President - Frank Grey Smith
Vice-Presidents - Murdoch, G. Aitken, JJ Morris, A. Hunt
Secretary - W. Lynar
Treasurer - H. Morrison
Committee - W. Bailey, Arthur Hunt, G. Hallett, H. Tuckfield, JJ Morris
Captain - Howard King
Vice-Captain - George Strachan
For the second time Melbourne moved to a new home ground at the Friendly Societies' Ground (near the present day AAMI Park) but welcomed their new home with their worst season ever to that point. The ground was the first time that a field had been specially prepared for an Australian Rules team.
Prahran merged with St. Kilda and Hotham changed their name to North Melbourne. Rules were changes to allow the umpire to face the players as he threw the ball into play, making it easier to spot infringements.
A match against Carlton scheduled for Saturday 31 March as a tribute for an ill-cricketer was cancelled when Melbourne were unable to field a team. A game against Brittannia on 21 July was called off when only 14 Brittannia players turned up.
The June tour of Queensland took an understrength team. The touring party was Brooks, A. King, Howard King, Burn, Franks, Burns, McCrindle, Kelly, Huggins, Harper, Rivers, Wiseman, Lording, Fox, Lynar, Murphy, Burton, Griffith, Carah, McKenzie, and emergencies Plant, Parsons, Bourke, with P. Beaumont as team manager.
The match against New Zealand Natives may have been at Rugby. In August the football club played rugby against a visiting Maori side and the Maoris won 3 tries to nil. In July the club was reportedly in dispute with the promoters of a tour of English footballers who had pulled out of a match on the MCG on Saturday 21 July. The promoters pulled out when the MCC tried to charge an admission price for the match. The visitors played in Ballarat instead.
Newspaper reports at the end of the year suggest the club played 19 games, won 4, drew 1 and lost 14 with 52 goals for and 119 against.
VFA Matches
| Date | Opposition | Result | ||
| 10 March | Geelong | LOSS | ||
| 22 April | Williamstown | WIN | ||
| 5 May | Port Melbourne | LOSS | ||
| 12 May | North Melbourne | WIN | ||
| 19 May | Ballarat | LOSS | ||
| 24 May | Carlton | LOSS | ||
| 2 June | University | WIN | ||
| 9 June | Richmond | LOSS | ||
| 30 June | Geelong | LOSS | ||
| 7 July | Essendon | WIN | ||
| 14 July | Fitzroy | LOSS | ||
| 28 July | South Melbourne | LOSS | ||
| 4 August | Fitzroy | DRAW | ||
| 11 August | University | WIN | ||
| 18 August | St Kilda | LOSS | ||
| 25 August | North Melbourne | LOSS | ||
| 1 September | South Melbourne | LOSS | ||
| 8 September | Port Melbourne | LOSS | ||
| 15 September | Carlton | LOSS | ||
| 22 September | Essendon | LOSS | ||
| 29 September | Geelong | LOSS | ||
Other Matches
| Date | Opposition | Result | ||
| 28 April | Clifton | WIN | ||
| 26 May | Public Schools | WIN | ||
| 16 June | Queensland | WIN | ||
| 18 June | Ipswich | WIN | ||
| 20 June | Queensland | WIN | ||
| 23 June | New South Wales | WIN | ||
| 15 August | New Zealand Natives | DRAW | ||
| 6 September | Sydney | WIN | ||
Players
George Aitken, A. Agg, H. Barker, G. Benson, E. Brooks, R. Brown, Kenny Burn, W. Burns, F. Burton, T. Carah, Comber, Bob Ewing, Ferguson, Eddie Fox, F. Franks, W. Franks, J. Garton, F. Gillett, Greenhill, Ed Griffith, F. Hallett, George Hallett, H. Harper, Howard, D. Huggins, James Kelly, R. Kelly, Keogh, A. King, Howard King, E. Lording, E. Lynar, Madden, A. McCrindle, J. McGowan, A. McKenzie, McLaren, McNamara, Howard Morrison, P. Murphy, Parry, P. Parsons, Fred Plant, E. Reynolds, F. Rivers, A. Rusden, W. Smith, C. Spooner, G. Strachan, Walker, WP Wallace, J. Wiseman.
Goalkickers
A. King 6, Ferguson 5, J. McGowan 5, J. Garton 4, Ed Griffith 4, R. Kelly 4, A. McKenzie 4, A. Rusden 4, E. Brooks 3, A. McCrindle 3, Kenny Burn 2, G. Benson 1, Comber 1, F. Franks 1, Greenhill 1, H. King 1, G. Strachan 1, Wiseman 1, Unknown 1
Ladder
| Position | Team | Wins | Losses | Draws |
| 1st | South Melbourne | 15 | 2 | 2 |
| 2nd | Geelong | 12 | 3 | 4 |
| 3rd | Williamstown | 13 | 6 | 1 |
| 4th | Carlton | 11 | 5 | 3 |
| 5th | Richmond | 11 | 8 | 2 |
| 6th | Port Melbourne | 12 | 9 | 1 |
| 7th | North Melbourne | 8 | 7 | 5 |
| 8th | Ballarat | 9 | 5 | 2 |
| 9th | St. Kilda | 8 | 10 | 3 |
| 10th | Essendon | 7 | 11 | 1 |
| 11th | Fitzroy | 6 | 10 | 2 |
| 12th | South Ballarat | 6 | 4 | 3 |
| 13th | Footscray | 5 | 10 | 0 |
| 14th | Melbourne | 4 | 14 | 1 |
| 15th | Ballarat Imperial | 2 | 11 | 1 |
| 16th | University | 0 | 14 | 1 |
Second 20
| Date | Opposition | Result | Score | Goalkickers |
| 19 May | St Kilda | WIN | 2.8 - 0.6 | |
| 26 May | Fitzroy | LOSS | 2.4 - 3.4 | |
| 23 June | Kilmore | 5-1 | ||
| 7 July | Essendon | LOSS | 1.9 - 6.8 | |
| 17 September | Geelong | UNKNOWN | ? | |
Notes
Leader 13/04/1889 gives the season goalkickers as A. King 6, A. MacKenzie 5, W. McGowan 4, C. Garton 4, A. Rusden 4, R. Kelly 4, Curah 3, McCrindle 3, Ferguson 3, Brown 3 Brooke 3
Media
Melbourne Punch - 29/03/1888
Sydney Mail - 28/04/1888
Brisbane Courier - 15/06/1888
Sydney Mail - 16/06/1888
Sydney Mail - 30/06/1888
Sydney Mail - 05/07/1888
The Age - 11/07/1888
Geelong Advertiser - 13/07/1888
Sydney Mail - 21/07/1888
Herald - 21/07/1888
Sydney Mail - 11/08/1888
Sydney Mail - 17/08/1888
Sydney Mail - 18/08/1888
Sydney Mail - 08/09/1888
Sydney Mail - 15/09/1888
The Australasian - 13/04/1889
Origins of Australian Football: Volume 3 by Mark Pennings