2000 AFL season
The 2000 AFL season was the 104th 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.
| 2000 AFL premiership season | |
|---|---|
| Date | 8 March—2 September 2000 |
| Teams | 16 |
| Premiers | Essendon 16th premiership |
| Runners-up | Melbourne 5th runners-up result |
| Minor premiers | Essendon 16th minor premiership |
| Pre-season cup | Essendon 4th pre-season cup win |
| Brownlow Medallist | Shane Woewodin (Melbourne) 24 votes |
| Coleman Medallist | Matthew Lloyd (Essendon) 94 goals |
| Attendance | |
| Matches played | 185 |
| Total attendance | 6,307,373 (34,094 per match) |
| Highest (H&A) | 91,571 (round 20, Carlton v Essendon) |
| Highest (finals) | 96,249 (grand final, Essendon v Melbourne) |
The season featured sixteen clubs. It ran from 8 March until 2 September, scheduled as the earliest season in history to avoid a clash with the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. The season comprised a 22-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top eight clubs.
The premiership was won by the Essendon Football Club for the 16th time, after it defeated Melbourne by 60 points in the AFL Grand Final. Essendon lost only one match for the season, its 24–1 season win-loss record standing as the best in the league's history.