1996 AFL season

1996 AFL premiership season
AFL Centenary logo
Teams16
PremiersNorth Melbourne
3rd premiership
Minor premiersSydney
7th minor premiership
Pre-season cupSt Kilda
1st pre-season cup win
Brownlow MedallistJames Hird (Essendon)
Michael Voss (Brisbane Bears)
Coleman MedallistTony Lockett (Sydney)
Attendance
Matches played185
Total attendance5,694,921 (30,783 per match)
Highest93,102 (Grand Final, North Melbourne vs. Sydney)

The 1996 AFL season was the 100th 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. The season featured sixteen clubs and ran from 29 March until 28 September, comprising a 22-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series.

North Melbourne won the premiership for the third time, after it defeated Sydney by 43 points in the 1996 AFL Grand Final.

The season was notable as the final for Fitzroy, a founding member of the VFL/AFL in 1897, as well as for several celebrations of the league's centenary throughout the year.