Coach: Allan La Fontaine
Captain: Denis Cordner
Finishing Position: 12th (Last)
Best and Fairest: Noel McMahen
Leading Goalkicker: Bob McKenzie (40)
Best First Year Player: John Beckwith
| Matches | Ladder | Playing list | Tribunal | Seconds | Thirds |
After losing a number of premierships stars after the 1948 victory, Melbourne managed to stay in the top half of the ladder for another two years before dropping back to the bottom of the ladder. The club realised the gravity of the challenge, declaring 1951 to be a rebuilding year in advance. With only eight of the most recent premiership side available, Allan La Fontaine blooded 18 first year players. It took until Round 7 to field a side without a first game player.
Many of the players who joined the club went on to be stars of the future, but after a 103 point loss to Footscray, fans turned on players and coaching staff with a vengeance. Secretary Jim Cardwell had to publicly hose down rumours of a rift between coach and players, and between the playing group itself. One player anonymously contacted a newspaper to defend the side, blaming this issues on using the quagmire MCG for training.
With Melbourne sitting last, Jim Cardwell made a mid-season approach to Norm Smith to return as coach at the end of the year. The Fitzroy incumbent refused to discuss the issue before the end of the year but didn't dismiss the idea of a return. After finishing three games last, their first wooden spoon since 1923, the coaching role was put to a vote. The choice again came down to Allan La Fontaine vs Smith, and this time Smith won by a single vote.
A Lightning Premiership was played, with Melbourne losing the final to Collingwood in extra time.
The first father/son rule was introduced before the season, with permit rules altered to allow players to freely join any league club where their father had played more than 50 games, regardless of where they lived. Maximum match payments were increased to £5 per match, and the McClelland Trophy was introduced for best combined performance across the grades.
Melbourne's VFL delegates were Bert Chadwick and Wally Scott. Before the season, W. Berry, A. Patterson, and JC Loughrey were nominated for two MCC member committee positions on the football club board.
Premiership season
| Round | Opposition | Result | Score | ||
| 1 | Essendon | LOSS | 76-86 | ||
| 2 | Collingwood | LOSS | 57-106 | ||
| 3 | Fitzroy | LOSS | 60-84 | ||
| 4 | St. Kilda | LOSS | 91-98 | ||
| 5 | South Melbourne | LOSS | 78-96 | ||
| 6 | Carlton | WIN | 78-58 | ||
| 7 | Richmond | LOSS | 67-81 | ||
| 8 | North Melbourne | LOSS | 48-93 | ||
| 9 | Footscray | LOSS | 49-152 | ||
| 10 | Geelong | LOSS | 49-84 | ||
| 11 | Hawthorn | LOSS | 86-120 | ||
| 12 | Essendon | LOSS | 54-74 | ||
| 13 | Collingwood | LOSS | 82-129 | ||
| 14 | Fitzroy | LOSS | 45-69 | ||
| 15 | St. Kilda | LOSS | 48-60 | ||
| 16 | South Melbourne | LOSS | 106-125 | ||
| 17 | Carlton | LOSS | 61-106 | ||
| 18 | Richmond | LOSS | 95-124 | ||
Ladder
| W | D | L | % | P | |
| Geelong | 14 | 0 | 4 | 135.4 | 56 |
| Collingwood | 14 | 0 | 4 | 125.6 | 56 |
| Essendon | 13 | 0 | 5 | 121.2 | 52 |
| Footscray | 12 | 0 | 6 | 113.0 | 48 |
| Fitzroy | 10 | 2 | 6 | 105.2 | 44 |
| Richmond | 10 | 0 | 8 | 116.9 | 40 |
| Carlton | 8 | 1 | 9 | 107.0 | 34 |
| South Melbourne | 8 | 1 | 9 | 93.0 | 34 |
| North Melbourne | 7 | 0 | 11 | 85.4 | 28 |
| St. Kilda | 5 | 0 | 13 | 82.2 | 20 |
| Hawthorn | 4 | 0 | 14 | 75.0 | 16 |
| Melbourne | 1 | 0 | 17 | 70.5 | 4 |
Lightning Premiership
| Round | Opponent | Result | Score | ||
| 1 | Hawthorn | WIN | 4-1 | ||
| QF | Footscray | WIN | 8-0 | ||
| SF | Richmond | WIN | 20-14 | ||
| F | Collingwood | LOSS | 12-6 | ||
Playing list
| Number | Player | Games | Goals | ||
| 1 | Denis Cordner | 16 | 7 | ||
| 2 | Bob McKenzie | 14 | 40 | ||
| 3 | Geoff Collins | 14 | 0 | ||
| 4 | Ken Christie | 10 | 6 | ||
| 5 | Ian McLean | 7 | 0 | ||
| 6 | Kevin Webb | 4 | 4 | ||
| 7 | Eddie Jackson | 17 | 1 | ||
| 8 | Doug Heywood | 10 | 1 | ||
| 9 | Alan Daly | 7 | 3 | ||
| 10 | Lance Arnold | 18 | 0 | ||
| 12 | Stuart Spencer | 13 | 14 | ||
| 13 | Alan Krause | 3 | 1 | ||
| 14 | Robert B Johnson | 12 | 0 | ||
| 15 | Geoff Mason | 4 | 0 | ||
| 15 | Ralph Lane | 8 | 0 | ||
| 15 | Terry Pierce | 1 | 0 | ||
| 16 | George Bickford | 16 | 4 | ||
| 17 | Geoff McGivern | 12 | 4 | ||
| 18 | Nevin Paynter | 4 | 0 | ||
| 19 | Colin Love | 6 | 5 | ||
| 20 | Tom McLean | 11 | 1 | ||
| 21 | John Cordner | 6 | 0 | ||
| 22 | John Ferguson | 2 | 0 | ||
| 23 | George O'Keeffe | 9 | 1 | ||
| 24 | Ray Hutchins | 4 | 0 | ||
| 25 | Ron McMahon | 5 | 1 | ||
| 26 | Noel Clarke | 13 | 25 | ||
| 27 | Bob Rowse | 6 | 0 | ||
| 28 | Bill Smeaton | 11 | 20 | ||
| 29 | Ken McKaige | 6 | 0 | ||
| 30 | John Beckwith | 15 | 11 | ||
| 32 | Len Dockett | 10 | 4 | ||
| 33 | Jack Thomson | 17 | 14 | ||
| 34 | Ralph Lane | 8 | 0 | ||
| 35 | Noel McMahen | 18 | 1 | ||
| 36 | Keith Robinson | 15 | 0 | ||
| 37 | Mike Woods | 16 | 2 | ||
Best and Fairest
| Player | |||||
| 1st | Noel McMahen | ||||
| 2nd | Lance Arnold | ||||
| 3rd | Denis Cordner | ||||
Awards
Most Improved - Stuart Spencer
Outstanding service - Geoff Collins, Eddie Jackson
Special trophy - Keith Robinson
Tribunal
| Round | Player | Charge | Sanction | ||
| Round 15 | George O'Keeffe | Attempted Striking | 2 matches | ||
| Round 15 | Bob McKenzie | Striking | 4 matches | ||
Seconds
| W | D | L | % | P | |
| Essendon | 16 | 0 | 2 | 185.8 | 64 |
| Carlton | 13 | 0 | 5 | 113.1 | 52 |
| Footscray | 12 | 1 | 5 | 128.3 | 50 |
| Geelong | 11 | 2 | 5 | 130.8 | 48 |
| Richmond | 11 | 0 | 7 | 121.0 | 44 |
| St Kilda | 9 | 0 | 9 | 98.1 | 36 |
| North Melbourne | 8 | 1 | 9 | 104.1 | 34 |
| Collingwood | 8 | 0 | 10 | 105.2 | 32 |
| South Melbourne | 7 | 0 | 11 | 79.1 | 28 |
| Melbourne | 6 | 0 | 12 | 82.3 | 24 |
| Fitzroy | 3 | 1 | 14 | 67.3 | 14 |
| Hawthorn | 1 | 1 | 16 | 57.8 | 6 |
Thirds
1951 Thirds season
Captain - Tom Ferguson
Best and Fairest - Ken McKay
| W | D | L | % | P | |
| Essendon | 15 | 0 | 1 | 60 | |
| Carlton | 14 | 1 | 1 | 58 | |
| North Melbourne | 14 | 0 | 2 | 56 | |
| Richmond | 9 | 1 | 6 | 38 | |
| Geelong | 9 | 0 | 7 | 36 | |
| Collingwood | 8 | 1 | 7 | 34 | |
| Footscray | 7 | 2 | 7 | 34 | |
| Fitzroy | 7 | 0 | 9 | 30 | |
| Melbourne | 4 | 1 | 11 | 18 | |
| St Kilda | 3 | 1 | 12 | 16 | |
| Hawthorn | 2 | 1 | 13 | 14 | |
| South Melbourne | 1 | 0 | 15 | 4 | |
Notes
For Thirds ladder, draw total shows abandoned matches as draws for Carlton, Richmond, Footscray (one of two), Melbourne, St Kilda and Hawthorn.
A Dan Sullivan may have been on the committee.
Media
Sun - 12/12/1950
Argus - 22/03/1951, 27/06/1951
Sporting Globe - 30/06/1951