Editing St Kilda Football Club (section)

===1990–1999: AFL era===
The league was officially renamed the [[Australian Football League]] prior to the start of the [[1990 AFL season|1990 premiership season]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The History of Australian Football |url=https://www.afl.com.au/about-afl/history |website=afl.com.au |access-date=16 October 2021 |language=en}}</ref>

A competitive [[1991 AFL season]] saw St Kilda qualify for a finals series for the first time since 1973, qualifying fourth at the end of the home and away rounds.<ref>{{cite news |title=Times Sport |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/122379945?searchTerm=St%20Kilda%201973 |access-date=16 October 2021 |work=Canberra Times |date=25 August 1991}}</ref> However, the club failed to win a final, being defeated by Geelong.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ainslie unhindered in path to final |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/122383062?searchTerm=St%20Kilda%20defeated |access-date=16 October 2021 |work=Canberra Times |date=9 September 1991}}</ref> St Kilda finally broke through the following year, winning its first finals series match since 1973 against Collingwood.<ref>{{cite news |title='Underdogs' end Magpies' run |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/126941056?searchTerm=St%20Kilda%20Collingwood |access-date=16 October 2021 |work=Canberra Times |date=6 September 1992}}</ref>

St Kilda won the [[1996 Ansett Australia Cup]] competition, also known as the pre-season cup. The team defeated Carlton in the final 20.10 (130) to 10.12 (72) in front of 66,888 people at Waverley Park. [[Nicky Winmar]] became the first St Kilda player to win the [[Michael Tuck Medal]] for best player on the ground in the 1996 Ansett Australia Cup Final.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://images.slatterymedia.com/image/?image_id=141079|title=AFL 1996 Ansett Cup Grand Final – St Kilda v Carlton|work=Slattery Media Group|date=23 March 1996|access-date=7 November 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716085627/http://images.slatterymedia.com/image/?image_id=141079|archive-date=16 July 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://images.slatterymedia.com/image/?image_id=141078|title= AFL 1996 Ansett Cup Grand Final – St Kilda v Carlton – Nicky Winmar of St Kilda with the trophy and his Michael Tuck Medal|work=Slattery Media Group|date=23 March 1996|access-date=7 November 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307133112/http://commercial.aflphotos.com.au/image/?image_id=141078|archive-date=7 March 2012}}</ref> Despite this success, the club failed to make the finals.<ref>{{cite web |title=Australian Football - AFL Premiership Season - Season 1996 |url=https://australianfootball.com/seasons/season/AFL/138/premiership%2Bseason/1/1/1996 |website=australianfootball.com |access-date=16 October 2021}}</ref>

In the [[1997 AFL season|1997 season]], St Kilda qualified for the finals series in first position at the end of the home and away rounds with 15 wins and 7 losses,<ref>{{cite web |title=Winding back the clock – Round 8, 1997 |url=https://www.saints.com.au/news/730659/winding-back-the-clock-round-8-1997 |website=saints.com.au |date=17 April 2013 |access-date=19 October 2021 |language=en}}</ref> winning the second minor premiership in the club's history.<ref>{{cite web |title=1990-1999: Heroes Emerge |url=https://www.saints.com.au/club/history/history-by-decade/1990-1999 |website=saints.com.au |date=4 March 2020 |access-date=19 October 2021 |language=en}}</ref> St Kilda defeated [[Brisbane Lions|Brisbane]] in the qualifying finals and North Melbourne in the preliminary finals to move through to the grand final. St Kilda finished second after being beaten in the [[1997 AFL Grand Final]] by Adelaide.<ref name=Mongrel>{{cite web |last1=Hunt |first1=Tim |title=The Best There Nearly Was - St Kilda 1997-2011 (Part One) |url=https://themongrelpunt.com/footy-history/2021/07/28/the-best-there-nearly-was-st-kilda-1997-2011-part-one/ |website=The Mongrel Punt |access-date=19 October 2021 |date=28 July 2021}}</ref>

The [[1998 AFL season|1998 season]] initially appeared to be equally strong for the club. After Round 14 of the season, St Kilda was on top of the ladder in Round 14 with eleven wins and three losses and were tipped as warm favourites for the premiership.<ref name=Mongrel/> However, the team's performance declined severely, losing six of their final eight matches to from first to sixth at the conclusion of the premiership season.<ref name=Mongrel/> After qualifying for the finals in consecutive seasons, St Kilda were defeated narrowly by Sydney in the qualifying finals and then eliminated comprehensively by Melbourne in the semi-finals.<ref name=Mongrel/>