President - Frank Grey Smith
Vice-Presidents - JJ Morris, George Aitken, JG Murdoch, A. Hunt
Committee - J. Turner, H. King, E. Fox, George Hallett, A. Mackenzie, G. Strachan
Treasurer: HH Morrison
Captain - Eddie Fox
Vice-Captain - J. Kelly/G. Benson
Secretary - WC Lynar (to May), EM Macgregor (from May)
Second 20 Secretary - A. Collis
The club's annual general meeting considered a proposal to amalgamate with the University club, but while the meeting agreed to a merger they stated that there could be no change to the club's name or colours. Eventually Melbourne settled for taking eight of their players.
The rules were changed before the season so that players who marked the ball before the bell would still get to take their shot, and if the ball was in transit when the bell rang any scores would be counted. The league's rules also stated that a match abandoned due to bad weather would be counted as a draw regardless of the score.
A scratch match was played on the Friendly Societies' Ground on Saturday 13 April.
Melbourne were already having a nightmare season when their best player Alex McKenzie walked out on the club and went to Carlton after a brief permit controversy. They used 74 players for the year, the most of any senior side in the 19th century.
In late August, after a massive loss to Fitzroy there was a suggestion in the papers that the club would be excluded from the senior ranks. They said one would imagine that their final interment took place at Fitzroy last week, and that a further resurrection on their part will be little short of miraculous. They won one more match for the year and might have died had the MCC not stepped in.
A meeting of members a week later explained that the debt from moving to the Friendly Societies' Ground had put them between 500 and 600 pounds in debt, which they had been unable to service due to a lack of gate reciepts caused by poor form. The meeting resolved to ask members and ex-players to help with contributions, and to hold a fundraising concert.
In a the June 8 game against Footscray, Melbourne appealled on the grounds that Footscray had played an ineligible player Mr Sadler. The protest was upheld and Melbourne were awarded the match two weeks later.
At the end of the year, with the club in deep financial trouble, having suffered their worst run ever on-field, the MCC took control of the footballing club, paid off its debts, took over its limited assets and incorporated the Melbourne Football Club as the footballing section of the Cricket Club.
VFA Matches
| Date | Opposition | Result | ||||||
| 4 May | Footscray | WIN | ||||||
| 11 May | Carlton | LOSS | ||||||
| 18 May | Geelong | LOSS | ||||||
| 24 May | Richmond | DRAW | ||||||
| 25 May | Essendon | LOSS | ||||||
| 1 June | South Melbourne | LOSS | ||||||
| 8 June | Footscray | WIN | ||||||
| 15 June | Port Melbourne | LOSS | ||||||
| 22 June | Richmond | LOSS | ||||||
| 29 June | North Melbourne | LOSS | ||||||
| 6 July | Footscray | WIN | ||||||
| 20 July | Essendon | LOSS | ||||||
| 27 July | South Melbourne | LOSS | ||||||
| 10 August | St Kilda | LOSS | ||||||
| 17 August | Geelong | LOSS | ||||||
| 24 August | Port Melbourne | LOSS | ||||||
| 31 August | Fitzroy | LOSS | ||||||
| 7 September | Williamstown | LOSS | ||||||
| 14 September | Carlton | LOSS | ||||||
| 21 September | Richmond | WIN | ||||||
| 28 September | St Kilda | LOSS | ||||||
Other Matches
| Date | Opposition | Result | ||||||
| 12 January | Carlton | DRAW | ||||||
| 20 April | Essendon | LOSS | ||||||
| 13 July | Ballarat Imperials | LOSS | ||||||
| 29 May | Southern Tasmania | LOSS | ||||||
| July | Tasmania | ? | ||||||
Players
William Aitken, G. Allen, Avery, Bain, G. Benson, J. Benson, Blair, R. Brown, J. Carah, Carroll, H. Claringbould, Clarke, N. Cohen, Comber, Arthur Connelly, T. Deane, J. Doble, A. Doherty, Donald, Drood, W. Farrell, E. Firebrace, Eddie Fox, T. Fox, J. Freeman, Herbert Fry, J. Garton, George Hallett, H. Harper, J. Harvey, H. Hayes, Alf Healing, Dick Houston, James Kelly, Richard Kelly, T. Kennedy, J. Kerrigan, A. King, Howard King, Lander, G. Langridge, M. Lemon, G. Lidstone, E. Lording, E. Lynar, Mathieson, McArthur, McCann, McCarthy, J. McGrath, A. McKean, A. McKenzie, R. McKinlay, Mitchell, H. Mitchell, Howard Morrison, Mullen, Munro, H. Nixon, J. Nuttall, H. Orwin, P. Parsons, Prentice, P. Russell, Shaw, Fred Sheahan, G. Slattery, W. Smith, South, C. Spooner, G. Strachan, Thomson, JH Trowbridge, W. Tulloch, Woodman
Goalkickers
W. Smith 9, J. Benson 7, R. Kelly 6, G. Langridge 3, H. Trowbridge 3, William Aitken 2, E. Firebrace 2, George Hallett 2, G. Allen 1, G. Benson 1, J. Carah 1, W. Farrell 1, J. Kelly 1, M. Lemon 1, McCann 1, R. McKinlay 1, Mitchell 1, F. Sheahan 1, South 1, Unknown 1
Ladder
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | P | |
| 1 | South Melbourne | 19 | 14 | 3 | 2 | 121 | 49 | 62 |
| 2 | Carlton | 20 | 15 | 0 | 5 | 100 | 64 | 60 |
| 3 | Port Melbourne | 20 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 90 | 55 | 58 |
| 4 | Essendon | 21 | 13 | 0 | 8 | 112 | 55 | 52 |
| 5 | Geelong | 20 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 88 | 73 | 48 |
| 6 | North Melbourne | 20 | 11 | 1 | 8 | 94 | 75 | 46 |
| 7 | Fitzroy | 20 | 10 | 2 | 8 | 85 | 66 | 44 |
| 8 | Richmond | 19 | 7 | 1 | 11 | 62 | 102 | 30 |
| 9 | St Kilda | 18 | 5 | 1 | 12 | 62 | 114 | 22 |
| 10 | Williamstown | 20 | 5 | 2 | 13 | 56 | 73 | 16 |
| 11 | Melbourne | 21 | 4 | 1 | 16 | 46 | 142 | 18 |
| 12 | Footscray | 16 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 37 | 86 | 4 |
Ballarat, Ballarat Imperials and South Ballarat were also in the competition but didn't play enough games against Melbourne teams to qualify for the premiership.
Seconds
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | P | |
| North Melbourne | 16 | 3 | 1 | 43 | 13 | 79 | ||
| Geelong | 12 | 6 | 1 | 62 | 29 | 60 | ||
| Essendon | 15 | 3 | 3 | 48 | 26 | 66 | ||
| Port Melbourne | 13 | 0 | 7 | 62 | 44 | |||
| South Melbourne | 10 | 3 | 8 | 60 | 40 | 46 | ||
| Williamstown | 8 | 3 | 7 | 29 | 38 | 38 | ||
| Carlton | 10 | 1 | 9 | 28 | 30 | 42 | ||
| Fitzroy | 4 | 4 | 13 | 38 | 84 | 24 | ||
| St Kilda | 2 | 2 | 18 | 21 | 62 | 12 | ||
| Melbourne | 1 | 0 | 20 | 8 | 59 | 4 | ||
| Footscray | 3 | 3 | 10 | 17 | 39 | 18 | ||
Footscray were not ranked on the table as they had not played enough games.
Media
The Australasian - 13/04/1889
The Argus - 13/04/1889
Weekly Times - 13/04/1889
The Australasian - 20/04/1889
Table Talk - 10/05/1889
Sydney Mail - 25/05/1889
Sydney Mail - 01/06/1889
Sydney Mail - 08/06/1889
The Sydney Times - 22/06/1889
The Australasian - 22/06/1889
Hawke's Bay Herald - 09/08/1889
Sydney Morning Herald - 19/08/1889
The Australasian - 07/09/1889
The Australasian - 12/10/1889
Origins of Australian Football: Volume 3 by Mark Pennings
Links
1889 - Blueseum
VFA Results and Tables