Coach: Norm Smith
Captain: Ron Barassi
Finishing Position: 2nd
Best and Fairest: Ron Barassi
Leading Goalkicker: Robert B Johnson (36)
Best First Year Player: Brian Roet
Members: 4611
| Matches | Ladder | Playing List | Tribunal | Reserves | Under 19s | Fourths |
Melbourne started the season looking for a third premiership hat-trick, but failed to finish on top of the ladder for the first time since 1954.
Before the season the league altered the recruiting district boundaries and Melbourne were left with the Lonsdale, Latrobe, Gipps and Albert wards of the City of Melbourne, the city of Prahran, East ward of the City of Caulfield and the North and Centre wards of the City of Moorabbin. With a surplus of promising recruits they extended the senior list from 34 to 40 - the largest of any league club.
Pre-season started at the Old Scotch Ground after the MCG surface was relaid, with senior players Ray Nilsson, Denis Jones and Trevor Johnson all suffered broken bones. Two losses in the first month were followed by a winning streak that left the Demons in their familiar position at the top of the ladder, before a draw and three losses in four weeks left them struggling to secure a double chance. They recovered to finish second and enter a finals series with Hawthorn, St Kilda, and Footscray, teams with one premiership between them. After losing the Semi Final to Hawthorn, a Preliminary Final 1961 defeat to Footscray eliminated them in straight sets.
On an end-of-season trip during October, the club played intra-club matches in Auckland and Wellington. It was the first organised end of season trip by a VFL club.
Richard Taylor and Bert Chadwick were Melbourne's delegates to the VFL. During the year they voted against a proposal to reduce the number of players on the ground to 16, and abstained from a vote regarding unlimited use of the interchange. The reduction in players lost unanimously, and the interchange proposal was defeated 6-5. Unlimited interchange was back on the agenda a week later, and this time Melbourne voted in favour but the 6-6 result was defeated on the casting vote of the chair of the VFL Permit Committee.
During the year Melbourne introduced a motion to the VFL in support of league clubs paying transfer fees when they took players from country sides. The idea had been put to the Melbourne committee by former coach Checker Hughes who suggested a payment of £100 to major country clubs and £50 to minor country clubs.
Chadwick resigned as the club's league delegate on 19 January 1962 and was replaced by Tom Trumble.
Premiership season
| Round | Opposition | Result | Score | |||
| 1 | Fitzroy | WIN | 75-46 | |||
| 2 | Hawthorn | LOSS | 44-76 | |||
| 3 | Essendon | WIN | 82-57 | |||
| 4 | St. Kilda | LOSS | 81-84 | |||
| 5 | Geelong | WIN | 120-55 | |||
| 6 | Footscray | WIN | 87-62 | |||
| 7 | Carlton | WIN | 104-79 | |||
| 8 | Collingwood | WIN | 121-52 | |||
| 9 | South Melbourne | WIN | 98-62 | |||
| 10 | North Melbourne | WIN | 93-44 | |||
| 11 | Richmond | WIN | 120-54 | |||
| 12 | Fitzroy | DRAW | 44-44 | |||
| 13 | Hawthorn | LOSS | 40-58 | |||
| 14 | Essendon | LOSS | 78-87 | |||
| 15 | St. Kilda | LOSS | 55-66 | |||
| 16 | Geelong | WIN | 89-87 | |||
| 17 | Footscray | WIN | 88-48 | |||
| 18 | Carlton | WIN | 91-90 | |||
| SF | Hawthorn | LOSS | 73-80 | |||
| PF | Footscray | LOSS | 58-85 | |||
Ladder
| W | D | L | % | P | ||
| Hawthorn | 14 | 0 | 4 | 125.1 | 56 | |
| Melbourne | 12 | 1 | 5 | 131.2 | 50 | |
| St. Kilda | 11 | 0 | 7 | 117.1 | 44 | |
| Footscray | 11 | 0 | 7 | 109.7 | 44 | |
| Fitzroy | 10 | 1 | 7 | 116.8 | 42 | |
| Geelong | 10 | 1 | 7 | 100.4 | 42 | |
| Essendon | 9 | 1 | 8 | 109.5 | 38 | |
| Carlton | 9 | 0 | 9 | 96.5 | 36 | |
| Collingwood | 5 | 1 | 12 | 84.8 | 22 | |
| Richmond | 5 | 0 | 13 | 78.9 | 20 | |
| South Melbourne | 5 | 0 | 13 | 72.2 | 20 | |
| North Melbourne | 4 | 1 | 13 | 79.1 | 18 | |
Playing List
| Number | Player | Games | Goals | |||
| 1 | Bruce Leslie | 6 | 1 | |||
| 2 | Alan Rowarth | 12 | 11 | |||
| 4 | John Lord | 19 | 4 | |||
| 6 | Frank Adams | 13 | 23 | |||
| 7 | Geoff Case | 2 | 0 | |||
| 8 | Tassie Johnson | 20 | 0 | |||
| 9 | Brian Dixon | 16 | 2 | |||
| 10 | Bob Turner | 8 | 0 | |||
| 11 | Laurie Mithen | 17 | 23 | |||
| 12 | Mike Collins | 2 | 1 | |||
| 14 | Trevor Johnson | 14 | 0 | |||
| 16 | Robert B Johnson | 19 | 36 | |||
| 17 | Ray Dawson | 12 | 5 | |||
| 18 | Brian Roet | 13 | 0 | |||
| 19 | Bob Carroll | 6 | 0 | |||
| 20 | Graeme Pinfold | 3 | 0 | |||
| 21 | Brian Leahy | 17 | 0 | |||
| 22 | Bryan Kenneally | 20 | 1 | |||
| 23 | Geoff Tunbridge | 20 | 26 | |||
| 24 | Ian Ridley | 14 | 21 | |||
| 26 | Ian Thorogood | 14 | 1 | |||
| 28 | Terry Gleeson | 13 | 1 | |||
| 29 | Hassa Mann | 20 | 26 | |||
| 30 | John Leahy | 2 | 0 | |||
| 31 | Ron Barassi | 19 | 19 | |||
| 32 | George Milner | 10 | 0 | |||
| 33 | Robert Miller | 14 | 0 | |||
| 34 | Len Mann | 10 | 2 | |||
| 35 | Clyde Laidlaw | 20 | 11 | |||
| 37 | Bernie Massey | 8 | 0 | |||
| 38 | Ray Nilsson | 14 | 13 | |||
| 39 | Herbie Matthews | 3 | 2 | |||
Best and Fairest
| Player | ||||||
| 1st | Ron Barassi | |||||
| 2nd | Frank Adams | |||||
| 3rd | Brian Dixon | |||||
| 4th | Laurie Mithen | |||||
Other Awards
Outstanding Service - Tassie Johnson, Bryan Kenneally, Brian Roet, Geoff Tunbridge
Best Clubman - John Lord
Special Trophy - Laurie Mithen
Tribunal
| Round | Player | Charge | Sanction | |||
| Round 5 Under 19s | Ian Petty | Striking | 6 matches | |||
| !!!Reserves | ||||||
| 1961 Reserves season | ||||||
| Best and Fairest - Bruce Leslie | ||||||
| Second Best and Fairest - Gavin Mooney | ||||||
| Equal third best and fairest - Mike Collins and John Leahy | ||||||
| Outstanding Service - Tony Bourke, Bob Turner, Garry Ireland. | ||||||
| !!!Under 19s | ||||||
| Best and Fairest - George Hill | ||||||
| Second Best and Fairest - G. Fraser | ||||||
| Most Determined Player - T. Johnson | ||||||
| Outstanding Service - D. Kirby, N. Corrigan, Ken Emselle, Tom Ingpen | ||||||
| Finals |
SF | Fitzroy | WIN|81-69
PF | South Melbourne | LOSS|67-83||
Fourths
Best and Fairest - Graeme Jacobs
Second Best and Fairest - P. Armitage
Outstanding Service - Alan Schultz, R. Keane, J. Miller
Media
Age - 08/11/1960
Age - 25/03/1961
Age - 28/03/1961
Age - 05/05/1961
Age - 12/05/1961
Age - 24/05/1961
Football Record R8 1961
Age - 09/09/1961
Sun - 04/10/1961