The 2020

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

finals series was the 124th annual edition of the VFL/AFL finals series, the

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

tournament staged to determine the winner of the 2020 AFL premiership season. The series was scheduled to be played over 4 weekends in October, culminating in the

2020 AFL Grand Final The 2020 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football match contested between and at the Gabba in Brisbane, Queensland, on Saturday 24 October 2020. It was the 125th annual Grand Final of the Australian Football League (formerly the Vict ...

on 24 October 2020. The top eight teams from the 2020 AFL Premiership season qualified for the finals series. AFL finals series have been played under the current format since 2000.

Qualification

Venues

In the lead-up to the finals series, all of the league's Victorian and New South Wales clubs had been based temporarily in Queensland for more than three months, owing to border controls and quarantine restrictions during the pandemic which made travel into and out of those states impractical. These restrictions continued into the finals series, meaning Victorian and New South Wales venues were unavailable, although the latter was moot as neither of the New South Wales clubs qualified. Additionally, Western Australian border crossings still required a period of quarantine; due to the bye week between Round 18 and the first week of the finals, it was possible to stage a finals match in the first week of the finals after observing the quarantine, but not possible to play in any later weeks; this was again moot, as West Coast finished fifth and could not qualify for a home final after the first week. As such, finals venues were limited to Adelaide Oval (South Australia), the Gabba and Metricon Stadium (Queensland) and, in the first week only,

Optus Stadium Perth Stadium, currently known as Optus Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in Perth, Western Australia, located in the suburb of Burswood. It was completed in late 2017 and officially opened on 21 January 2018. The s ...

(Western Australia). Clubs entitled to home finals but unable to play in their home states were given the opportunity to nominate a preferred venue for their finals games. The Grand Final was scheduled in advance to be played at the Gabba, irrespective of the teams involved. It was the first time that the Grand Final had been played outside Victoria.

Matches

The system used for the 2020 AFL finals series is a final eight system. The top four teams in the eight receive the "double chance" when they play in week-one qualifying finals, such that if a top-four team loses in the first week it still remains in the finals, playing a semi-final the next week against the winner of an elimination final. The bottom four of the eight play knock-out games – only the winners survive and move on to the next week. Home-state advantage ordinarily goes to the team with the higher ladder position in the first two weeks, to the qualifying final winners in the third week, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some states are unable to host matches. In the second week, the losers of the qualifying finals play the elimination finals winners in a semi-final, while the winners of the qualifying finals receive byes. In the third week, the winners of the semi-finals play the winners of the qualifying finals. The winners of those matches move on to the Grand Final.

Week One (Qualifying and Elimination finals)

First Qualifying final (Port Adelaide vs Geelong)

The first qualifying final saw minor premier host fourth placed . This marked the fourth final between the two sides, having previously met in a semi-final in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

, qualifying final in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, and, most notably, the 2007 Grand Final, which was won by Geelong by a record-breaking 119-point margin, which stands as the record to this day. ;Scorecard

Second Qualifying Final (Brisbane Lions vs Richmond)

The Second Qualifying Final saw second-placed play third-placed . This marked the second straight season the two teams met in the Second Qualifying Final, with Richmond defeating the Lions by 47 points in

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

en route to their second premiership in three years. In addition, they had also played in a preliminary final in

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, which Brisbane won by 68 points en route to their first of three consecutive premierships. ;Scorecard

Second Elimination Final (St Kilda vs Western Bulldogs)

The Second Elimination Final saw sixth placed host the seventh placed . This marked the fifth final between the two teams, having previously clashed in consecutive preliminary finals in

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

and

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

in addition to semi finals in

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

and

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

. ;Scorecard

First Elimination Final (West Coast vs Collingwood)

The First Elimination final saw fifth-placed host eighth-placed . This marked the ninth final between the two sides, having previously contested a qualifying final and replay in 1990, a qualifying final in 1994, a semi final in 2007, a qualifying final in 2011, a semi-final in 2012 and both a

qualifying final The Australian Football League finals series, more generally known as the AFL finals, and known from 1897 until 1989 as the Victorian Football League finals series or VFL finals, is a playoff tournament held at the end of each AFL season to deter ...

and grand final in 2018. ;Scorecard

Week Two (Semi-Finals)

Second Semi-Final (Richmond vs St Kilda)

The Second Semi-Final saw host . This was just the fourth final between the two teams and the first in 47 years, having previously clashed in semi-finals in

1939 This year also marks the start of the Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Third Reich *** Jews are forbidden to ...

and

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

, in addition to a preliminary final in

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

. ;Scorecard

First Semi-Final (Geelong vs Collingwood)

The First Semi-Final saw play . This marked the twenty-fifth final between the two sides - having met in six grand finals in

1925 Events January * January 1 ** The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini makes a pivotal speech in the Italia ...

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be ...

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Fe ...

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito i ...

and

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

. In addition they had contested a qualifying final the previous season and in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

, semi finals in

1901 Events January * January 1 – The Crown colony, British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria (Australia), Victoria and Western Australia Federation of Australia, federate as the Australia, ...

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith becomes the first Director-General. * January 7 * ...

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

, and preliminary finals in

1938 Events January * January 1 ** The Constitution of Estonia#Third Constitution (de facto 1938–1940, de jure 1938–1992), new constitution of Estonia enters into force, which many consider to be the ending of the Era of Silence and the a ...

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

and

. ;Scorecard

Week Three (Preliminary finals)

First Preliminary Final (Port Adelaide vs Richmond)

The First Preliminary Final saw face . This marked the second finals meeting between the two sides, after the 2014 First Elimination Final, which Port Adelaide won by 57 points. ;Scorecard

Second Preliminary Final (Brisbane Lions vs Geelong)

The Second Preliminary Final was contested between Brisbane and

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...

. This was the second final played between the two sides, having also met in a preliminary final in

, which Brisbane won by 9 points. ;Scorecard

Week Four (Grand Final)

This was only the third time in AFL/VFL history where neither of the two top qualifying teams made the grand final. The previous two occasions occurred in

and the previous year,

. were also involved in both of those Grand Finals. This marked the third Grand Final between the two teams, having previously met in the

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

and

premiership deciders. Including those two Grand Finals, this marked the twelfth final between the two sides, having also previously met in semi-finals in

1921 Events January * January 2 ** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in First Brazilian Republic, Brazil. ** The Spanish lin ...

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

and

; preliminary finals in

1933 Events January * January 11 – Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independence, against the wis ...

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

and

; and a qualifying final in

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

. The overall head-to-head record in finals prior to this match was 9–2 in Richmond's favour, with one Grand Final victory apiece.

References

External links

AFL finals series official website
{{2020 AFL season Finals Series, 2020