1997 AFL season

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

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
Wooden spooners	Melbourne 10th wooden spoon
Brownlow Medallist	Robert Harvey (St Kilda)
Leading goalkicker	Tony Modra (Adelaide)
Attendance
Matches played	185
Total attendance	6,402,997 (34,611 per match)
Highest	99,645 (Grand Final, Adelaide vs. St Kilda)

The 1997 Australian Football League season was the 101st season of the elite Australian rules football competition and the 8th under the name 'Australian Football League', having switched from 'Victorian Football League' after 1989.

This season is notable for the admission of the Port Adelaide Football Club, and the merger of the Brisbane Bears and Fitzroy to form the Brisbane Lions. Before the start of the 1997 season, Footscray changed its name to the Western Bulldogs.

1997 is also notable for being one of the most evenly contested seasons in the AFL's recent history. With five rounds remaining, only three wins separated first placed Geelong (11 wins) and 13th placed Hawthorn (8 wins). St Kilda won the minor premiership with 15 wins and 7 losses; however, the competition was won by Adelaide who had come fourth after the minor round with 13 wins and 9 losses. This was the first instance of a side winning four consecutive finals matches to claim the Premiership. The Western Bulldogs would also accomplish this feat in 2016.

Ladder

1997 AFL ladder

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	D	PF	PA	PP	Pts
1	St Kilda	22	15	7	0	2294	1918	119.6	60	Finals
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

Source: AFL ladder
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for.
(P) Premiers

Ladder progression

  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:

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	N/A	N/A
Sydney	11	35,818	46,168	23,598	393,999	24,574	+ 11,244
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 game at Whitten Oval was played.
• 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.

References

• 1997 Season - AFL Tables

See also

• 1997 AFL Grand Final