essendon Football Club
Fishing
Fitzroy Football Club
Flemington Racecourse
Football, Australian Rules
Footscray Football Club
Golf
Grand Final (AFL)
Grand Prix (Australian Formula One)
Greyhound Racing
Gyms and Gymnastics
Harness Racing
Hawthorn Football Club
Head of the River
Hockey
Horseracing
Hunting
Kooyong Tennis Stadium
Labour
Lacrosse
Lawn Bowls
Leisure and Recreation
Martial Arts
Media, Sports
Melbourne Cricket Club
Melbourne Cricket Ground
Melbourne Cup
Melbourne Football Club
Melbourne Marathon
Melbourne Park
Moonee Valley Racecourse
Motor Sport
Netball
North Melbourne Football Club
Olympic Games
Olympic Park
Phar Lap
Richmond Football Club
Riding Schools and Clubs
Rowing and Sculling
Royal Melbourne Golf Club
Sandown Racecourse
Skating
Soccer
South Melbourne Football Club
Sport, University
Sporting Culture
Sports Grounds and Venues
Squash
St Kilda Football Club
State Swimming Centre
Surf-Lifesaving
Swimming and Diving
Tennis
Tenpin Bowling
Trugo
Victorian Amateur Football Association
Victorian Football Association
Victorian Institute of Sport
Victorian Women's Football League
Waverley Park
Wrestling
Yachting