Coach: Bob Skilton
Captain: Greg Wells
Finishing Position: 11th
Best and Fairest: Robert Flower
Leading Goalkicker: Ross Brewer (26)
Best First Year Player: Tom Flower
Major Sponsor: Mayne Nickless
| Matches | Ladder | Playing List | Best and Fairest | Best and Fairest | Under 19s |
There were high hopes for the 1977 Demons who had missed the 1976 finals only because Footscray and Carlton somehow contrived to draw their last game at Princes Park. For the first time they adopted an official logo (left), which would be used until the end of 1988.
Before the year the club participated in a Footy Olympics carnival, finishing seventh of the 12 teams. Competitors included Peter Keays (4x 100m ball relay), Robert Flower (steeplechase) and Ted Carroll (1500 metres)
The season started badly when the club were forced off the MCG before the season until the conclusion of the centennary cricket test on March 17. They instead trained at Waverley. It didn't get much better from there. In May Stan Alves won his clearance to North Melbourne, and the Kangaroos didn't have to pay Melbourne a cent - a far cry from the $40,000 they were asking.
The side which had to consider itself one of the unluckiest ever to miss the finals the season before was expected to challenge again but didn't win a game until Round 8 and narrowly avoided the wooden spoon thanks to a St. Kilda side who drew two games during the year. Despite conjecture at the end of the season about the possibility of Alex Jesaulenko crossing to Melbourne to replace Skilton as coach this didn't eventuate. The coach made his decision to resign midway through the year, revealing it to his players in mid-July and criticising a lack of dedication and effort for the side's drop in form.
That year's VFL Grand Final featured a number of past or future Demons. The Ron Barassi coached North Melbourne lined up with Peter Keenan, Stan Alves, Bill Nettlefold, Brent Crosswell and Xavier Tanner while Collingwood had Peter Moore and Wayne Gordon. None of the six players ever played in a final during their time at Melbourne.
Club patrons were Sir Henry Bolte and Lord Mayor D. Osborne. Reg Geary was Melbourne's VFL delegate.
Practice Matches
| Opposition | Result | Score | |||
| Hawthorn | LOSS | 109-112 | |||
| Richmond | LOSS | 107-141 | |||
HSV-7/AMCO Cup Night Series
| Round | Opposition | Result | Score | ||
| 1 | Essendon | WIN | 71-39 | ||
| QF | Carlton | LOSS | 81-103 | ||
Premiership Season
| Round | Opposition | Result | Score | ||
| 1 | South Melbourne | LOSS | 72-141 | ||
| 2 | Footscray | LOSS | 95-116 | ||
| 3 | North Melbourne | LOSS | 102-105 | ||
| 4 | Essendon | LOSS | 120-124 | ||
| 5 | Richmond | LOSS | 102-131 | ||
| 6 | Geelong | LOSS | 93-143 | ||
| 7 | Carlton | LOSS | 96-116 | ||
| 8 | Fitzroy | WIN | 140-92 | ||
| 9 | St. Kilda | WIN | 132-127 | ||
| 10 | Hawthorn | LOSS | 115-127 | ||
| 11 | Collingwood | LOSS | 86-119 | ||
| 12 | South Melbourne | LOSS | 64-70 | ||
| 13 | Footscray | LOSS | 51-102 | ||
| 14 | Essendon | WIN | 70-59 | ||
| 15 | North Melbourne | LOSS | 76-127 | ||
| 16 | Richmond | WIN | 90-71 | ||
| 17 | Geelong | LOSS | 108-134 | ||
| 18 | Carlton | LOSS | 46-113 | ||
| 19 | Fitzroy | LOSS | 84-146 | ||
| 20 | St. Kilda | WIN | 175-104 | ||
| 21 | Hawthorn | LOSS | 99-110 | ||
| 22 | Collingwood | LOSS | 101-115 | ||
Ladder
| W | D | L | % | P | |
| Collingwood | 18 | 0 | 4 | 130.7 | 72 |
| Hawthorn | 17 | 0 | 5 | 133.6 | 68 |
| North Melbourne | 15 | 0 | 7 | 117.8 | 60 |
| Richmond | 14 | 1 | 7 | 113.7 | 58 |
| South Melbourne | 13 | 1 | 8 | 110.6 | 54 |
| Carlton | 13 | 0 | 9 | 111.9 | 52 |
| Footscray | 10 | 1 | 11 | 101.4 | 42 |
| Geelong | 8 | 0 | 14 | 82.7 | 32 |
| Essendon | 7 | 1 | 14 | 82.8 | 30 |
| Fitzroy | 6 | 0 | 16 | 83.8 | 24 |
| Melbourne | 5 | 0 | 17 | 85.0 | 20 |
| St. Kilda | 3 | 2 | 17 | 73.5 | 16 |
Playing List
| Number | Player | Games | Goals | ||
| 1 | Gary Baker | 17 | 18 | ||
| 2 | Robert Flower | 20 | 23 | ||
| 3 | Barry Tippett | 7 | 6 | ||
| 4 | Tony Sullivan | 18 | 0 | ||
| 5 | Chris Aitken | 3 | 0 | ||
| 5 | Des Campbell | 8 | 4 | ||
| 6 | Ross Brewer | 19 | 26 | ||
| 7 | Barry Denny | 4 | 0 | ||
| 8 | Peter Johnston | 5 | 1 | ||
| 9 | Laurie Fowler | 17 | 12 | ||
| 10 | Craig McKellar | 18 | 7 | ||
| 11 | Greg Wells | 21 | 23 | ||
| 12 | Marty Lyons | 4 | 4 | ||
| 12 | Barry Norsworthy | 6 | 5 | ||
| 13 | Henry Coles | 14 | 22 | ||
| 14 | Michael Byrne | 3 | 4 | ||
| 15 | Daryl Cumming | 10 | 7 | ||
| 16 | Peter Keays | 10 | 0 | ||
| 17 | Shane Grambeau | 19 | 0 | ||
| 18 | Maurice Wingate | 5 | 0 | ||
| 19 | Ray Biffin | 12 | 20 | ||
| 20 | Brian Cook | 4 | 0 | ||
| 20 | Paul Hurst | 2 | 1 | ||
| 21 | Allan Davis | 20 | 10 | ||
| 22 | Frank Giampaolo | 12 | 2 | ||
| 23 | Shane Fitzsimmons | 8 | 5 | ||
| 24 | Graham Osborne | 13 | 6 | ||
| 26 | John Sparks | 5 | 4 | ||
| 27 | Colin Graham | 20 | 20 | ||
| 28 | Anthony Dullard | 18 | 24 | ||
| 29 | Andrew Moir | 5 | 2 | ||
| 30 | Peter Hamilton | 11 | 0 | ||
| 32 | Robert Walters | 1 | 1 | ||
| 33 | Gary Hardeman | 21 | 10 | ||
| 34 | Tom Flower | 11 | 8 | ||
| 35 | Steven Smith | 11 | 10 | ||
| 37 | Ted Carroll | 10 | 3 | ||
| 38 | Peter O'Keefe | 2 | 0 | ||
| 39 | Mark Alves | 4 | 1 | ||
| 41 | Chris Woodman | 6 | 6 | ||
| 43 | Greg Hutchison | 12 | 1 | ||
| 48 | Brett Marchant | 4 | 0 | ||
Best and Fairest
| Player | Votes | ||||
| 1st | Robert Flower | 104 | |||
| 2nd | Shane Grambeau | 92 | |||
| 3rd | Greg Wells | 76 | |||
| 4th | Gary Hardeman | 76 | |||
| 5th | Laurie Fowler | 72 | |||
| 6th | Colin Graham | 52 | |||
Other Awards
Redlegs Trophy - Robert Flower
Tribunal
| Round | Player | Charge | Sanction | ||
| Round 5 | Henry Coles | Striking | 2 weeks | ||
| Round 15 Under 19s | Peter Thorne | Charging | Unknown | ||
| Round 19 | Henry Coles | Striking | 2 weeks | ||
Reserves
1977 Reserves Season
Captain - Des Campbell
Vice-Captain - Frank Giampaolo
Best and Fairest - Peter Keays
Second Best and Fairest - Frank Giampaolo
Special Awards - Brian Cook, Brett Marchant, Des Campbell
Finals
| Round | Opposition | Result | Score | ||
| EF | Footscray | LOSS | 70-122 | ||
Under 19s
Best and Fairest - Geoff Hayes
Second Best and Fairest - Phillip Mehrten
Special Awards - Kelvin Richards, Damian Caddaye, Paul Thompson
Under 17s
Best and Fairest - Tony Elshaug
Second Best and Fairest - Clinton Love
Special Awards - Robert MacKay, Wayne Mobbs, Con Galileos