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Melbourne is an existing club that plays in the Australian Football League, and has previously played in the Victorian FL and the Victorian FA. The club was formed in 1859 and has won twelve premierships.
Formation[]
The club was formed originally as an informal club in 1858 by the man who wrote the first rules of the game, Tom Wills. It was done after the successful game between Melbourne Grammar and Scotch College and a number of informal matches were played with Wills as captain after he co-umpired the Melbourne/Scotch encounter. The club was formalised on May 14, 1859 and is the tenth oldest active club in codified football of any sort in the world, and the oldest in Australian football.
Early years[]
Melbourne's first game was against South Yarra on July 9, 1859, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in a unusual allowance at the time by the Melbourne Cricket Club. Melbourne generally played it's games at Yarra Park on land now occupied by the Melbourne Park complex. The first game ended in a draw. The club challenged for the Caledonian Society Challenge Cup and claimed a forfeit when cup holders University struggled to muster a team. University refused to relinquish the cup, until finally a game was played in 1863 with Melbourne winning. They only held it for a short time as they were defeated for it by Geelong.
The next cup was the Athletic Sports Committee Challenge Cup, and Melbourne won this by defeating Geelong in May 1865. They played draws against South Yarra and Royal Park before losing to University. They regained the cup in the last game of 1865 against South Yarra, but lost it back to them in the first game of 1866. Melbourne tried to win it back but they played two draws and lost again to South Yarra.
In 1870 South Yarra struck a new cup, the South Yarra Presentation Challenge Cup. Melbourne won the most games in 1870 but never defeated South Yarra whereas Albert Park did. In 1871 Melbourne ultimately took on Carlton for the cup and lost. But they were the winners in 1872 and runners up to Carlton in 1873, 1874 and 1875. They won in 1876.
VFA[]
Melbourne played in the first season of the Victorian Football Association and finished second based purely on the fact that the premiers Carlton had a better record head to head, and not the fact that Melbourne won more games which they did although they also played two more games. In 1878 the same thing happened except in reverse. However Geelong also had a claim as they were undefeated so a play off game was played for the premiership which Melbourne lost. This could be taken to be the first grand final.
Melbourne slipped slightly finishing fourth in 1879, 1880 and 1881. In 1882 they had an awful season by their previous standards finishing sixth out of seven teams. In 1883 the loss of a club meant a fifth placed finish wasn't much better. Following that they finished seventh out of eight in 1884 and eighth out of ten in 1885. But in 1886 they were back finishing fourth, only to slip to tenth in 1887 in a now massive 18 team competition and then to fourteenth out of sixteen in 1888. They finished eleventh out of twelve in 1889 and then eighth out of twelve in 1890 before improving to sixth in 1891 and fourth in 1892. A second place finish in 1893 and another in 1894 seemed to indicate a premiership was close but they finished fourth in 1895 and fifth in 1896.
Start of the VFL (1897-1907)[]
The improvements in the 1890's helped Melbourne being invited to join the VFL in 1897. They started well finishing third to gain a place in the round robin finals series. However they lost every game to finish the season in fourth place. That led to a slip down the ladder to sixth in 1898 and only a slight rise to fifth in 1899.
But in 1900 things changed and greatly when Melbourne pulled off a feat that would force the VFL to change it's finals format. After finishing sixth, Melbourne finished on top of their section on percentage gaining a place in the final. In an upset they defeated Essendon by 2 points and had to face challenging minor premiers Fitzroy in the final. Such was Fitzroy's confidence they advertised premiership celebrations before the match was played. But Melbourne caused another upset by 4 points to win their first official premiership and their first championship since 1876.
Fitzroy took a bit of revenge in the final sectional match of 1901, defeating Melbourne to take the last place in the finals leaving Melbourne fifth. In 1902 they made the finals only to lose the semi final to Essendon. That would lead to a lean period finishing seventh in 1903 and sixth in 1904 before hitting rock bottom with the club's first ever wooden spoon in 1905 with just three wins. 1906 was even worse with their second wooden spoon in a row and only one win. 1907 was better in a very even season with seven wins despite another seventh place finish.
To World War 1 (1908-1915)[]
The lean period continued with no finals for a few more years. In 1908 Melbourne finished eighth and rose to fifth in 1909 in their highest finish since they last played finals. A collapse to ninth followed in 1910 before seventh in 1911 and sixth in 1912. In 1913 and 1914 it was only the winless University that prevented Melbourne from claiming a couple more wooden spoons, especially in 1914 as their only two wins were over the Uni. But in 1915 the club made the finals for the first time since 1902 finishing fourth. They lost the semi final to old rivals Carlton who would go on to win the premiership, but things had to look good - when World War 1 intervened.
Post War (1916-1924)[]
Melbourne remained off the field throughout the war, only returning in 1919 - the last club of those who went into recess to return. It wasn't a surprise that they would have a winless return season and the wooden spoon. They rose place in 1920 after starting the season with their first win since the war. Gradual improvement seemed to be showing as Melbourne rose again to sixth in 1921 and a similar finish in 1922. But in 1923 the club crashed back to the wooden spoon and in 1924 they escaped a second in a row by percentage ahead of St Kilda.
To World War 2 (1925-1942)[]
The admission of three new clubs in 1925 seemed to suit Melbourne who bounded back into the finals finishing third, and then upset minor premiers Geelong to progress to the final. But Collingwood defeated them to end their season. Melbourne were back in 1926 finishing third again, and repeating the upset of the minor premiers - this time Collingwood. They made no mistake in the final on this occasion defeating Essendon and then repeating the Collingwood defeat for their first premiership since 1900. It would be the first of many grand final victories over the Magpies.
In 1927 Melbourne slipped to fifth, but in 1928 they were back again finishing third and again facing the minor premiers Collingwood. This final would be the first ever finals draw in VFL history and a replay was needed. Collingwood though wouldn't let Melbourne repeat the 1926 victory and eliminated them. In 1929 it was back to fifth again with a repeat in 1930. A slip to eighth followed in 1931, ninth in 1932 and tenth in 1933. The club got back up to sixth in 1934 and 1935 before a return to the finals in 1936 finishing fourth. In the new finals system they played Carlton and won thanks to poor converting by the Blues. But South Melbourne ended their season in the preliminary final. In 1937 Melbourne finished second but lost the second semi final to Geelong, and were then eliminated in the preliminary final by Collingwood. In 1938 Melbourne missed the finals by a game finishing fifth.
It would be in 1939 that the club would have a run of success. Now known as the Demons, Melbourne finished on top of the ladder and defeated Collingwood in the second semi final to progress straight to the grand final where they would defeat the Magpies again for the premiership - their first since 1926. In 1940 as World War 2 took hold the Demons again finished on top of the ladder but Richmond won the second semi final. Melbourne narrowly escaped Essendon in the preliminary final and the Demons avenged their semi final loss for their second flag in a row. In 1941 Melbourne finished second on the ladder and defeated Carlton in the second semi final, and then in the grand final defeated Essendon for their third flag in a row - only the third team to do so in VFL history. But the Demons couldn't go for four in 1942 as they slipped to eighth that year.
Post War (1943-1959)[]
In 1943 Melbourne finished seventh and in 1944 dropped a place to eighth. In 1945 the club dropped further to ninth. But clear of the war and back at their home ground in 1946 the Demons returned to the finals finishing fourth. They defeated Footscray in the first semi final and then Collingwood in the preliminary final, only to be beaten strongly by Essendon in the grand final. That was followed by a slip to sixth in 1947.
In 1948 Melbourne rose to second, only to run into Essendon again in the second semi final. The Demons though bounced back thrashing Collingwood in the preliminary final for another crack at the Bombers. Essendon's conversion was horrible, but Melbourne couldn't take full advantage and the game finished in a draw - the first ever VFL grand final to finish that way. However in the replay the Demons did take advantage and won their first premiership since 1941. In 1949 Melbourne slipped to fifth, but in 1950 they were back to third - only to lose the first semi final to Geelong. That resulted in a massive slide to the wooden spoon in 1951. The Demons got back to sixth in 1952, but slid again to eleventh in 1953.
But in 1954 the club's greatest run would begin with seven grand finals in a row. The first was the only appearance achieved from outside the top two defeating North Melbourne and Geelong only to be beaten by Footscray in the big one. For the rest of the decade, Melbourne would finish on top of the ladder. In 1955, 1956, 1958 and 1959 the Demons would win the second semi final, three times over Collingwood and once over Carlton. In 1957 they would suffer their only loss - to Essendon. But they rebounded against Hawthorn that year. From 1955 to 1957 Melbourne three flags in a row, the first two over Collingwood and the third avenging their second semi defeat against the Bombers. In 1958 though Collingwood used rough tactics in order to stop the Demons from equalling their record. Melbourne would win the flag in 1959 over Essendon - the only year the grand final opponent during this period didn't match the second semi opponent.
1960's[]
In 1960 Melbourne's run continued finishing on top of the ladder and thrashing Fitzroy in the second semi final and then defeating sworn enemies Collingwood in the grand final to avenge the 1958 loss.
In 1961 the run of grand finals ended. Not only that, for the first time since 1955 the Demons didn't win the minor premiership. They finished second one and a half games behind Hawthorn, who defeated them in the second semi final. Footscray's victory in the preliminary final ended their season. In 1962 Melbourne finished third and a poor final quarter handed the first semi final to Carlton and the shock first week exit. It was third again in 1963 although it was close as the top side was only half a game ahead of them. A narrow win over St Kilda augered well, but Hawthorn put the Demons out in the preliminary final.
In 1964 though Melbourne were back in familiar territory finishing on top of the ladder. An upset loss to Footscray in the final round fired the Demons up and they thrashed old enemy Collingwood in the second semi final. The Magpies came back and the grand final was much closer with Melbourne escaping with the win with a late goal and yet another flag.
In 1965 the Demons started the season with eight straight wins before stumbling to three losses in the next four games - and then out of the blue coach Norm Smith was sacked on the eve of the round thirteen game against Fitzroy. The media exploded with what was seen as the biggest story in the game's history to that point. Smith made an emotional television appearance on the day after Melbourne lost the game to Fitzroy venting his spleen over the decision with Tony Charlton. By round fourteen Smith had been reinstated but the damage had been done. The Demons only won one more game and finished seventh, missing the finals for the first time since 1953. It would be the beginning of a long drought.
Smith lasted two more years before resigning at the end of the 1967 season due to heart issues. Melbourne only won three games in 1966 finishing eleventh and in 1967 they finished seventh. In 1968 the Demons would finish eighth and in 1969 they finished on the bottom of the ladder winning their first wooden spoon since 1951.
1970's[]
In 1970 Melbourne would finish tenth, and climbed to seventh in 1971 before finishing eighth in 1972. A drop back to tenth followed in 1973 and then another wooden spoon in 1974 before tenth for the third time in the decade in 1975.
1976 would see Melbourne a game outside the final five with a round to go but with a better percentage than fifth placed Footscray. The Demons were playing old rival Collingwood at Victoria Park who were facing their first wooden spoon and Footscray were faced with top side Carlton. Melbourne won, but Footscray played a draw to hold fifth place and leave the Demons in sixth spot on the ladder.
In 1977 they crashed back to eleventh and then another wooden spoon followed in 1978. The club finished 1979 in eleventh place again with the coming decade looking bleak.
1980's[]
The 1980's began with Melbourne finishing ninth in 1980, before a drop to the wooden spoon in 1981 with just the one win, the same year Ron Barasi returned to the club as coach. A rise to eighth followed in 1982 with a repeat in 1983. Ninth place followed in 1984, and then a drop to eleventh in 1985 before Barassi moved on. But the spade work had been done and John Northey took over in 1986 for another eleventh place although the Demons won seven games.
It would be in 1987 that the light appeared. In the final round, Melbourne were playing Footscray with the winner making the finals provided Geelong lost to Hawthorn. The Demons won, and when the final scores of the game at Kardinia Park were posted at the Western Oval showing a Hawthorn victory, Melbourne fans went into raptures. They had made the finals for the first time since 1964. They carried that confidence into the elimination final thrashing North Melbourne and then convincingly defeating Sydney in the first semi final. That gave them a date with Hawthorn in the preliminary final, but a goal after the siren (helped by a 15 metre penalty given away by future club legend, Irishman Jim Stynes) cost the Demons a dream grand final appearance.
In 1988 Melbourne had to win in the last round again to play finals, this time defending fifth spot from Essendon. It was a tough one against reigning premiers Carlton. The Demons did it and again played the elimination final. They defeated final debutante's West Coast narrowly before knocking off old rivals Collingwood in their first finals encounter since the 1964 grand final. Carlton awaited them in the preliminary final and this time the Demons made the grand final - only the third team to get there from the elimination final in VFL history. But it ended there as Hawthorn smashed them in the big one.
Melbourne would finish fourth in 1989 and defeat Collingwood in the elimination final but dreams of another run were scotched by Geelong in the first semi final.
1990's[]
The VFL became the AFL in 1990 and the Demons would repeat their 1989 finish and eliminate Hawthorn in the elimination final, only to be beaten by West Coast in the first semi final thanks in part to an impromptu week off due to a draw in the qualifying final. The final six was introduced in 1991 with Melbourne finishing fifth and playing against Essendon in their elimination final. It happened again though - a win followed by a loss in the first semi final, again to the Eagles. This was followed in 1992 by a drop to eleventh, the first miss of the finals since 1986.
In 1993 Melbourne finished tenth but in 1994 they returned to the finals (now a final eight) finishing seventh. A big win over Carlton in the first week led to a clash with Footscray that the Demons also won to put them into the preliminary finals. But eventual premiers West Coast would be there again to stop their run. In 1995 Melbourne were eighth with a round to go, but Brisbane upended them in the final round to sneak into the finals and leave the Demons ninth.
In 1996 Melbourne slipped to fourteenth - their lowest finish since 1986. And it got worse as in 1997 - for the first time since 1981 - the Demons won the wooden spoon with four wins. But a massive jump followed in 1998 with Melbourne finishing fourth. They defeated Adelaide in the first week, and then defeated St Kilda in the semi final to enter the preliminary finals opposed to North Melbourne. But just like 1994 they went no further, while the Crows snuck behind them to win the flag. A drop back to fourteenth in 1999 followed.
2000's[]
The new millenium brought a new final eight and the Demons finished third. They faced Carlton in the qualifying final and got the win with better conversion to earn the week off. In the preliminary final Melbourne easily accounted for North Melbourne to enter their first grand final since 1988. But they ran into a dominant Essendon and were beaten comfortably.
In 2001 the club slid to eleventh but they were back in 2002 finishing sixth. A good win over North Melbourne in the elimination final though was followed by an upset loss to Adelaide in a game that was played at the MCG and not Football Park under the agreement the MCG had at the time. A slide to fourteenth in 2003 coupled with the posting of a million dollar loss put the Demons on rubber legs. But another rebound in 2004 had Melbourne finishing fifth. But a narrow loss to Essendon ended their season.
In 2005 the Demons finished seventh but were beaten easily by Geelong in the elimination final. A repeat seventh followed in 2006 but this time a win over St Kilda put Melbourne into the semi final against Fremantle in which the Demons were beaten.
2007 saw the beginning of another dark period for Melbourne. On the field the club slipped to fourteenth while ongoing debt and board level bickering ravaged the club. In 2008 Jim Stynes became president of the club in order to quell the turmoil off the field and deal with the debt - now at four and a half million dollars. On the field things didn't get better - in fact they got worse with the Demons winning the wooden spoon for the first time since 1997. In 2009 they won the wooden spoon again loosing to St Kilda in the final round. That game would have some ramifications for Melbourne going forward.
2010's[]
In 2010 there was some improvement with the Demons rising to twelfth in their best result since 2006 but a slip to thirteenth followed in 2011. In 2012 Melbourne dropped back to sixteenth.
But it would be in 2012 that the last game of 2009 hit the headlines with accusations of tanking in that game in order to ensure the wooden spoon and priority picks in the draft. The AFL investigation went into the summer and before the 2013 season handed down their findings and decision. While it was found that tanking had not taken place, there were question marks over the general conduct of coach Dean Bailey and club official Chris Connolly. Both were punished.
Despite that a cloud of suspicion hung over the club as it finished seventeenth in 2013 and seventeenth again in 2014 only avoiding the wooden spoon on percentage. Things started to look up again with a finish in thirteenth place in 2015 and then eleventh in 2016 which was again their best result since 2006. In 2017 the Demons were in the eight with a round to go, but they slipped to ninth when they were beaten in the final round by Collingwood.
2018 was looking very good. Melbourne finished fifth and started the campaign with a 29 point win over Geelong in the elimination final. They then scored a good 33 point win over Hawthorn in the semi final and Demons fans dared to dream. But the dream turned into a nightmare in the preliminary final, with West Coast thrashing them in the preliminary final by 66 points.
As a result, Melbourne went flat in 2019 and finished back down in seventeenth place.
2020[]
Melbourne's 2020 season began with another loss before the COVID-19 pandemic shut the season until June. A win on the return over Carlton was followed by a match postponement due to a positive COVID case with their opponents Essendon. This would end up being Melbourne's bye. A few losses and a couple of wins had the Demons in the lower half of the ladder but three strong victories had them in the eight. But three losses over the next four weeks dropped them to tenth and despite two wins to finish the home and away season Melbourne finished ninth, half a game outside the eight.
2021[]
Many saw 2021 as the last chance for the Demons to deliver on the promise shown in 2018. Someone must have heard it because Melbourne got off to a great start, rattling off nine straight wins to start the season. A narrow loss to Adelaide stopped that roll but that was followed by two more wins. An upset loss to old rivals Collingwood going into the bye seemed to linger as in the first five games after the Demons only won two games and lost two with a draw against the lowly Hawthorn. The loss to the Western Bulldogs cost them top spot, but they got it back two weeks later as they got back onto a roll - finishing off the home and away season with an after the siren win over Geelong to confirm top spot. The last time they'd done that was in 1964 - the last time they won a premiership.
In their first qualifying final since 2000, Melbourne faced Brisbane and like 2000 won comfortably to earn the week off. In the preliminary final they faced Geelong in a rematch from the last home and away round. This time though it wasn't even close as the Demons roared into the grand final to the tune of 83 points. In the last game of the year - played in Perth at Perth Stadium, Melbourne faced their 1954 conquerers the Western Bulldogs. But history would not repeat itself as the Demons exorcised the Norm Smith Curse in style winning by 74 to break the 57 year year drought.
2022[]
Far from suffering a premiership hangover, Melbourne started the new season in style with ten straight wins - and the VFL/AFL record of 23 wins in a row seemed to be under threat. But it ended suddenly at the hands of Fremantle and was followed by two more losses. The last time this happened, the coach was sacked. In 1965. History however was not going to repeat itself as the Demons then had the bye before getting back on track with two wins before running into Geelong. But they weren't the same and for the rest of the season they scores four wins but also two losses. This still got them second spot on the ladder going into the finals.
However the fact that they were not the same showed with Sydney beating them by 22 points in the qualifying final and then Brisbane sending them out is straight sets by 13 points.
2023[]
The Demons started the new season with three wins from the first four games before a loss to Essendon. But then four straight wins had them in second spot on the ladder. A couple of narrow losses dropped them to fourth but then good wins over Carlton and Collingwood had Melbourne third going into the bye. Upset losses to Geelong and West Sydney set the Demons back but they stayed in the top four and would remain there for the rest of the home and away season despite seven wins and only one loss. The teams above them just kept winning as well.
The finals though would be a repeat of 2022. The qualifying final saw Melbourne beaten by Collingwood, and then for the second year in a row they would go out in straight sets when Carlton knocked them off by 2 points thanks to poor conversion.
Reserves[]
Melbourne were a part of the VFL Reserves competition from it's formation in 1919. From then until 1999 the club won 12 premierships, including only one during it's 1950's dominance (in 1956). The last of these was in 1993. In 2000 the club formed an alignment with Sandringham in the VFL, allowing for flags that year and three in a row from 2004 to 2006. In 2009 Melbourne switched it's alignment to the Casey Scorpions, who would become the Casey Demons in 2017. Since the change the club has not won a flag.