1999 AFL First Preliminary Final
| 1999 AFL First Preliminary Final | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Date | 18 September 1999 | ||||
| Stadium |
Melbourne Cricket Ground Melbourne |
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| Attendance | 80,519 | ||||
| Broadcast in Australia | |||||
| Network | Seven Network | ||||
The 1999 AFL First Preliminary Final was an Australian rules football match contested between the Essendon Bombers and the Carlton Blues at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 18 September 1999. It was staged as part of the 1999 AFL finals series to determine which of the two clubs would qualify for that season's Grand Final.
Essendon entered the match as heavy favourites, but Carlton recorded a narrow upset victory by one point. The match has become one of the most significant moments in the traditional rivalry between the Carlton and Essendon Football Clubs.
The 1999 AFL season was contested by sixteen clubs between March and September 1999. The top eight clubs qualified for the finals series, which was conducted under the McIntyre final eight system.
Essendon had been the best team throughout the season. The club finished the home-and-away season as the minor premiers, with a win-loss record of 18–4. Essendon comfortably beat eighth seed Sydney by 69 points in the qualifying final, earning a bye in the second week of the finals to advance directly to the preliminary final. Entering the match, Essendon had won eight matches in a row.
Carlton, during the home-and-away season, had struggled to reach the finals. After its Round 16 match, a 76-point loss against Essendon, Carlton sat tenth on the ladder, and coach David Parkin publicly called his side a "B-grade team". Eventually, Carlton finished sixth with a win-loss record of 12–10. In its qualifying final at the Gabba, Carlton was comprehensively beaten by third seed Brisbane Lions by 73 points; but Carlton was not eliminated because the seventh and eighth seeds had both lost their qualifying finals. In the semi-final the following week, Carlton defeated fifth seed West Coast by 54 points to progress to the preliminary final; West Coast was the home team, but due to a contract between the AFL and the Melbourne Cricket Club, the match was played at the M.C.G. in Melbourne, instead of Subiaco Oval in Perth.
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