Coach: Norm Smith
Captain: Denis Cordner
Finishing Position: 6th
Best and Fairest: Geoff McGivern
Leading Goalkicker: Noel Clarke (49)
Best First Year Player: Jim Wilson
| Matches | Ladder | Playing List | Tribunal | Seconds | Thirds |
After going from 1950 finalists to three games last in a year later, Norm Smith replaced Allan La Fontaine as coach and saw an immediate improvement. For the first time in several years the club was able to play all its practice games on the MCG due to the district cricket final being played at the Lake Oval, and the postponement of a Royal Tour which would have occupied the ground, and they spent time on the verge of the top four before missing out.
During the year, Norm Smith was asked by the committee to stop holding intra-club matches on Thursday night after Stuart Spencer was knocked out by an errant elbow during one game.
A Lightning Premiership was held in May, with Melbourne defeating South Melbourne in the final.
The Round 8 game against Fitzroy was played in Hobart as part of a promotional round with games staged around the country. The attendance broke the all-time record for a football game in Tasmania.
During the wettest season in 20 years, white balls were introduced in July to help players see the ball in the mud.
At the end of the season 1948 premiership veterans George Bickford, Geoff Collins, Eddie Jackson and Mike Woods all retired. The end-of-season trip was to Mt. Buffalo.
Melbourne's VFL delegates were Bill Flintoft and Wally Scott.
Premiership season
| Round | Opposition | Result | Score | ||
| 1 | Geelong | LOSS | 97-103 | ||
| 2 | St. Kilda | WIN | 91-89 | ||
| 3 | Hawthorn | LOSS | 60-74 | ||
| 4 | Footscray | WIN | 76-52 | ||
| 5 | South Melbourne | LOSS | 57-71 | ||
| 6 | North Melbourne | WIN | 63-49 | ||
| 7 | Collingwood | WIN | 82-50 | ||
| 8 | Fitzroy | LOSS | 70-90 | ||
| 9 | Essendon | WIN | 75-74 | ||
| 10 | Richmond | WIN | 83-46 | ||
| 11 | Fitzroy | LOSS | 73-83 | ||
| 12 | Carlton | DRAW | 50-50 | ||
| 13 | Geelong | LOSS | 54-110 | ||
| 14 | St. Kilda | WIN | 78-58 | ||
| 15 | Hawthorn | WIN | 85-57 | ||
| 16 | Footscray | WIN | 107-60 | ||
| 17 | South Melbourne | LOSS | 66-74 | ||
| 18 | North Melbourne | LOSS | 82-97 | ||
| 19 | Collingwood | LOSS | 71-92 | ||
Lightning Premiership
| Round | Opposition | Result | Score | ||
| 1 | Essendon | WIN | 14-8 | ||
| QF | Geelong | WIN | 25-8 | ||
| SF | North Melbourne | WIN | 17-13 | ||
| F | South Melbourne | WIN | 8-1 | ||
Ladder
| W | D | L | % | P | |
| Geelong | 16 | 1 | 2 | 134.7 | 66 |
| Collingwood | 14 | 0 | 5 | 144.4 | 56 |
| Fitzroy | 13 | 0 | 6 | 105.4 | 52 |
| Carlton | 11 | 2 | 6 | 112.4 | 48 |
| South Melbourne | 11 | 1 | 7 | 105.5 | 46 |
| Melbourne | 9 | 1 | 9 | 103.0 | 38 |
| North Melbourne | 9 | 0 | 10 | 96.8 | 36 |
| Essendon | 8 | 1 | 10 | 113.6 | 34 |
| Richmond | 8 | 0 | 11 | 92.6 | 32 |
| Footscray | 5 | 0 | 14 | 77.1 | 20 |
| Hawthorn | 5 | 0 | 14 | 69.6 | 20 |
| St. Kilda | 2 | 0 | 17 | 68.1 | 8 |
Playing list
| Number | Player | Games | Goals | ||
| 1 | Denis Cordner | 18 | 6 | ||
| 2 | Bob McKenzie | 18 | 35 | ||
| 3 | Geoff Collins | 14 | 0 | ||
| 4 | Ken Christie | 19 | 0 | ||
| 5 | Ian McLean | 14 | 1 | ||
| 6 | Ken Albiston | 19 | 23 | ||
| 7 | Eddie Jackson | 16 | 4 | ||
| 8 | Ian Toyne | 1 | 0 | ||
| 8 | Maurie Lehmann | 6 | 1 | ||
| 9 | Max Orr | 5 | 4 | ||
| 10 | Lance Arnold | 17 | 0 | ||
| 11 | Jim Wilson | 15 | 14 | ||
| 12 | Stuart Spencer | 18 | 4 | ||
| 13 | Alan Krause | 6 | 6 | ||
| 14 | Bob Johnston | 10 | 0 | ||
| 15 | Terry Pierce | 2 | 0 | ||
| 16 | George Bickford | 17 | 1 | ||
| 17 | Geoff McGivern | 19 | 14 | ||
| 18 | Harry Lack | 3 | 0 | ||
| 19 | Colin Love | 4 | 0 | ||
| 19 | Keith Carroll | 1 | 0 | ||
| 20 | Tom McLean | 11 | 1 | ||
| 22 | John Ferguson | 6 | 3 | ||
| 23 | George O'Keeffe | 4 | 0 | ||
| 25 | Ron McMahon | 8 | 0 | ||
| 26 | Noel Clarke | 19 | 49 | ||
| 27 | Neil Whitaker | 9 | 1 | ||
| 28 | Bill Smeaton | 6 | 13 | ||
| 29 | Ken McKaige | 3 | 1 | ||
| 30 | John Beckwith | 17 | 8 | ||
| 33 | Jack Thomson | 16 | 8 | ||
| 34 | Ralph Lane | 3 | 0 | ||
| 35 | Noel McMahen | 18 | 0 | ||
| 37 | Mike Woods | 18 | 0 | ||
Tribunal
| Round | Player | Charge | Sanction | ||
| Round 10 | Geoff Collins | Disputing Umpire's Decision | Guilty | ||
| Round 10 | Geoff Collins | Disputing Umpire's Decision | Guilty | ||
Best and Fairest
| Player | |||||
| 1st | Geoff McGivern | ||||
| 2nd | Denis Cordner | ||||
Awards
Best Clubman - Stuart Spencer
Most improved - Ian McLean
Outstanding service - Ken Albiston, Bob McKenzie, Eddie Jackson, Noel Clarke
Seconds
1952 Seconds season
Leading Goalkicker - Jack Mueller
| W | D | L | % | P | |
| Collingwood | 15 | 0 | 3 | 135.6 | 60 |
| Carlton | 14 | 0 | 4 | 141.9 | 56 |
| Richmond | 14 | 0 | 4 | 137.2 | 56 |
| Essendon | 12 | 0 | 6 | 135.0 | 48 |
| Melbourne | 10 | 0 | 8 | 106.6 | 40 |
| Geelong | 9 | 0 | 9 | 112.4 | 36 |
| South Melbourne | 8 | 0 | 10 | 94.9 | 32 |
| Footscray | 6 | 0 | 12 | 90.1 | 24 |
| North Melbourne | 6 | 0 | 12 | 67.5 | 24 |
| Fitzroy | 6 | 0 | 12 | 73.1 | 24 |
| Hawthorn | 5 | 0 | 13 | 80.7 | 20 |
| St Kilda | 3 | 0 | 15 | 64.7 | 12 |
Thirds
1952 Thirds season
Captain - Noel Shaw
Best and Fairest - Don Williams
| W | D | L | % | P | |
| Melbourne | 13 | 1 | 2 | 158.5 | 54 |
| Essendon | 12 | 0 | 4 | 171.6 | 48 |
| Footscray | 12 | 0 | 4 | 110.1 | 48 |
| Carlton | 10 | 0 | 5 | 129.3 | 42 |
| Fitzroy | 9 | 0 | 7 | 97.6 | 36 |
| Geelong | 7 | 1 | 7 | 127.3 | 32 |
| Collingwood | 7 | 0 | 8 | 89.2 | 30 |
| North Melbourne | 6 | 0 | 9 | 76.6 | 26 |
| South Melbourne | 6 | 0 | 10 | 110.9 | 24 |
| Richmond | 5 | 0 | 10 | 90.7 | 22 |
| Hawthorn | 3 | 0 | 11 | 67.2 | 16 |
| St Kilda | 1 | 0 | 14 | 36.2 | 6 |
Carlton, Richmond, Collingwood, North Melbourne, Hawthorn (x2), St Kilda and Geelong were all awarded two points for abandoned matches.
Finals
| Round | Opposition | Result | Score | ||
| SF | Essendon | WIN | 78-33 | ||
| GF | Essendon | LOSS | 55-82 | ||
Media
Herald - 18/03/1952 - 18/03/1952, 22/03/1952, 10/09/1952