Coach: Frank Hughes
Captain: Ivor Warne-Smith
Finishing Position: 1st
Best and Fairest: Jack Mueller
Leading Goalkicker: Norm Smith (54)
Best First Year Player: Harold Ball
Members: 1919 (1863 adult, 53 junior)
| Matches | Ladder | Playing List | Tribunal | Seconds | |
Entering the 13th season since their last premiership victory, fans were beginning to get restless after their 1937 return to finals was followed by a near miss the next year. After the Demons were pipped to fourth by Collingwood in 1938, Mr J Smith penned an to Melbourne's longtime rivals before the start of the season
"Owed" To Collingwood by J.O Smith
They're sanguine - very,
That the flag of this year's fight
Will float o'er the banks of Merri,
Crossed with bars of black and white.
We have got a strong impression
That the boys in red and blue
Have learnt a useful lesson
And they've learnt it most from you.
There's a little score to settle
That has long been overdue;
You have got us on our mettle,
And we'll square accounts with you.''
After one of the most unpredictable VFL seasons yet, Smith's ode proved prophetic as Melbourne met Collingwood in the Grand Final. The Demons finished top of the ladder for the first time after inconsistent form that saw an unprecedented 15 scores over 100, including nine in a row, but also narrow wins over strugglers Hawthorn and South Melbourne late in the season. Their two highest scores of the year both came against the Magpies.
The season finished a week later than planned due to games on Saturday 26 August being postponed because of heavy rain that affected most league grounds. A week later, on the day after the rescheduled Round 18, Australia entered World War II when Great Britain declared war on Germany.
The season was played with new rules, forced on the VFL by the ruling Australian National Football Council. Holding the ball laws were amended, and boundary throw-ins were reintroduced instead of paying free kicks every time the ball went out of bounds. The new holding the ball rule, which stopped players from dropping the ball when tackled and required them to dispose of the ball when "firmly held", proved controversial in the first few weeks of the season.
Melbourne's Seconds also won the premiership.
Club delegates to the VFL were Joe Blair and Bruce Hogg.
The club had 3324p receipts against 4785p expenses.
Premiership season
| Round | Opposition | Result | Score | ||
| 1 | Richmond | LOSS | 84-121 | ||
| 2 | Essendon | WIN | 141-135 | ||
| 3 | St. Kilda | WIN | 112-81 | ||
| 4 | North Melbourne | WIN | 110-74 | ||
| 5 | Geelong | WIN | 106-90 | ||
| 6 | South Melbourne | WIN | 137-30 | ||
| 7 | Fitzroy | WIN | 122-99 | ||
| 8 | Footscray | WIN | 122-103 | ||
| 9 | Carlton | LOSS | 103-133 | ||
| 10 | Collingwood | WIN | 154-60 | ||
| 11 | Hawthorn | WIN | 54-52 | ||
| 12 | Richmond | WIN | 106-99 | ||
| 13 | Essendon | LOSS | 60-77 | ||
| 14 | St. Kilda | WIN | 102-78 | ||
| 15 | North Melbourne | WIN | 102-60 | ||
| 16 | Geelong | WIN | 148-95 | ||
| 17 | South Melbourne | WIN | 84-80 | ||
| 18 | Fitzroy | WIN | 81-35 | ||
| SF | Collingwood | WIN | 104-90 | ||
| GF | Collingwood | WIN | 148-95 | ||
Exhibition matches
| Opposition | Result | ||||
| Essendon | LOSS | 67-128 | |||
Ladder
| W | D | L | % | P | |
| Melbourne | 15 | 0 | 3 | 128.4 | 60 |
| Collingwood | 15 | 0 | 3 | 122.0 | 60 |
| Richmond | 13 | 0 | 5 | 118.0 | 52 |
| St. Kilda | 13 | 0 | 5 | 116.5 | 52 |
| Carlton | 12 | 0 | 6 | 123.1 | 48 |
| Essendon | 8 | 0 | 10 | 97.0 | 32 |
| Geelong | 7 | 0 | 11 | 92.4 | 28 |
| Fitzroy | 6 | 1 | 11 | 89.2 | 26 |
| North Melbourne | 6 | 0 | 12 | 91.3 | 24 |
| Hawthorn | 5 | 1 | 12 | 86.1 | 22 |
| Footscray | 4 | 0 | 14 | 82.6 | 16 |
| South Melbourne | 3 | 0 | 15 | 70.8 | 12 |
Playing list
| Number | Name | Games | Goals | ||
| 1 | Gordon Jones | 12 | 0 | ||
| 2 | Roy Dowsing | 2 | 1 | ||
| 3 | Bill Baxter | 3 | 0 | ||
| 4 | Norm Smith | 20 | 54 | ||
| 5 | Keith Truscott | 17 | 10 | ||
| 5 | Lou Reiffel | 1 | 2 | ||
| 6 | Ian Giles | 6 | 0 | ||
| 7 | Hugh Murnane | 7 | 6 | ||
| 8 | Rowley Fischer | 14 | 4 | ||
| 9 | Richie Emselle | 17 | 0 | ||
| 10 | Maurie Gibb | 6 | 5 | ||
| 11 | Harold Ball | 20 | 30 | ||
| 12 | Jack Mueller | 16 | 25 | ||
| 13 | Les Jones | 20 | 23 | ||
| 14 | Jack Maher | 9 | 2 | ||
| 15 | Ron Baggott | 18 | 34 | ||
| 16 | Gerry Daly | 2 | 0 | ||
| 17 | Allan La Fontaine | 18 | 5 | ||
| 18 | Wally Lock | 14 | 0 | ||
| 19 | Frank Roberts | 13 | 0 | ||
| 20 | Frank Williams | 1 | 0 | ||
| 21 | Ron Kimberley | 11 | 3 | ||
| 22 | Harry Harley | 14 | 3 | ||
| 23 | Ray Wartman | 18 | 7 | ||
| 24 | Percy Beames | 13 | 37 | ||
| 26 | Jack Furniss | 12 | 1 | ||
| 27 | Les Gibbs | 1 | 0 | ||
| 29 | Jack O'Keefe | 13 | 7 | ||
| 30 | Alby Rodda | 9 | 14 | ||
| 31 | Ron Barassi | 13 | 28 | ||
| 32 | Dick Hingston | 19 | 0 | ||
| 33 | Ted Buckley | 9 | 0 | ||
| 35 | Derek Symonds | 1 | 0 | ||
| 36 | Sid Anderson | 11 | 8 | ||
Best and Fairest
| Player | |||||
| 1st | Jack Mueller | ||||
Awards
Most consistent - Richie Emselle
Most determined - Frank Roberts
Most accomplished - Allan La Fontaine
Special trophy (clubman) - Gordon Jones
Most improved - Keith Truscott
Most unselfish - Norm Smith
Special trophy - Beames, Fischer, Furniss, Hingston, Jones, Dowsing, Wartman
Tribunal
| Round | Player | Charge | Sanction | ||
| Round 4 | Rowley Fischer | Attempted Striking | 2 matches | ||
| Round 11 | Ron Barassi | Striking | 4 matches | ||
| Round 13 | Jack Mueller | Elbowing | 4 matches | ||
| Round 14 | Keith Truscott | Elbowing | Not Guilty | ||
| GF | Wally Lock | Jostling, pushing and tripping | 4 matches | ||
Seconds
1939 Seconds season
Leading goalkicker - Fred Fanning - 111
| W | D | L | % | P | |
| Richmond | 14 | 0 | 4 | 140 | 56 |
| Melbourne | 13 | 0 | 5 | 144 | 52 |
| Geelong | 13 | 0 | 5 | 136 | 52 |
| Footscray | 13 | 0 | 5 | 134 | 52 |
| Essendon | 12 | 0 | 7 | 125 | 48 |
| Collingwood | 11 | 1 | 6 | 117 | 44 |
| Fitzroy | 8 | 1 | 9 | 97 | 32 |
| Carlton | 8 | 0 | 10 | 90 | 32 |
| St Kilda | 5 | 0 | 12 | 83 | 20 |
| North Melbourne | 4 | 0 | 14 | 54 | 16 |
| Hawthorn | 3 | 0 | 15 | 67 | 12 |
| South Melbourne | 2 | 0 | 15 | 67 | 8 |
Finals
| Round | Opposition | Result | Score | ||
| SF | Richmond | WIN | 103-96 | ||
| GF | Richmond | WIN | 144-115 | ||
Notes
Official sources show Les Gibbs wearing number 28 in 1939, but Football Record shows number 27.
Match also played in Ballarat in early August.
Media
Sporting Globe - 18/01/1939
Football Record R1 1939
Football Record 1939 Finals
Herald - 07/02/1940
Age - 08/02/1940
Sun - 08/02/1940