Coach: John Northey
Captain: Greg Healy
Finishing Position: 4th
Best and Fairest: Garry Lyon
Leading Goalkicker: Darren Bennett (87)
Best First Year Player: Rod Keogh
Major Sponsor: Drake
Members: 10,111
| Matches | Ladder | Playing List | Best and Fairest | Reserves | Under 19's |
The first season of the newly re-branded AFL competition began with high hopes of a Melbourne premiership and the Demons started the season with five straight victories, before losing to the Sydney Swans at the SCG.
Speaking of his side's success in recent years, John Northey praised their unity. "We're a very close club. When there's a club function everyone goes. There's no cliques" he said.
A bad mid-season run with injuries saw the Demons lose five of their seven matches between Round 9 and Round 15, a period eventually ended by a stirring come-from-behind win over Essendon at Windy Hill.
The club did not lose another game before the finals, finishing the season in fourth position on percentage behind eventual premier Collingwood and the West Coast Eagles.
Despite knocking Hawthorn out, winning two weeks in a row in Round 22 and the Elimination Final, the West Coast Eagles bundled Melbourne out in the First Semi-Final, the Demons ruing the chance to win their first senior premiership since 1964. It was the last season for the McIntyre Final Five which had been introduced in 1972.
Melbourne won the McClelland Trophy for the first time since 1958 for having the highest aggregate score between seniors, Reserves and Under 19s who all made the finals. The reserves lost the Grand Final to Carlton.
Rod Keogh won the Gardiner Medal for best player in the Reserves. Teammate Luke Beveridge finished one vote behind in second.
At the end of the season there was an abortive board coup, with Chief Executive Tony King and Finance Director Ralph Lane backing Keith Cheong to replace Stuart Spencer. When the challenge went to the board the vote was tied six-all, leading Spencer to use his casting vote to survive. The issue continued to cause issues behind the scenes for the next 12 months, leading to 13 candidates contesting board elections at the end of 1991.
Practice matches
| Opponent | Result | ||||
| Brisbane Bears | LOSS | 61-107 | |||
| Carlton | WIN | 159-100 | |||
Fosters Cup
| Round | Opposition | Result | Score | ||
| 1 | BYE | ||||
| QF | Footscray | WIN | 85-56 | ||
| SF | Essendon | LOSS | 49-96 | ||
Premiership Season
| Round | Opposition | Result | Score | ||
| 1 | North Melbourne | WIN | 142-89 | ||
| 2 | Geelong | WIN | 128-91 | ||
| 3 | Essendon | WIN | 122-95 | ||
| 4 | Fitzroy | WIN | 89-64 | ||
| 5 | Brisbane Bears | WIN | 125-61 | ||
| 6 | Sydney | LOSS | 93-98 | ||
| 7 | West Coast | WIN | 116-61 | ||
| 8 | Richmond | WIN | 133-80 | ||
| 9 | Hawthorn | LOSS | 48-92 | ||
| 10 | Collingwood | LOSS | 58-110 | ||
| 11 | Carlton | WIN | 99-93 | ||
| 12 | Footscray | WIN | 101-68 | ||
| 13 | St. Kilda | LOSS | 99-132 | ||
| 14 | North Melbourne | LOSS | 73-200 | ||
| 15 | Geelong | LOSS | 103-113 | ||
| 16 | Essendon | WIN | 114-106 | ||
| 17 | Fitzroy | WIN | 109-90 | ||
| 18 | Brisbane Bears | WIN | 73-60 | ||
| 19 | Sydney | WIN | 173-106 | ||
| 20 | West Coast | WIN | 139-103 | ||
| 21 | Richmond | WIN | 86-50 | ||
| 22 | Hawthorn | WIN | 116-104 | ||
| EF | Hawthorn | WIN | 73-64 | ||
| SF | West Coast | LOSS | 100-130 | ||
Ladder
| W | D | L | % | P | |
| Essendon | 17 | 0 | 5 | 139.2 | 68 |
| Collingwood | 16 | 0 | 6 | 130.2 | 64 |
| West Coast | 16 | 0 | 6 | 118.14 | 64 |
| Melbourne | 16 | 0 | 6 | 113.2 | 64 |
| Hawthorn | 14 | 0 | 8 | 120.6 | 56 |
| North Melbourne | 12 | 0 | 10 | 114.0 | 48 |
| Footscray | 12 | 0 | 10 | 99.3 | 48 |
| Carlton | 11 | 0 | 11 | 104.1 | 44 |
| St. Kilda | 9 | 0 | 13 | 100.6 | 36 |
| Geelong | 8 | 0 | 14 | 93.7 | 32 |
| Richmond | 7 | 0 | 15 | 78.6 | 28 |
| Fitzroy | 7 | 0 | 15 | 78.4 | 28 |
| Sydney | 5 | 0 | 17 | 70.4 | 20 |
| Brisbane | 4 | 0 | 18 | 71.4 | 16 |
Exhibition Match
| Opponent | Result | Score | |||
| West Coast | WIN | 160-79 | |||
Playing List
| Number | Player | Games | Goals | ||
| 1 | Steve O'Dwyer | 15 | 9 | ||
| 3 | Garry Lyon | 21 | 13 | ||
| 4 | Tony Campbell | 18 | 22 | ||
| 5 | Earl Spalding | 22 | 15 | ||
| 6 | Glenn Lovett | 10 | 3 | ||
| 7 | Brian Wilson | 13 | 11 | ||
| 8 | Graeme Yeats | 23 | 9 | ||
| 9 | Alan Johnson | 7 | 6 | ||
| 10 | Danny Hughes | 17 | 7 | ||
| 11 | Jim Stynes | 24 | 11 | ||
| 12 | Todd Viney | 15 | 12 | ||
| 14 | Rod Grinter | 13 | 5 | ||
| 15 | Stephen Tingay | 24 | 14 | ||
| 16 | Andy Lovell | 12 | 17 | ||
| 17 | Brett Lovett | 24 | 7 | ||
| 18 | Steven Stretch | 23 | 8 | ||
| 19 | Darren Bennett | 23 | 87 | ||
| 21 | Steven Febey | 23 | 6 | ||
| 23 | Trevor Spencer | 2 | 0 | ||
| 24 | Luke Beveridge | 3 | 1 | ||
| 25 | Simon Eishold | 20 | 22 | ||
| 26 | Jay Viney | 9 | 1 | ||
| 27 | Sean Wight | 2 | 1 | ||
| 28 | John Howat | 6 | 2 | ||
| 29 | Andrew Obst | 22 | 9 | ||
| 30 | Dannie Seow | 2 | 0 | ||
| 31 | Rod Keogh | 4 | 4 | ||
| 32 | Steven Clark | 3 | 7 | ||
| 33 | Greg Healy | 13 | 11 | ||
| 34 | Stephen Newport | 18 | 8 | ||
| 36 | Robert Hickmott | 2 | 0 | ||
| 37 | David Flintoff | 6 | 4 | ||
| 39 | Stuart Cameron | 5 | 1 | ||
| 41 | Peter Rohde | 13 | 0 | ||
| 45 | Ricky Jackson | 10 | 26 | ||
| 46 | Matthew Mahoney | 4 | 0 | ||
| 54 | Brent Heaver | 9 | 10 | ||
Best and Fairest
| Player | Votes | ||||
| 1st | Garry Lyon | 301 | |||
| 2nd | Brett Lovett | 271 | |||
| 3rd | Jim Stynes | 259 | |||
| 4th | Andrew Obst | 203 | |||
| 5th | Darren Bennett | 196 | |||
| 6th | Stephen Tingay | 194 | |||
| 7th | Steven Stretch | 191 | |||
| 8th | Graeme Yeats | 182 | |||
| 9th | Todd Viney | 157 | |||
| 10th | Steve ODwyer | 132 | |||
| 11th | Ricky Jackson | 120 | |||
| 12th | Tony Campbell | 119 | |||
| 13th | Simon Eishold | 116 | |||
| 14th | Alan Johnson | 102 | |||
| 15th | Steven Febey | 85 | |||
| 16th | Greg Healy | 76 | |||
| 17th | Stephen Newport | 75 | |||
| 18th | Brian Wilson | 68 | |||
| 19th | Peter Rohde | 43 | |||
| 20th | Glenn Lovett | 39 | |||
| 21st | Earl Spalding | 31 | |||
| 22nd | Steven Clark | 29 | |||
| 22nd | Brent Heaver | 29 | |||
| 24th | David Flintoff | 23 | |||
| 25th | Danny Hughes | 22 | |||
| 26th | Andy Lovell | 20 | |||
| 27th | Dannie Seow | 15 | |||
| 28th | Stuart Cameron | 14 | |||
| 29th | Rod Keogh | 10 | |||
| 30th | Rod Grinter | 7 | |||
| 30th | John Howat | 7 | |||
| 32nd | Jay Viney | 5 | |||
Other Awards
Best Clubman (Redlegs Trophy) - Peter Rohde
Most Consistent - Brett Lovett
Most Improved - Stephen Tingay
Best Team Player - Simon Eishold
Tribunal
| Round | Player | Charge | Sanction | ||
| Round 8 | Rod Grinter | Striking | 2 matches | ||
| Round 8 | Rod Grinter | Striking | 7 matches | ||
| Round 9 | Garry Lyon | Abusive Language | Reprimand | ||
| Round 19 | Matthew Mahoney | Striking | Not Guilty | ||
| Under 19s Preliminary Final | Troy Shannon | Striking | Unknown | ||
Reserves
1990 Reserves Season
Best and Fairest - Jay Viney
| W | D | L | % | P | |
| Carlton | 16 | 0 | 4 | 132.8 | 64 |
| Melbourne | 16 | 0 | 4 | 124.7 | 64 |
| North Melbourne | 15 | 0 | 5 | 146.5 | 60 |
| Fitzroy | 12 | 1 | 7 | 121.9 | 50 |
| Footscray | 12 | 0 | 8 | 119.2 | 48 |
| Collingwood | 10 | 0 | 10 | 100.2 | 40 |
| Geelong | 9 | 0 | 11 | 95.0 | 36 |
| Brisbane | 8 | 0 | 12 | 88.9 | 32 |
| Essendon | 7 | 0 | 13 | 102.5 | 28 |
| Sydney | 7 | 0 | 13 | 88.4 | 28 |
| Hawthorn | 7 | 0 | 13 | 76.5 | 28 |
| St Kilda | 6 | 1 | 13 | 79.7 | 26 |
| Richmond | 4 | 0 | 16 | 61.8 | 16 |
Finals
| Round | Opponent | Result | Score | ||
| QF | North Melbourne | WIN | 121-79 | ||
| SF | Carlton | LOSS | 76-166 | ||
| PF | Footscray | WIN | 162-71 | ||
| GF | Carlton | LOSS | 81-99 | ||
Under 19s
Best and Fairest - Paul Foot
| W | D | L | % | P | |
| Essendon | 16 | 0 | 6 | 141.8 | 64 |
| Carlton | 16 | 0 | 6 | 134.9 | 64 |
| North Melbourne | 15 | 0 | 7 | 149.9 | 60 |
| Melbourne | 14 | 0 | 8 | 133.1 | 56 |
| Hawthorn | 14 | 0 | 8 | 115.5 | 56 |
| Collingwood | 13 | 0 | 9 | 113.5 | 52 |
| Footscray | 12 | 0 | 10 | 95.8 | 48 |
| Richmond | 10 | 0 | 12 | 106.8 | 40 |
| St Kilda | 8 | 0 | 14 | 82.5 | 32 |
| Fitzroy | 6 | 0 | 16 | 68.6 | 24 |
| Sydney | 5 | 0 | 17 | 70.3 | 20 |
| Geelong | 3 | 0 | 19 | 57.9 | 12 |
Finals
| Round | Opponent | Result | Score | ||
| EF | Hawthorn | WIN | 151-85 | ||
| SF | Carlton | WIN | 117-69 | ||
| SF | Essendon | WIN | 99-96 | ||
| GF | North Melbourne | LOSS | 44-108 | ||
Video
Media
Inside Football - 04/04/1990
Age - 24/11/1991