The Commentators Club

The Commentators Club luncheon was formed in 1997 by an Australian Rules tragic with a simple concept - to gather a small group of friends and hold a long lunch in Melbourne and celebrate all things AFL the day before the biggest sporting day of the year - the AFL Grand Final. Following the success of the inaugural lunch held with just 30 friends and the loud call of 'lets do it again next year', the entertainment program improved and the luncheon rapidly grew with friends wanting to book tables and in turn invite their friends. Growing quickly the Commentators Club outgrew its original venue and had to move to a high quality venue capable of producing a very high quality luncheon for up to 400 people. This growth all occurred via word of mouth .... it pre-dates Facebook by six years! From 1998 onwards the Commentators Club has managed to generate funds in excess of what the luncheon costs. The easiest decision made was that we should 'invest' profits from the luncheon into a different grassroots charity each year. On behalf of our guests we've donated over $400,000 to a range of great (some lesser known) charities including: The Sacred Heart Mission, the N.I.C.K Foundation, TLC for Kids, Disabled Wintersports Association; FareShare, STREAT, 20th Man, The Y-House Foundation and SleepBus to name a few.