Coach: Frank Hughes
Captain: Norm Smith
Finishing Position: 6th
Best and Fairest: Wally Lock
Leading Goalkicker: Fred Fanning (97)
Best First Year Player: Eddie Jackson
| Matches | Ladder | Playing List | Best and Fairest | Seconds | Thirds |
The Demons returned to the MCG after spending almost five years playing at Punt Road while their home was in use by the military but on field they went backwards, failing to make the top four after reaching the Grand Final in 1946.
For the first time the club appointed a metropolitan recruiting officer, tasked with finding talent from the club's district covering Prahran, South Yarra, parts of Glen Iris, Bentleigh, Ormond and Oakliegh.
A pre-season practice match against North Melbourne was cancelled because the VFL would not approve the match.
A six game winning streak early in the season was balanced by a six game losing streak to follow, and by the time they regained their form in the last few games the Demons had lost their position in the four and couldn't get back in. They had paid the penalty for fielding a top-heavy side of tall forwards who couldn't cope when the wet and windy winter conditions settled in.
With nothing to play for in the last game of the season, Fred Fanning set the all-time league record for goals in a game by kicking 18. Fanning and Shane McGrath were Melbourne's contribution to the championship winning Victorian interstate carnival side.
The Thirds finished on top of the ladder in the second year of the competition and won their first premiership.
Melbourne's VFL delegates were Bill Flintoft and Bruce Hogg.
Early in the season the club tried to organise a game in Broken Hill for Wednesday 30 July, but the locals rejected the offer as they deemed a mid-week game unsuitable.
Practice Match
| Opposition | Result | Score | |||
| Carlton | WIN | Unknown | |||
Premiership Season
| Round | Opposition | Result | |||
| 1 | Carlton | LOSS | |||
| 2 | Geelong | WIN | |||
| 3 | Fitzroy | LOSS | |||
| 4 | Richmond | WIN | |||
| 5 | Collingwood | WIN | |||
| 6 | Hawthorn | WIN | |||
| 7 | Footscray | WIN | |||
| 8 | St. Kilda | WIN | |||
| 9 | North Melbourne | WIN | |||
| 10 | South Melbourne | LOSS | |||
| 11 | Essendon | LOSS | |||
| 12 | Carlton | LOSS | |||
| 13 | Geelong | LOSS | |||
| 14 | Fitzroy | LOSS | |||
| 15 | Richmond | LOSS | |||
| 16 | Collingwood | WIN | |||
| 17 | Hawthorn | WIN | |||
| 18 | Footscray | WIN | |||
| 19 | St. Kilda | WIN | |||
Ladder
| W | D | L | % | P | |
| Carlton | 15 | 0 | 4 | 134.0 | 60 |
| Essendon | 14 | 0 | 5 | 122.8 | 56 |
| Fitzroy | 13 | 0 | 6 | 126.7 | 52 |
| Richmond | 12 | 0 | 7 | 109.1 | 48 |
| Collingwood | 11 | 1 | 7 | 112.4 | 46 |
| Melbourne | 11 | 0 | 8 | 117.1 | 44 |
| Geelong | 11 | 0 | 8 | 103.3 | 44 |
| South Melbourne | 8 | 1 | 10 | 97.0 | 34 |
| Footscray | 8 | 1 | 10 | 96.1 | 34 |
| North Melbourne | 4 | 0 | 15 | 77.7 | 16 |
| Hawthorn | 4 | 0 | 15 | 76.4 | 16 |
| St. Kilda | 1 | 1 | 17 | 58.7 | 6 |
Exhibition Matches
| Opposition | Result | ||||
| Sunraysia League | WIN | ||||
| Carlton | WIN | ||||
Playing List
| Number | Name | Games | Goals | ||
| 1 | Ern Rowarth | 2 | 1 | ||
| 2 | Dave Newman | 4 | 1 | ||
| 3 | Ron Irwin | 3 | 0 | ||
| 4 | Norm Smith | 9 | 15 | ||
| 5 | Billy Deans | 19 | 1 | ||
| 6 | Fred Fanning | 16 | 97 | ||
| 7 | Eddie Jackson | 15 | 0 | ||
| 8 | Roy Stabb | 6 | 0 | ||
| 9 | Eddie Craddock | 1 | 1 | ||
| 10 | Lance Arnold | 19 | 13 | ||
| 11 | Gordon Bowman | 12 | 2 | ||
| 12 | Jack Mueller | 17 | 18 | ||
| 13 | Max Spittle | 6 | 0 | ||
| 14 | Ron Hall | 4 | 0 | ||
| 14 | Jack Furniss | 2 | 0 | ||
| 15 | Frank O'Connor | 17 | 22 | ||
| 16 | George Bickford | 12 | 2 | ||
| 17 | Frank Kennedy | 5 | 0 | ||
| 18 | Wally Lock | 18 | 0 | ||
| 19 | Bill Scanlan | 13 | 1 | ||
| 20 | Russ Robinson | 1 | 0 | ||
| 21 | Don Cordner | 19 | 1 | ||
| 22 | Shane McGrath | 17 | 0 | ||
| 24 | Frank Hanna | 11 | 0 | ||
| 25 | Col McLean | 18 | 0 | ||
| 27 | Ernie O'Rourke | 3 | 1 | ||
| 28 | Adrian Dullard | 19 | 21 | ||
| 30 | Alby Rodda | 18 | 23 | ||
| 31 | Stan Rule | 4 | 0 | ||
| 32 | Len Dockett | 17 | 7 | ||
| 33 | Des Bell | 1 | 1 | ||
| 34 | Frank Scanlan | 14 | 8 | ||
| 35 | Noel McMahen | 19 | 6 | ||
| 37 | Jim Mitchell | 17 | 8 | ||
| Dave Hardie | 2 | 0 | |||
Best and Fairest
| Player | Votes | ||||
| 1st | Wally Lock | ||||
Other Awards
Best clubman - Adrian Dullard
Most improved - Noel McMahen and Lance Arnold
Most dependable - Shane McGrath
Most determined - Billy Deans
Outstanding service - Alby Rodda
Seconds
Thirds
1947 Thirds season
Teams played an uneven number of matches, with all clubs except North Melbourne, Richmond, Carlton, Essendon and St Kilda having two byes each.
| W | D | L | % | P | |
| Melbourne | 13 | 0 | 2 | 172.2 | 60 |
| North Melbourne | 13 | 0 | 3 | 160.9 | 56 |
| Richmond | 13 | 0 | 3 | 143.6 | 56 |
| Carlton | 10 | 0 | 6 | 161.7 | 44 |
| Geelong | 9 | 0 | 6 | 145.9 | 44 |
| Essendon | 10 | 0 | 6 | 122.0 | 44 |
| Fitzroy | 7 | 0 | 8 | 93.9 | 36 |
| Hawthorn | 6 | 0 | 9 | 77.0 | 32 |
| St Kilda | 2 | 0 | 14 | 53.1 | 12 |
| South Melbourne | 1 | 14 | 2 | 49.5 | 12 |
| North Essendon | 1 | 0 | 14 | 29.2 | 12 |
Finals
| Round | Opposition | Result | |||
| SF | North Melbourne | WIN | |||
| GF | North Melbourne | WIN | |||
Media
Age - 31/03/1947
Barrier Daily Truth - 07/05/1947
Herald - 23/05/1947
Argus - 24/09/1947