1997 AFL Grand Final
| 1997 AFL Grand Final | ||||||||||||||||
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The Melbourne Cricket Ground, where the 1997 AFL Grand Final took place.
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| Date | 27 September 1997 | |||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Melbourne Cricket Ground | |||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 99,645 | |||||||||||||||
| Umpires | Hayden Kennedy (7), Bryan Sheehan (9), Mark Nash (14) | |||||||||||||||
| Ceremonies | ||||||||||||||||
| Pre-match entertainment | Marina Prior | |||||||||||||||
| National anthem | Marina Prior | |||||||||||||||
| Accolades | ||||||||||||||||
| Norm Smith Medallist | Andrew McLeod (Adelaide) | |||||||||||||||
| Jock McHale Medallist | Malcolm Blight | |||||||||||||||
| Broadcast in Australia | ||||||||||||||||
| Network | Seven Network | |||||||||||||||
| Commentators | Bruce McAvaney, Dennis Cometti and Sandy Roberts | |||||||||||||||
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The 1997 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Adelaide Football Club and the St Kilda Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 27 September 1997. It was the 101st annual Grand Final of the Australian Football League (formerly the Victorian Football League), staged to determine the premiers for the 1997 AFL season. The match, attended by 99,645 spectators, was won by Adelaide by a margin of 31 points, marking that club's first premiership victory.
The 1997 Grand Final saw the Saints playing in their first premiership decider since losing the 1971 VFL Grand Final, whilst the Crows were appearing in their first Grand Final since entering the competition in 1991.
At the conclusion of the home and away season, St Kilda had finished first on the AFL ladder with 15 wins and 7 losses, winning the McClelland Trophy. They had won their last seven matches. Adelaide, with former Woodville and North Melbourne star Malcolm Blight taking over as coach, had finished fourth (behind Geelong and the Western Bulldogs) with 13 wins and 9 losses. They had made the finals for only the second time in their club history, after losing in a preliminary final in 1993 to eventual premiers Essendon. Tony Modra was the club's leading goalkicker for the fifth straight season with a total of 84.
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