THE AFL has recorded its second highest single-round attendance in history, with a total of 391,980 fans turning out across the nine games of round five – just 8,421 short of the all-time best.

A bumper crowd of 87,685 passed through the gates for Tuesday's traditional Anzac Day blockbuster between Essendon and Collingwood at the MCG.

The previous night, a larger than expected crowd of 85,657 watched Richmond make its best start to a season in 22 years in the Anzac Day eve clash against Melbourne at the MCG.

It was the biggest crowd the Demons had played in front of since the 2000 Grand Final.

The League registered its all-time record of 400,401 in round one this year, smashing the previous best of 371,212 in round 15, 2013.

In other attendances in round five: 43,120 fans flocked to Adelaide Oval to see Port Adelaide demolish Carlton, 34,824 saw the spiteful Sydney derby at the SCG, 33,884 witnessed Geelong beat St Kilda and 33,319 were at Domain Stadium as Fremantle defeated North Melbourne.