The season featured sixteen clubs, ran from 26 March until 25 September, and comprised a 22-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top eight clubs.
The premiership was won by the Port Adelaide Football Club for the first time, after it defeated the Brisbane Lions by 40 points in the 2004 AFL Grand Final.
The Wizard Home Loans Cup final saw St Kilda defeat Geelong 1.14.5 (98) to 1.10.7 (76) in front of a crowd of 50,533.
The largest non-finals attendance was 60,898 people for the Collingwood v Carlton game in round 22.
Attendances during the season were affected by the ongoing reconstruction of the Ponsford, Olympic and Melbourne Cricket Club stands at the MCG to be ready for the 2006 Commonwealth Games.