1997 AFL season

For the 1997 season of the Arena Football League, see 1997 Arena Football League season.

The 1997 AFL season was the 101st season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season ran from 27 March until 27 September, and comprised a 22-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top eight clubs.

1997 AFL premiership season
Teams	16
Premiers	Adelaide 1st premiership
Minor premiers	St Kilda 2nd minor premiership
Pre-season cup	Carlton 1st pre-season cup win
Brownlow Medallist	Robert Harvey (St Kilda) 26 votes
Leading goalkicker	Tony Modra (Adelaide) 84 goals
Attendance
Matches played	185
Total attendance	6,403,814 (34,615 per match)
Highest (H&A)	83,247 (round 5, Essendon vs. Collingwood)
Highest (finals)	99,645 (Grand Final, Adelaide vs. St Kilda)

Before the season, the Port Adelaide Football Club (SANFL) was admitted to the league, increasing the South Australian membership to two clubs. Foundation club Fitzroy, which had gone into administration in 1996, merged with the Brisbane Bears to form a new Queensland-based team known as the Brisbane Lions. The Footscray Football Club changed its name to the Western Bulldogs. With these changes, the league's size remained at sixteen clubs.

The premiership was won by the Adelaide Football Club for the first time, after it defeated St Kilda by 31 points in the 1997 AFL Grand Final.

Home-and-away season

Round 1

	Round 1
Thursday, 27 March (7:40 pm)	North Melbourne 7.13 (55)	def. by	Melbourne 10.10 (70)	MCG (crowd: 35,802)	Report
Saturday, 29 March (2:10 pm)	Collingwood 26.10 (166)	def.	Port Adelaide 13.9 (87)	MCG (crowd: 51,883)	Report
Saturday, 29 March (2:10 pm)	Western Bulldogs 11.10 (76)	def. by	Fremantle 10.20 (80)	Optus Oval (crowd: 8,664)	Report
Saturday, 29 March (7:40 pm)	St Kilda 10.11 (71)	def. by	Hawthorn 11.11 (77)	Waverley Park (crowd: 35,732)	Report
Saturday, 29 March (6:40 pm)	West Coast 12.6 (78)	def.	Sydney 5.7 (37)	Subiaco Oval (crowd: 29,965)	Report
Sunday, 30 March (1:40 pm)	Adelaide 20.12 (132)	def.	Brisbane Lions 14.12 (96)	Football Park (crowd: 36,602)	Report
Sunday, 30 March (2:10 pm)	Richmond 15.14 (104)	def.	Geelong 13.17 (95)	MCG (crowd: 48,358)	Report
Monday, 31 March (2:10 pm)	Essendon 16.10 (106)	def.	Carlton 15.9 (99)	MCG (crowd: 82,363)	Report
Port Adelaide endured a disappointing AFL debut at the MCG in front of over 50,000 spectators, with Collingwood jumping out to a 22-point lead at quarter time and extending the lead at each change to run out comfortable 79-point winners. Speedy midfielder Paul Williams was considered best-on-ground with 30 touches and 4 goals, while Nathan Buckley (who won a Magarey with Port in the SANFL) racked up 23 kicks and Saverio Rocca made the most of limited opportunities to kick six goals. For Port, Donald Dickie (26 touches), Fabian Francis (20 touches, 2 goals) and eventual Rising Star winner Michael Wilson were among Port's better players. The Easter Monday clash between Essendon and Carlton is best remembered not for its close finish but for what happened after the game. The ongoing feud between Sean Denham and Greg Williams (which had stemmed from the 1993 Grand final) had reached a critical point, with both players engaged in a heated argument before umpire Andrew Coates tried to intervene, only to be pushed away by Williams. Despite the innocuous nature of the contact, the AFL Tribunal suspended Williams for nine matches. The incident was one of football's major talking points that year, leading to a Supreme Court battle between Carlton and the AFL, and eventually the establishment of the AFL Appeals Board.

Ladder

(P)	Premiers
	Qualified for finals

#	Team	P	W	L	D	PF	PA	%	Pts
1	St Kilda	22	15	7	0	2294	1918	119.6	60
2	Geelong	22	15	7	0	2111	1791	117.9	60
3	Western Bulldogs	22	14	8	0	2100	2062	101.8	56
4	Adelaide (P)	22	13	9	0	2151	1769	121.6	52
5	West Coast	22	13	9	0	1969	1770	111.2	52
6	Sydney	22	12	10	0	2093	1801	116.2	48
7	North Melbourne	22	12	10	0	2051	1835	111.8	48
8	Brisbane Lions	22	10	11	1	2076	1973	105.2	42
9	Port Adelaide	22	10	11	1	1852	2017	91.8	42
10	Collingwood	22	10	12	0	2138	1919	111.4	40
11	Carlton	22	10	12	0	1978	2045	96.7	40
12	Fremantle	22	10	12	0	1748	1902	91.9	40
13	Richmond	22	10	12	0	1883	2253	83.6	40
14	Essendon	22	9	13	0	2004	2170	92.4	36
15	Hawthorn	22	8	14	0	1873	2144	87.4	32
16	Melbourne	22	4	18	0	1477	2429	60.8	16

Rules for classification: 1. premiership points; 2. percentage; 3. points for
Average score: 90.3
Source: AFL Tables

Progression by round

  Numbers highlighted in green indicate that the team finished the round inside the top 8.

  Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the team finished first on the ladder in that round.

  Numbers highlighted in red indicates the team finished in last place on the ladder in that round.

Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22
St Kilda	0	0	4	4	4	8	12	16	20	20	24	28	28	32	32	36	40	44	48	52	56	60
Geelong	0	4	4	8	12	16	20	24	24	28	28	28	32	36	40	44	44	48	48	52	56	60
Western Bulldogs	0	4	8	12	12	16	20	20	24	28	32	32	36	40	40	40	40	40	44	48	52	56
Adelaide	4	4	4	4	8	8	12	16	20	24	28	28	28	32	36	36	40	44	48	48	52	52
West Coast	4	4	8	12	16	16	20	20	24	24	24	28	28	28	32	32	36	40	44	48	48	52
Sydney	0	0	4	8	8	12	12	12	16	16	20	24	28	28	32	36	40	44	44	48	48	48
North Melbourne	0	4	4	4	8	12	12	16	16	20	24	28	28	28	28	32	36	40	44	44	48	48
Brisbane Lions	0	4	4	8	8	8	8	8	12	16	16	20	24	28	32	36	36	40	40	42	42	42
Port Adelaide	0	0	4	8	12	16	16	16	20	24	24	28	32	32	32	36	40	40	40	42	42	42
Collingwood	4	8	8	8	12	16	20	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	28	28	32	32	32	36	36	40
Carlton	0	0	4	8	8	8	12	16	20	20	24	24	28	28	28	32	32	32	36	36	40	40
Fremantle	4	8	8	8	12	12	16	20	20	20	20	24	24	28	28	32	36	36	40	40	40	40
Richmond	4	8	8	12	12	12	12	16	16	16	20	20	20	20	24	24	24	28	28	32	36	40
Essendon	4	8	12	12	12	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	20	24	24	24	24	24	28	28	32	36
Hawthorn	4	4	8	8	12	12	12	12	12	16	20	24	28	32	32	32	32	32	32	32	32	32
Melbourne	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	8	8	8	8	8	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	16

Source:

Finals series

Week one

	Qualifying finals
QF2: Saturday, 6 September (2:30 pm)	Western Bulldogs 18.11 (119)	def.	Sydney 12.12 (84)	MCG (crowd: 62,432)	Report
QF1: Sunday, 7 September (2:30 pm)	Adelaide 14.15 (99)	def.	West Coast 9.12 (66)	Football Park (crowd: 43,761)	Report
QF4: Sunday, 7 September (2:30 pm)	St Kilda 20.15 (135)	def.	Brisbane Lions 13.11 (89)	Waverley Park (crowd: 50,035)	Report
QF3: Sunday, 7 September (7:00 pm)	Geelong 9.7 (61)	def. by	North Melbourne 11.13 (79)	MCG (crowd: 55,561)	Report
The St Kilda versus Brisbane Lions finals match was the last ever finals match to be played at Waverley Park. The Adelaide versus West Coast match was originally scheduled as a night match on Saturday, but to avoid a television conflict with the funeral of Princess Diana, the game was rescheduled as a Sunday afternoon fixture.

Week two

	Semi-finals
SF1: Saturday, 13 September (2:30 pm)	North Melbourne 15.8 (98)	def.	West Coast 12.13 (85)	MCG (crowd: 55,781)	Report
SF2: Saturday, 13 September (7:45 pm)	Adelaide 11.10 (76)	def.	Geelong 9.14 (68)	Football Park (crowd: 46,319)	Report
The Adelaide versus Geelong semi final was notable due to an incident in the third quarter, when a clear forward 50 mark to Geelong's Leigh Colbert was not awarded by field umpire Grant Vernon, denying Geelong a crucial shot at goal. This incident was later confirmed as a significant error by the AFL umpiring association, and Grant Vernon was not selected to umpire in any remaining 1997 finals matches as a result.

Week three

	Preliminary finals
PF2: Friday, 19 September (7:45 pm)	St Kilda 15.14 (104)	def.	North Melbourne 11.7 (73)	MCG (crowd: 77,531)	Report
PF1: Saturday, 20 September (2:30 pm)	Western Bulldogs 13.13 (91)	def. by	Adelaide 12.21 (93)	MCG (crowd: 70,088)	Report

Week four

Main article: 1997 AFL Grand Final

	Grand final
Saturday, 27 September (2:45 pm)	St Kilda 13.16 (94)	def. by	Adelaide 19.11 (125)	MCG (crowd: 99,645)	Report
This was the first appearance in a grand final for Adelaide.

Attendance

Team	Hosted	Average	Highest	Lowest	Total	Last Season	+/-
Essendon	11	52,848	83,271	25,636	581,330	49,526	+ 3322
Collingwood	11	48,708	78,704	23,433	535,789	44,723	+ 3985
Adelaide	11	40,173	47,256	36,297	441,905	39,428	+ 745
Port Adelaide	11	35,829	45,498	31,757	394,115	11,017*	+ 24812*
Sydney	11	35,818	46,168	23,598	393,999	24,574	+ 11244
St Kilda	11	35,232	54,699	17,752	387,553	27,137	+ 8095
Richmond	11	34,515	58,812	15,461	379,670	38,624	- 4109
Carlton	11	33,634	61,650	18,187	369,972	35,891	- 2257
West Coast	11	32,582	39,294	21,164	358,401	32,448	+ 134
North Melbourne	11	32,520	54,901	13,056	357,725	34,627	- 2107
Hawthorn	11	32,380	51,494	15,939	356,179	23,624	+ 8756
Geelong	11	28,324	65,228	16,467	311,567	25,161	+ 3163
Melbourne	11	27,714	61,138	13,392	304,853	30,315	- 2601
Fremantle	11	21,982	39,711	14,721	241,801	22,473	- 491
Brisbane Lions	11	19,550	21,348	17,123	215,051	N/A	N/A
Western Bulldogs	11	19,335	35,438	8664	212,681	18,073	+ 1262
Totals	176	33,197	83,271	8664	5842,591	29,637	+ 3560

Venue	Hosted	Average	Highest	Lowest	Total	Last Season	+/-
MCG	53	43,488	83,271	13,392	2,304,865	46,114	- 2626
Football Park	22	38,001	47,256	31,757	836,020	39,428	- 1427
SCG	11	35,818	46,168	23,598	393,999	24,574	+ 11,244
Waverley Park	22	33,806	54,699	15,939	743,732	25,545	+ 8261
Subiaco Oval	17	28,371	39,711	14,721	482,310	28,289	+ 82
Whitten Oval	1	26,704	26,704	26,704	26,704	10,482	+ 16,222
Victoria Park	3	24,473	25,323	23,433	73,419	23,581	+ 892
WACA	5	23,578	29,838	18,198	117,892	25,253	- 1675
Kardinia Park	9	21,269	24,099	16,467	191,417	22,670	- 1401
Optus Oval	22	20,781	34,922	8664	457,182	15,641	+ 5140
Gabba	11	19,550	21,348	17,123	215,051	18,088	+ 1462
Totals	176	33,197	83,271	8664	5842,591	29,637	+ 3560

Notable events

• The last AFL regular season game at Whitten Oval was played in Round 21, with hosts the Western Bulldogs defeating West Coast by 18 points.
• St Kilda finished on top of the ladder (prior to the finals) to claim the minor premiership, despite losing 7 matches in the home and away season. No team before or since has finished on top with that many losses, which highlights the evenness of the 1997 season. St Kilda would also play in their first preliminary final since 1972 and reach their first grand final since 1971.
• The first qualifying final between Adelaide and West Coast was rescheduled from Saturday evening to Sunday afternoon to allow the Seven Network to screen the funeral of Princess Diana live across Australia. This meant that it was played at the same time as the fourth qualifying final between minor premiers St Kilda and the Brisbane Lions, who were competing in their first season as a merged entity. The game is also notable for being the first ever final between two non-Victorian teams.
• Gary Ablett Sr., arguably one of the games best and most well known players, officially announced his retirement during the Preliminary Final weekend. Ablett failed to play a game in 1997 due to a knee injury.

Sources

• 1997 AFL season at AFL Tables
• 1997 AFL season at Australian Football