Carlton Football Club has today welcomed the release of the 2018 AFL fixture, with the Blues featuring in a strong balance of blockbuster clashes and traditional time slots throughout the season.
The Club will strengthen its return to Friday night football in 2018 with four scheduled games against Collingwood, Western Bulldogs, Sydney Swans and St Kilda, and will once again open the AFL campaign in the blockbuster clash against traditional rival Richmond on Thursday 22 March at the MCG.
President Mark LoGiudice said, “Overall, we are pleased with the 2018 fixture and believe our supporters will be very satisfied with it too.”
“We are excited to be facing two traditional rivals in both Richmond and Collingwood within the first three rounds of the season on a Thursday and Friday night respectively, in blockbuster time slots.
“Pleasingly, we have drawn strong home games at the MCG with match-ups against Essendon and Melbourne which will no doubt attract large crowd numbers. Our supporters will welcome the news that we will again host Collingwood in a home game at the MCG, which was a glaring omission from our 2017 fixture.
“This fixture also returns Carlton to prime-time, free-to-air coverage on a number of occasions during the year.
“Importantly the fixture provides our families and young supporters, family-friendly games across a Saturday and Sunday afternoon time slot. We will celebrate the 50th anniversary of our 1968 premiership team against arch-rival Essendon at the MCG on Saturday 12 May at 2:10pm.”
The Blues will play six home games at Etihad Stadium next year, one more than in 2017.
“Our stadium negotiations have resulted in the Club securing a sixth game at Etihad Stadium which will return a significant financial outcome for the Club,” LoGiudice said.
“Subsequently, the financial benefits will allow further investment into our football program.”
Carlton will play six interstate games in 2018, travelling to play Adelaide for the first time since 2010, Sydney, Perth, Gold Coast, Brisbane, and for the first time in the Club’s history to Blundstone Arena in Hobart to face North Melbourne in Round 4.
“Our interstate supporters are also key beneficiaries of the fixture, with six games across five states in 2018. We receive wonderful support from our fan base across the nation and we will continue to build that sense of belonging to the Club with our interstate members next year,” he said.
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