Now the game we worship has been given its chance to exist on one of the main religious days on the calendar.

Self-proclaimed mad Bulldogs supporter Ben Bretherton said the Good Friday match was "the best decision the AFL has ever made".

"I've spent years going to the local footy in Hoppers Crossing every Good Friday so this even better," he said.

"I'm not religious at all so footy is about as close to religion as it comes for me."

A bumper crowd of 42,814 people made it to Etihad Stadium for the inaugural Good Friday AFL match between the Western Bulldogs and North Melbourne.

Lifelong North Melbourne supporter Roberta McQuillan said she had waited 30 years for the moment.

Ms McQuillan is attending the match with her son Andrew and grandchildren Oliver, 4, and Lily, 10, who are all passionate Bulldogs supporters.

Decked head to toe in blue and white, Ms McQuillan said it was "about time" the AFL jumped on board.

"I've been waiting for this for years," she said.

"I've never understood the fuss. It's a public holiday and you've got games like soccer already being played on Good Friday so why not AFL? If you want to go to church you can go to church, but if you want to watch the footy, well, I don't see a problem with that either."

The league predicted the match would be a resounding success, with AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan saying he hoped it would be a sellout.

However, McLachlan said there were no guarantees Western Bulldogs and North Melbourne would feature in the Good Friday match again next year. The pairing of the two Victorian teams, which typically draw crowds anywhere up to 30,000 people, would likely be reviewed if the match was not a sellout, McLachlan conceded.

Social media was rife with debate about the match, with some praising the decision by the AFL while others saying it was "disrespectful".

Some Twitter users lauded the decision by North Melbourne to donate $5 from every ticket sold to the annual Royal Children's Hospital Good Friday Appeal.

One Twitter user, Lee Milton, took aim at Channel Seven's decision to televise the football match over the annual Good Friday Appeal.

"I don't mind that the AFL have a match today but for Seven to stop showing the Good Friday Appeal for 3 hours to show the game is blasphemy," he said.

Another Twitter user, Leach Michele, said she'd be tuning out.

"I refuse to watch football on Good Friday, no matter who's playing," she said. "Extremely disrespectful."

Religious leaders condemned the AFL's decision to go ahead with the 4.20pm match, saying it ran in direct competition with the traditional afternoon mass.

Geelong Catholic priest Father Kevin Dillon said he would have preferred an evening match.

"The match should not be scheduled in direct competition with the reason the day is a public holiday," he said.

"It should be starting no earlier than 6pm."

Melbourne Catholic Archdiocese spokesman Shane Healy said clergy leaders remained disappointed by the decision but were "moving on".

"The fact is the Good Friday Appeal is a wonderful Melbourne event and does much good," Mr Healy said.

"The AFL is a huge part of our culture, but we felt the keenness for a game on Good Friday wasn't necessary.

"We had hoped if a game went ahead, it would be scheduled later in the day so it did not interfere with the very important church ceremonies traditionally held on this sacred day."

According to the 2011 Census, 61.1 per cent of Australians identify as Christian. It also revealed that of those, six out of seven do not regularly attend church services.

Anglican Bishop Philip Huggins described the match as a cash-grab, which took precedence over cultural traditions.

"The trouble with this approach to life is that the heart dies a little each time the relentless and commodifying logic of the market overwhelms all other considerations," he said.

"We are then left with a society full of products, but short of meaning."

In making the decision, the AFL said: "Society has changed in recent decades and the majority of football fans, who are our ultimate decision-makers, share the view of our clubs who have expressed their wish to play on this day."