1858: Foundations In the winter and spring of 1858, a loosely organised football team known as 'Melbourne' played in a series of scratch matches in
the parklands outside the
Melbourne Cricket Ground. This team was captained by
Tom Wills, a prominent athlete and captain of the
Victoria cricket team, who, on 10 July that year, had
a letter of his published by the Melbourne-based ''
Bell's Life in Victoria and Sporting Chronicle'', in which he called for the formation of a "foot-ball club" with a "code of laws" to keep cricketers fit during winter. Other figures associated with this embryonic Melbourne side included
Melbourne Cricket Club members
Jerry Bryant,
William Hammersley and
J. B. Thompson, and teacher
Thomas H. Smith. Whereas, fresh contemporary evidence from Bell's Life confirms the prominent role Jerry Bryant played in formation of the Melbourne Football Club at his Parade Hotel on the 21st May 1859. It is possible that the first game played involving the Melbourne team took place on or adjacent to the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 14 August following Bryant's call for 'all good kicks' to take part with a subsequent match held among the Melbourne Cricket Club members on 30 August. On 25 September, Melbourne was challenged to a match by the
South Yarra Football Club featuring 26 players a side, with Melbourne winning the game. Although the club had not yet been established as a formal entity, the year 1858 has long been recognised as being the foundation year of the Melbourne Football Club and for Australian rules football.
1859–1876: establishment and early years With the cricket season finished
The Argus reported in early May 1859 that the membership of the "Melbourne Football Club" was growing 'owing, probably, to its being no longer confined to members of the Melbourne Cricket Club'. On 14 May the club held its first match of the year in the Richmond Paddock with two sides captained by Smith and Bryant, with Bryant's side kicking two goals for victory. A subsequent meeting was held to elect a Secretary, Treasurer and committee of five to administer the affairs of the club and to draft its rules, whilst an application to the MCC was made for use of the MCG on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The resulting ten codified rules are
the laws from which Australian rules football evolved. In the early years of the club, football matches were conducted on a casual basis with no set fixture and teams often having to cancel engagements due to a lack of players. The first mention of an interclub match played under the new code was between Melbourne and South Yarra in July 1859, with Hammersley as Melbourne's inaugural captain. In 1860 Melbourne played its first match against the
Geelong Football Club in Geelong with the match resulting in a draw. In 1861, Melbourne participated in the Caledonian Society
Challenge Cup, but lost the trophy to the
Melbourne University Football Club. The club pushed for its rules to be the accepted rules, however many of the early suburban matches were played under compromised rules decided between the captains of the competing teams. at the start of the 1874 season By 1866 several other clubs had also adopted an updated version of Melbourne's rules, drafted at a meeting chaired by Wills' cousin,
H. C. A. Harrison. Harrison was a key figure in the early years of the club; he often served as captain and, in later years, as president. Due to his popular reputation and administrative efforts, he was officially named "Father of Australian Football" in 1908, the year of the sport's golden jubilee. During the 1870s, Melbourne fielded teams in the Seven Twenties and
South Yarra Cup competitions.
1877–1896: Victorian Football Association In 1877, Melbourne became a founding member of the
Victorian Football Association (VFA). During the same year the club took part in the first interstate football match involving a South Australian side, , defeating the home side 1–0. Melbourne never won a VFA premiership, although they were consistently one of the stronger teams in the competition, finishing as runners-up four times, to
Carlton in 1877,
Geelong in 1878 and twice to
Essendon in 1893 and 1894. In 1884 Melbourne's stand at the MCG which catered for 3,000 spectators burned down precipitating a series of financial constraints for the club. With mounting debts, club officials running up unauthorised accounts, poor on-field form and players leaving to join other clubs, Melbourne's future was in serious jeopardy by 1888. It was proposed that the MCC intervene to provide assistance given the closeness of the two clubs and the fact that football matches generated significant gate revenue for the MCC. At the end of the 1889 season, the MFC and MCC committees met and agreed to amalgamation of the two. The football club would become a section of the cricket club with the MCC handling the MFC's immediate and ongoing financial concerns. Melbourne's on-field prospects soon lifted finishing fourth on the ladder in 1892 and vying the Premiership in 1893. This was to be the beginning of a long and fruitful partnership that produced 12 VFL Premierships between 1900 and 1964. Melbourne had little success in the immediate post-war years having not played a final since 1915, taking out another Wooden Spoon in 1919. However, finals form would return with the team defeating Geelong and later losing to Collingwood in 1925. In 1926
Albert Chadwick captain-coached the team to its second league Premiership defeating Collingwood in the
Grand Final. Melbourne's greatest player at this time was
Ivor Warne-Smith, who in the Premiership year won the club's first
Brownlow Medal. Warne-Smith went on to win a second Brownlow in 1928, a year in which Melbourne would play finals again. Chadwick and Warne-Smith would both go on to have influential administrative roles in the club's most successful period in the 1950s.
1933–1964: dominant years The Great Depression took a financial toll on the club with poor on-field performances and some players having the pressure of having to search for employment. Melbourne's fortunes were lifted however for the 1933 season when it lured Richmond's premiership winning coach Frank "Checker" Hughes and Richmond's secretary Percy Page to the club. Hughes was a tough and disciplined coach inspiring the changing of the club's nickname from the Fuchsias to the Demons. Under Hughes' leadership, and with star players including captain
Allan La Fontaine, rover
Percy Beames, backman
Jack Mueller and
Norm Smith at full forward, the Demons played finals in 1936 and 1937, and became the third club after Carlton and Collingwood to win three successive premierships in
1939,
1940 and
1941. Tragedy would fall on the club soon after with 11 players giving their lives whilst serving in World War 2. These players included premiership players
Keith 'Bluey' Truscott,
Harold Ball,
Syd Anderson and
Ron Barassi Sr, all for whom club awards have been dedicated to, with the club's
Best and Fairest award named in honour of Truscott. Hughes left the club at the end of the 1941 season but returned in 1945. The next year
Don Cordner became the second Demon to win the Brownlow Medal with Melbourne reaching the
grand final, losing to Essendon by a margin of 63 points.
Fred Fanning was the VFL leading goal scorer in 1943, 1944, 1945 and 1947 when he also kicked the league record 18 goals in a match during the last game of the season (a record that still stands). In 1948, Melbourne met Essendon in a
grand final rematch. The Bombers' inaccurate kicking of 7 goals and 27 behinds resulted in the first ever drawn VFL grand final. The Demons returned the next week to win its sixth premiership with Jack Mueller kicking six goals in the match. Hughes retired again as coach at the end of the season and after being denied the position by a single vote of the club's committee, Norm Smith moved to Fitzroy to take a position as captain-coach. coached the club to six premierships New coach Allan La Fontaine had limited success despite the Demons playing finals in 1950 and bringing talented new players into the club. After the Demons took out the Wooden Spoon in 1951, Smith returned to take up the coaching position in the 1952 season and set about forging a new team with future club champion
Ron Barassi joining in 1953 under the newly created
father-son rule. In 1954, the Demons made the
Grand Final losing to a rampaging Footscray. In 1955 the Demons cemented their position as the best team in the league finishing top of the ladder and taking out the Premiership in the
Grand Final against Collingwood. Melbourne became the only VFL team to win three premierships in succession twice by winning the
1956 and
1957 grand finals against Collingwood and Essendon. The Demons suffered a shock defeat to their rivals Collingwood in the
1958 grand final, but would regain the premiership following wins in the
1959 and
1960 grand finals against Essendon and Collingwood. Despite playing in the finals series in 1961, 1962 and 1963, Melbourne failed to reach a grand final until 1964 when the Demons finished top of the ladder again. In one of the most thrilling
grand finals, Melbourne won its 12th VFL premiership in the dying seconds of the game against Collingwood with back-pocket player
Neil Crompton kicking the winning goal. After the 1954 Grand Final loss to Footscray, no team was able to score 100 points against the Demons until Collingwood in round 5 1963. The next team was Geelong with 110 in round 1 1964. and dominant period of any team in the VFL/AFL no other team has ever won 10 premierships in just 31 years.
1965–1986: decades of disappointment In one of the greatest shock moves in the VFL history, Ron Barassi transferred to Carlton as captain-coach for the 1965 season. Despite this, Melbourne were still the dominant team of the league, winning its first eight games in succession. After having lost just three games, the club's committee made the startling decision to sack Norm Smith as coach before its Round 13 fixture against North Melbourne. Hughes returned to coach the Demons in a losing game, while Melbourne identities, including Barassi took to the media to defend Smith. Smith was reinstated however the damage was done, the Demons would only win one more game and subsequently missed out on finals for the first time since 1953. Melbourne would not play in another finals series until 1987. Smith coached two more seasons with Melbourne and a succession of coaches followed trying to reverse the Demons fortunes including
John Beckwith (1968–70),
Ian Ridley (1971–73),
Bob Skilton (1974–77) and
Dennis Jones (1978). Melbourne languished near the bottom of the ladder throughout the late 1960s and 1970s, including three wooden spoons in 1969, 1974 and 1978. Despite possessing gifted players including
Robert Flower and
Greg Wells, the introduction of country zoning and poor management hampered the club's fortunes. Melbourne tried to supplement its list by recruiting older players from successful teams including
Carl Diterich who played in two separate engagements with the Demons, the first between 1973 and 1975 and then serving as captain-coach in 1979 and 1980. Melbourne's best start to a season was in 1971 when the club was at the top of the ladder after the first round and maintained that position until it lost to
Collingwood in round 6. Melbourne was still in second place at the start of the second half of the season but a dramatic slump had them dropping to fifth position five weeks later. They finished with only two more wins and a draw. In 1976, Melbourne missed what looked to be an almost certain finals appearance. In the final round, the Demons only needed to beat bottom side Collingwood, and for Footscray to lose to the top side Carlton. The Demons beat Collingwood at Victoria Park but an unexpected drawn match between Footscray and Carlton saw the Bulldogs edge out the Demons for the finals. Melbourne would then fall back into the bottom quarter of the ladder the following season, and in 1979 they suffered the worst defeat in VFL/AFL history, losing to by 190 points in
round 17, although they would beat Essendon the following week. In an effort to attract more members and to improve the club's finances the club legally separated from the MCC, becoming a public company. In 1981, under the chairmanship of Sir
Billy Snedden, and with a public campaign backed by radio broadcaster Derryn Hinch, Ron Barassi returned to Melbourne as coach and immediately appointed Robert Flower as captain. When he left the Demons in 1965 it was felt Barassi would eventually return and his arrival caused much excitement and an expectation of immediate success. Barassi set about implementing a 5-year plan for the Demons to win a Premiership, however the Demons finished 1981 with the wooden spoon after winning only one game. Recruits
Brian Wilson from Footscray and
Peter Moore from Collingwood would win the club's 4th and 5th Brownlow Medals in 1982 and 1984. However, despite sound recruiting, Barassi was unable to take the Demons to an elusive finals series and John Northey took up the coaching position in 1986.
1987–2006: rollercoaster years Melbourne would finally make the finals in 1987 in dramatic fashion needing to beat Footscray at the Western Oval and requiring Geelong to lose to Hawthorn. The Demons beat the Bulldogs by two goals with the Hawks beating the Cats by three points in the dying seconds of the game. Both matches took place at the same time, with the Melbourne fans cheering towards the end of the game when news came through of the Hawks win. Melbourne cruised into the Preliminary Final defeating North Melbourne by 118 points and Sydney by 76 points. In Robert Flower's last game, the Demons lead the Hawks by 4 points at the final siren, though Hawthorn's
Gary Buckenara had a free kick 55 metres out. But Melbourne Irish recruit
Jim Stynes ran across the mark and incurred a 15-metre penalty, bringing Buckenara close enough to kick the winning goal after the siren. The Demons would try to exact revenge on the Hawks in the 1988
Grand Final but were trounced by 96 points. From 1987 to 1991, Melbourne had five positive win–loss differentials in successive seasons which the club had not been able to achieve since the 1950s. Thereafter things went downhill for Northey, although Jim Stynes won the Brownlow in 1991. In 1992, the club finished 11th, and Northey was replaced by
Neil Balme as coach. Balme coached Melbourne into the finals in 1994, but a last game loss to Brisbane saw them drop out of the top-eight in 1995, and the club lingered at or near the bottom of the ladder for most of the 1996 season. By 1996, the club was also in dire financial straits. The club's board led by past club champion
Ian Ridley as president decided on the desperate step of a
merger with Hawthorn. In the ensuing weeks, a passionate debate was fought between pro and anti-merger supporters. In the first few days of this debate, lifelong supporters Mark and Anthony Jenkins met with coterie member George Zagon to form the Demon Alternative – an anti-merger group that was to significantly impact on the plans of the incumbent board. Former player and politician
Brian Dixon and Rabbi
Joseph Gutnick became the prominent leaders of the Demon Alternative group. The group quickly organised itself into a credible option for Melbourne supporters; however given the support of the AFL and other factors, when the merger issue was put to a vote, a majority of Melbourne members supported the board. In a meeting on the opposite side of town, Hawthorn members rejected their board's proposal and eventually the merger was defeated. Gutnick and Mark Jenkins were co-opted onto the club's board in the aftermath with Gutnick later being voted in as president. He put $3 million of his own money into the club, and sacked Balme as coach midway through the 1997 season. In 1998, under new coach
Neale Daniher, the club spent most of the season in the top eight and beat the eventual premiers
Adelaide in the Qualifying Final. Melbourne also eliminated
St Kilda, but lost to North Melbourne in the Preliminary Final. In 1999 Melbourne finished in the bottom three. In an exciting finish to the 2000 season, Melbourne stormed its way into the
Grand Final, but were convincingly beaten by ladder leaders Essendon. Melbourne missed out on finals in 2001 finishing 11th, but would finish sixth in 2002 to eventually lose its semi-final to Adelaide at the MCG in a controversial ‘away’ game, only played in Melbourne due to the AFL's contractual obligations with the MCG. Captain
David Neitz would play his best season winning the
Best and Fairest award and winning the club's first
Coleman Medal as the league's leading goalscorer kicking 75 goals. Gutnick was replaced by
Gabriel Szondy as president at the end of the year winning 65% of the members' vote. In 2003, Melbourne plunged into new on and off-field crises, winning only five games for the year and posting a $1 million loss. Szondy resigned as president and it seemed that Daniher's tenure as coach was under threat. Melbourne played finals again in 2004. In a seesawing Elimination Final, the Demons lost to Essendon by less than a goal. During the 2004 post-season, Melbourne player
Troy Broadbridge was killed in the
2004 Boxing Day tsunami, when he was swept off
Phi Phi island in
Thailand. His body was found on 3 January 2005, and brought home. A funeral was held on 20 January 2005 in recognition to the No. 20 guernsey he wore during his playing days. During the 2005 off-season, the whole team travelled to the island in which Broadbridge was killed to build a new school for those struck by the tsunami. The No.20 jumper was then rested for two years. Melbourne finished the 2005 season in seventh position but lost the elimination final to Geelong by 55 points. In 2006, after a slow start, Melbourne again finished the season in seventh position. After defeating St Kilda in the second Elimination Final by 18 points the season ended the following week when
Fremantle beat the Demons by 28 points. Daniher had become the club's the second longest-serving coach while Neitz became Melbourne's all-time leading goal-kicker on 19 May, surpassing
Norm Smith's previous record of 546 goals. Two weeks later, he broke
Robert Flower's long standing record of 272 games, making him the longest serving Demon in history.
2007–2017: years of struggle At the start of the 2007 AFL season, Melbourne were thought by many pundits to be contenders for the Premiership, but injuries to key players across the team resulted in the Demons losing its opening nine matches. Daniher resigned as coach mid-season with
Mark Riley appointed as caretaker coach. Late in the season, David Neitz became the first Melbourne player to play 300 games. retired as the club's games and goals record holder, along with being the longest serving captain
Dean Bailey was appointed coach for the
2008 season, however Melbourne lost their first six matches, before breaking through with a record comeback win in round seven against Fremantle. Melbourne finished the season poorly finishing last on the ladder, taking out its first Wooden Spoon since 1997. Off field, the club remained in turmoil. In its 150th anniversary year club CEO Steve Harris resigned and was replaced by former
Wimbledon tennis champion
Paul McNamee in early 2008. Club President Paul Gardner also resigned mid-season making way for former club champion
Jim Stynes who inherited a $4.5 million debt. Stynes immediately got to work and was instrumental in Melbourne's ‘Debt Demolition’ campaign held in a Kensington warehouse on 5 August. More than $1.3 million was raised on the night, with more than $3 million pledged to the cause. The Stynes' board sacked McNamee after just four months following criticism of him holidaying in Wimbledon to compete in a legends match. New club CEO
Cameron Schwab declared that it required urgent AFL assistance to continue, requesting additional funding to its special annual distribution. In December, a fallout in negotiations between the Melbourne Cricket Club resulted in the MCC not committing an expected $2 million to the club and Schwab declared that the club's immediate future was in doubt. This doubt was quickly put to bed when the AFL and MCC finalised negotiations. The AFL committed $1 million to the club in 2009, with the MCC matching the AFL contribution. Melbourne endured another poor season in 2009, winning just four matches to claim back-to-back Wooden Spoons. The year was made worse in July when Jim Stynes revealed he was fighting cancer. He temporarily stood down, with vice-chairman Don McLardy stepping up in his absence. In 2010 the club's on-field fortunes lifted, as they finished the season 12th on the ladder. The club's 2011 season took a dramatic turn when the Demons suffered its second greatest loss in league history, going down to Geelong at Kardinia Park in round 19 by 186 points. Bailey was immediately sacked as coach with former club captain
Todd Viney coaching the remaining games to finish 13th on the ladder. In August the club announced that its goal of wiping out the club's debt had finally been achieved and new coach Mark Neeld was announced in September. In 2012 Jim Stynes retired as president, with vice-president Don McLardy stepping up to take the reins. Tragically, on March 20, Stynes’ long fight with cancer came to an end. He was given a state funeral, given his remarkable legacy on and off the field. The AFL investigated Melbourne's 2009 season in August, following comments made by former Demon and Carlton player, Brock McLean, that the club had not been trying to win. See:
Melbourne Football Club tanking scandal In 2013, Melbourne managed just one win from its first 11 games and Neeld was sacked as coach in Round 17 with assistant coach Neil Craig being appointed caretaker. This was precipitated by the departures of CEO Schwab and President McLardy. In September the club announced Sydney premiership coach
Paul Roos signed a two-year deal to coach the Demons, with the option of a third year. Paul Roos' first year in his tenure as the Demons' coach saw an improvement from their 2013 season, with the Demons doubling their win tally. Under Roos, the club continued to steadily improve winning 7 games in 2015 and key forward
Jesse Hogan won Melbourne's second
AFL Rising Star award. Roos left Melbourne after another improved season in 2016 with assistant coach Simon Goodwin taking over in a planned succession. Melbourne finished the 2017 season in ninth place with a win–loss record of 12–10, missing out on eighth spot to West Coast by 0.5%. Melbourne made history in 2017, competing as one of the eight foundation clubs in the inaugural
AFL Women's competition. Led by captain
Daisy Pearce and coach
Mick Stinear, Melbourne took on the Brisbane Lions in the first game of the new league at Casey Fields. At the end of the 2018 season Melbourne finished in fifth place on the ladder reaching the finals series for the first time since 2006. The Demons advanced to an eventual Preliminary final defeat to West Coast after defeating Geelong and Hawthorn. Melbourne's success could not be maintained in 2019 with the Demons finishing 17th on the ladder. In the shortened 2020 season interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Melbourne would finish ninth on the Ladder winning nine and losing eight games.
2021: premiership success after 57 years in
Perth following Melbourne's 2021 premiership win the previous day over the
Western Bulldogs at
Optus Stadium Melbourne's victory over North Melbourne in Round 7 of the 2021 season put them on the top of the ladder for the first time since the third round of
2005. They won their first nine matches of a season for the first time since
1956. Melbourne's win over
West Coast in Round 21 put them at the top of the ladder again and secured their first double chance in a finals series since the
2000 season. Their next win against Adelaide equalled their most wins in a season from 1956. With captain
Max Gawn kicking a
goal after the siren in the Round 23 match against Geelong, Melbourne finished the season as minor premiers for the first time since
1964. After defeating
Brisbane in a qualifying final at the Adelaide Oval and
Geelong in a preliminary final at Optus Stadium, the Demons reached their first grand final since
2000. On 25 September, Melbourne won its 13th VFL/AFL premiership, defeating the Western Bulldogs by 74 points in the
grand final at Optus Stadium in Perth; it was their first premiership since their
1964 victory against Collingwood.
Christian Petracca was unanimously judged as best on the ground, winning the club's first
Norm Smith Medal.
2022–present Melbourne's premiership defence began with 10 straight victories, increasing their streak from last year to 17, before suffering three losses on the bounce to fellow finalists Fremantle, Sydney and Collingwood. The Demons’ form in the second half of the 2022 season was inconsistent, but the reigning premiers emphatically secured a spot in the top four after a comfortable 58-point victory over Brisbane in the final round. The Demons finished second with a win–loss record of 16 wins and six losses, but came undone in the finals, bowing out in straight sets after losing to Sydney and Brisbane in the qualifying and semi final respectively. The 2023 season for Melbourne was widely similar to its predecessor, going on frequent winning streaks and suffering sporadic losses to record 16 wins and seven losses for a fourth-placed finish. Their season ended in week two of the finals, losing to Collingwood and Carlton in the qualifying and semi final respectively, becoming the first team to suffer consecutive straight sets exits in two seasons under the current
AFL finals system. The
2024 AFL season saw Melbourne miss finals for the first time since 2020, with the club finishing 14th with a total of 11 wins and 12 losses. Despite spending large periods of the season within the top eight, Melbourne lost 5 of their last 6 matches to drop out of finals calculations. The year was compounded by a myriad of on and off-field issues including a season ending injury to
Christian Petracca during the annual
King's Birthday match after he was kneed in the ribs late in the first quarter by Collingwood captain
Darcy Moore. Melbourne entered the
2025 season with the backing of many parts of the football media system to return to finals, though the club won fewer games than the previous year and sacked coach
Simon Goodwin with three rounds remaining in the season. Senior assistant
Troy Chaplin was named as caretaker coach for the last three rounds of the 2025 season with the club once again finishing in 14th position. On September 12, 2025, former Geelong and St Kilda player
Steven King was appointed as the 33rd coach of the Melbourne Football Club. Following King's appointment as coach, during the
2025 AFL Trade Period, the club farewelled club champions
Christian Petracca and
Clayton Oliver who joined the
Gold Coast Suns and
Greater Western Sydney Giants respectively. ==Club symbols==