Coach: Frank Hughes
Captain: Ivor Warne-Smith
Finishing Position: 5th
Best and Fairest: Norm Smith
Leading Goalkicker: Norm Smith (80)
Best First Year Player: Dick Hingston
| Matches | Ladder | Playing List | Tribunal | Seconds | |
A pre-season clearance war broke out between the VFL and the VFA, with both leagues accepting players from the other without a clearance from their original club. The increased player movement didn't affect Melbourne at first, after returning to
the finals in 1937 they opened the year with an upset away win over Geelong, and sat 7-2 before they struggled when winter rain turned grounds to mud pits. A three game losing streak was cancelled by three wins, and a win over top of the ladder Carlton in Round 17 left them an outside chance of making the four. They needed a massive win over Collignwood in the last round to pass them on percentage but lost.
On Wednesday 13 July, a combined team of Melbourne and St Kilda players captained by Bill Adams lost 7.19 to 16.13 against the travelling East Fremantle team.
During the year Melbourne lobbied the league for a change in the out of bounds rule that would mean only kicks out on the full led to free kicks, rather than any ball which crossed the line.
After making their first profit in 25 years in 1937, the club was back in the red. They lost nearly £900 on receipts of £2994 and expenses of £3892.
Melbourne's delegates to the league were Joe Blair and Vernon Ransford. Before the season a contested election was held for committee positions - nominations for positions representing the MCC Members were FW Ince, C Keon Cohen, JL McArthur, A Mc. L Paterson, GS Sleight, RJ Taylor, RB Hogg and ECH Taylor. Win Berry and George Haines were elected unopposed to represent MFC Members.
Premiership season
| Round | Opposition | Result | Score | ||
| 1 | Geelong | WIN | 132-115 | ||
| 2 | Hawthorn | LOSS | 92-111 | ||
| 3 | Fitzroy | WIN | 116-83 | ||
| 4 | South Melbourne | WIN | 153-101 | ||
| 5 | Footscray | LOSS | 72-76 | ||
| 6 | Carlton | WIN | 107-102 | ||
| 7 | Collingwood | WIN | 115-101 | ||
| 8 | North Melbourne | WIN | 122-92 | ||
| 9 | St. Kilda | WIN | 112-96 | ||
| 10 | Richmond | LOSS | 68-89 | ||
| 11 | Essendon | LOSS | 79-85 | ||
| 12 | Geelong | LOSS | 74-92 | ||
| 13 | Hawthorn | WIN | 70-69 | ||
| 14 | Fitzroy | WIN | 96-96 | ||
| 15 | South Melbourne | WIN | 99-70 | ||
| 16 | Footscray | LOSS | 91-131 | ||
| 17 | Carlton | LOSS | 96-79 | ||
| 18 | Collingwood | LOSS | 82-91 | ||
Exhibition match
| Opposition | Result | ||||
| Bendigo League | WIN | 144-85 | |||
Ladder
| W | D | L | % | P | |
| Carlton | 14 | 0 | 4 | 116.1 | 56 |
| Geelong | 13 | 0 | 5 | 129.2 | 52 |
| Footscray | 13 | 0 | 5 | 124.3 | 52 |
| Collingwood | 12 | 0 | 6 | 117.6 | 48 |
| Melbourne | 11 | 0 | 7 | 106.0 | 44 |
| Richmond | 10 | 0 | 8 | 111.8 | 40 |
| Essendon | 9 | 0 | 9 | 102.3 | 36 |
| St. Kilda | 9 | 0 | 9 | 91.8 | 36 |
| North Melbourne | 6 | 0 | 12 | 74.7 | 24 |
| Fitzroy | 5 | 0 | 13 | 88.6 | 20 |
| Hawthorn | 4 | 0 | 14 | 82.4 | 16 |
| South Melbourne | 2 | 0 | 16 | 71.8 | 8 |
Playing list
| Number | Player | Games | Goals | ||
| 1 | Gordon Jones | 15 | 0 | ||
| 2 | Lou Reiffel | 10 | 18 | ||
| 3 | John Lewis | 12 | 3 | ||
| 4 | Norm Smith | 18 | 80 | ||
| 5 | Keith Truscott | 11 | 4 | ||
| 7 | Hugh Murnane | 17 | 11 | ||
| 8 | Rowley Fischer | 15 | 2 | ||
| 9 | Richie Emselle | 14 | 3 | ||
| 10 | Maurie Gibb | 5 | 2 | ||
| 10 | Len Catton | 2 | 0 | ||
| 11 | Sid Meehl | 1 | 0 | ||
| 12 | Jack Mueller | 13 | 7 | ||
| 13 | Les Jones | 14 | 9 | ||
| 14 | Jack Maher | 9 | 5 | ||
| 15 | Ron Baggott | 12 | 32 | ||
| 16 | Eric Glass | 8 | 13 | ||
| 17 | Allan La Fontaine | 16 | 4 | ||
| 18 | Wally Lock | 17 | 2 | ||
| 19 | Frank Roberts | 16 | 0 | ||
| 20 | Frank Williams | 22 | 1 | ||
| 21 | Geoff McNaughton | 2 | 1 | ||
| 22 | Harry Harley | 6 | 2 | ||
| 23 | Ray Wartman | 18 | 3 | ||
| 24 | Percy Beames | 16 | 37 | ||
| 25 | Ted Regan | 4 | 0 | ||
| 26 | Jack Furniss | 16 | 0 | ||
| 28 | Pat McNamara | 10 | 0 | ||
| 29 | Harden Dean | 2 | 0 | ||
| 30 | Jack Foster | 1 | 0 | ||
| 31 | Ron Barassi | 13 | 18 | ||
| 32 | Dick Hingston | 14 | 0 | ||
| 33 | Ted Buckley | 13 | 2 | ||
Best and Fairest
| Player | |||||
| 1st | Norm Smith | ||||
Awards
Most Consistent - Percy Beames
Most Improved - Gordon Jones
Most Accomplished - Wally Lock
Best Clubman - Ron Baggott
Most Brilliant - Jack Mueller
Most Unselfish - Ron Barassi
Most Determined - Frank Roberts
Special Efforts - Jack Furniss
Tribunal
| Round | Player | Charge | Sanction | ||
| Round 5 | Jack Mueller | Elbowing | 4 matches | ||
| Round 15 | Frank Roberts | Striking | Guilty | ||
| Round 15 | Ron Barassi | Attempted Striking | 2 matches | ||
Seconds
1938 Seconds season
Captain - Geoff McNaughton
Leading goalkicker - Fred Fanning - 106
| W | D | L | % | P | |
| Collingwood | 16 | 0 | 2 | 64 | |
| Geelong | 15 | 1 | 2 | 62 | |
| Carlton | 15 | 0 | 3 | 60 | |
| Footscray | 13 | 0 | 5 | 52 | |
| Richmond | 9 | 1 | 8 | 38 | |
| Melbourne | 8 | 1 | 9 | 36 | |
| Essendon | 8 | 0 | 10 | 32 | |
| Fitzroy | 7 | 0 | 11 | 28 | |
| South Melbourne | 5 | 0 | 13 | 20 | |
| Hawthorn | 4 | 0 | 14 | 16 | |
| North Melbourne | 4 | 0 | 14 | 16 | |
| St Kilda | 2 | 1 | 15 | 10 | |
Notes
There may have been pre-season games against Brighton, Brunswick and Prahran.
Media
Sun - 04/02/1938, 09/02/1939
Argus - 23/04/1938
Football Record R14 1938
Mercury - 22/07/1938
West Australian - 27/07/1938
Argus - 04/10/1938
Argus - 08/02/1939