AFL Grand Final

The AFL Grand Final is the annual Australian rules football match held to determine the Australian Football League premiers for that year.

In 2006, the Sweeney Sports Report concluded that the AFL Grand Final became Australia's most important sporting event^[1].

With an official attendance of 91,898 at the 2005 AFL Grand Final (reduced capacity due to redevelopment), it is one of the largest domestic club championship events in the world. The event has been sold out every year for decades, however attendances have wavered due to various re-development of the main venue, the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

The 2005 AFL Grand Final was watched by a television audience of more than 3.3 million people across five of Australia's most highly populated cities, including 1.2 million in Melbourne and 991,000 in Sydney.^[2]

The AFL Grand Final has been in the top 5 TV programmes across the five Australian mainland state capitals in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005, and was the top-rating sports programme in both 2004 and 2005.

History

The first VFL/AFL Grand Final was contested in the VFL's second season in 1898. In the previous year, the finals series had a round robin format.

Prize

The winner is presented with the AFL premiership cup and each victorious player is presented with a premiership medallion. The premiers are also awarded the premiership flag, a large pennant which is unfurled at the premiers' first home game of the following season. Although the cup features much more prominently in celebrations immediately following the Grand Final, the flag has far greater symbolic significance. This is particularly reflected in football parlance, in which one always speaks of a team winning the flag, rather than the cup ('Adelaide will win the flag this year', never 'Adelaide will win the cup this year').

A cash prize to the winning club of AUD$250,000 is also awarded. Following the Sydney Swans premiership in 2005, many clubs publicly questioned the prize money [1], which has not increased for many years and barely covers the cost of participation in the finals series. In contrast, the winner of the NAB Cup, the far less important pre-season competition, is currently awarded a similar amount, AUD$220,000.

The winner of the premiership typically experiences increased membership and sale of merchandise.

The player judged by a panel of experts to be the best afield during the Grand Final is awarded the Norm Smith Medal.

Qualification

The two Grand Finalists qualify via finals series play-offs at the end of the season. In the current system, the eight teams finishing highest on the ladder after all the home and away rounds qualify for the four-week long finals series culminating in the Grand Final. The team that finishes the regular season at the top of the ladder are said to have won the minor premiership and are awarded the relatively obscure McClelland Trophy.

Venues

The Grand Final is traditionally played in Melbourne at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. It has been played elsewhere only on a few occasions, being held at Lake Oval and the Junction Oval early in the league's history and Princes Park (Optus Oval) during World War II when the MCG was being used as barracks to house US Troops. When the MCG was being redeveloped in 1991, the Grand Final was contested at the AFL-owned Waverley Park.

The Grand Final has traditionally been played on the final Saturday in September each year and is referred to in popular Australian culture as the One day in September. The only exception to this was the 1989 Grand Final, this was due to a draw between the West Coast Eagles and Collingwood in the Preliminary Finals which led to a re-match the following week, thus delaying the Grand Final.

Over time the AFL (formerly VFL) has gradually become a national competition since the relocation of South Melbourne to Sydney and later admission of teams from Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide.

Of the current clubs, only Fremantle have never (as of the 2005 finals) made a Grand Final appearance. Defunct clubs which never made it include University and the old Brisbane Bears (although their successor, the Brisbane Lions have won three Grand Finals and lost a fourth.)

The first "interstate" (i.e., non-Victorian) team to play in the Grand Final were the West Coast Eagles, who lost in 1991 but came back to win their first Premiership in 1992. (The Swans had been in several Grand Finals before their move to Sydney in 1982, but always as the South Melbourne Swans: their first Grand Final appearance after their move to Sydney didn't come until 1996.) The first Grand Final matching two interstate teams was the 2004 contest where the Port Adelaide Power beat the Brisbane Lions 113-73.

Since the expansion of the league, the AFL Grand Final has become a truly national event. For the past five years the premiership has been won by teams outside of the game's traditional home of Victoria.

The 2005 Grand Final was officially regarded as the 109th Grand Final. Throughout history, Grand Finals were not staged in either of 1897 or 1924, with the premiership instead being awarded after a round robin amongst the top four teams; this accounts for 107 Grand Finals. An additional Grand Final was played in 1948 and 1977, each of which was necessitated by a tied Grand Final. These are generally referred to as Grand Final Replays or "Extra Finals", but count in the official tally of Grand Finals. Furthermore, under the Argus finals system which existed from 1900 until 1930, there being a designated Grand Final depended upon the minor premiers having not won the previous week's game, known as the Final: each final which decided the premiership had hence been reclassified a Grand Final retrospectively.

Recent History of the AFL Grand Final

**Results since 2000**
Year	Results	Crowd, Stadium
2005	Sydney Swans 8. 10. (58) def. West Coast Eagles 7. 12. (54)	91,828 (MCG)*
2004	Port Adelaide 17. 11. (113) def. Brisbane Lions 10. 13. (73)	77,671 (MCG)*
2003	Brisbane Lions 20. 14. (134) def Collingwood 12. 12. (84)	79,451 (MCG)*
2002	Brisbane Lions 10. 15. (75) def Collingwood 9. 12. (66)	91,817 (MCG)
2001	Brisbane Lions 15. 18. (108) def Essendon 12. 10. (82)	91,482 (MCG)
2000	Essendon 19. 21. (135) def Melbourne 11. 9. (75)	96,249 (MCG)

(* Capacity of ground reduced due to redevelopment for the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games)

For all Grand Final winners in the VFL/AFL, see List of Australian Football League premiers.

AFL Grand Final Sprint

A running race takes place several hours before the start of the Grand Final, between players that are not taking place in the Grand Final. It is conducted over several heats.

In 2005, the winner was Brett Deledio.

Entertainment

Over the years many big Australian and international stars have performed or appeared at the Grand Final. Notable entertainment includes:

1991: At VFL Park, Angry Anderson sang the song "Bound for Glory", appearing out of a Batmobile.
1994: The Seekers sang Advance Australia Fair.
1998: Muhammad Ali made an appearance at the 1998 Grand Final (although not performing).
2004: First Australian Idol, Guy Sebastian sang both "Waltzing Matilda" and "Advance Australia Fair"
2005: Silvie Paladino sang the national anthem, and was involved in controversy when Delta Goodrem expressed her interest at that role. However, an arrangement allowed Goodrem to sing "I Am Australian" on the day. Michael Buble and Dame Edna Everage also performed.

Music as a form of crowd entertainment has also been a long-standing tradition and is often used as a platform to launch local music talent. Australian performers such as Killing Heidi, The Whitlams, Frangipani and Kate Ceberano have all performed at AFL Grand Finals.

Tradition dictates that at every, or almost every, Grand Final, the following songs are performed, either by celebrity singers or choirs:

Waltzing Matilda
One or more of the following football songs, often in a medley:
- Up There Cazaly
- One Day in September
- That's The Thing About Football
- Holy Grail
- More Than a Game
Each team's club song (which is performed live, with the recorded version then played as the team enters the field, in the traditional fashion)
Advance Australia Fair

Advance Australia Fair is sung once the two teams and the umpires are on the field, and lined up on the wing.