Coach: Norm Smith
Captain: Ron Barassi
Finishing Position: 3rd
Best and Fairest: Hassa Mann
Leading Goalkicker: Barry Bourke (48)
Best First Year Player: Barry Bourke
| Matches | Ladder | Playing List | Tribunal | Reserves | Under 19s |
After two early eliminations from the finals, Melbourne lost another crop of former premiership players. Laurie Mithen, Clyde Laidlaw, Ian Thorogood, Geoff Tunbridge, Terry Gleeson, Geoff Case, Trevor Johnson and Denis Jones all retired or moved on, leaving Norm Smith fielding a number of new players. It left the powerhouse club as third premiership favourite, and they finished the season out of the double chance places again.
Midway through the year, it looked like the Demons would miss finals entirely. In Round 5, Collingwood became the first team to score 100 against them since the 1954 Grand Final. They snuck into the top four on percentage with 10 wins from their last 11 games, then won a Semi Final, before losing to Hawthorn in a close Preliminary Final.
The Round 11 match against Footscray was postponed for a week when all VFL matches were called off due to adverse weather. The season ended in October due to the afternoon of cancellations.
End-of-season exhibition games were played against Geelong in Honolulu and San Francisco.
Melbourne's VFL delegates were Arthur King and Tom Trumble. Lord Mayor Leo Curtis was club patron.
Practice match
| Opposition | Result | Score | |||
| Hamilton Imperials | WIN | 168-61 | |||
Premiership season
| Round | Opposition | Result | Score | ||
| 1 | St. Kilda | LOSS | 65-83 | ||
| 2 | Hawthorn | WIN | 100-96 | ||
| 3 | Essendon | LOSS | 63-68 | ||
| 4 | Fitzroy | WIN | 94-55 | ||
| 5 | Collingwood | LOSS | 52-100 | ||
| 6 | Richmond | WIN | 135-56 | ||
| 7 | South Melbourne | LOSS | 70-74 | ||
| 8 | Geelong | WIN | 82-35 | ||
| 9 | North Melbourne | WIN | 114-64 | ||
| 10 | Carlton | WIN | 84-56 | ||
| 11 | Footscray | WIN | 69-24 | ||
| 12 | St Kilda | WIN | 98-39 | ||
| 13 | Hawthorn | LOSS | 62-84 | ||
| 14 | Essendon | WIN | 122-71 | ||
| 15 | Fitzroy | WIN | 153-57 | ||
| 16 | Collingwood | WIN | 129-68 | ||
| 17 | Richmond | WIN | 97-50 | ||
| 18 | South Melbourne | WIN | 91-56 | ||
| SF | St. Kilda | WIN | 71-64 | ||
| PF | Hawthorn | LOSS | 68-77 | ||
Ladder
| W | D | L | % | P | |
| Hawthorn | 13 | 1 | 4 | 130.6 | 54 |
| Geelong | 13 | 1 | 4 | 128.2 | 54 |
| Melbourne | 13 | 0 | 5 | 147.9 | 52 |
| St. Kilda | 13 | 0 | 5 | 140.1 | 52 |
| Essendon | 13 | 0 | 5 | 137.5 | 52 |
| Carlton | 10 | 0 | 8 | 103.3 | 40 |
| North Melbourne | 8 | 0 | 10 | 85.1 | 32 |
| Collingwood | 7 | 0 | 11 | 95.7 | 28 |
| Footscray | 7 | 0 | 11 | 87.8 | 28 |
| Richmond | 5 | 0 | 13 | 75.8 | 20 |
| South Melbourne | 4 | 0 | 14 | 69.8 | 16 |
| Fitzroy | 1 | 0 | 17 | 57.5 | 4 |
Exhibition matches
| Opponent | Result | Score | |||
| Goulburn Valley League | WIN | 180-29 | |||
| Geelong (Honolulu) | WIN | 123-111 | |||
| Geelong (San Francisco) | WIN | 71-66 | |||
Playing list
| Number | Name | Games | Goals | ||
| 1 | Garry Byers | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2 | Alan Rowarth | 8 | 4 | ||
| 4 | John Lord | 20 | 19 | ||
| 5 | Neil Crompton | 19 | 0 | ||
| 6 | Frank Adams | 18 | 18 | ||
| 7 | Owen Zinko | 1 | 0 | ||
| 8 | Tassie Johnson | 19 | 5 | ||
| 9 | Brian Dixon | 18 | 3 | ||
| 10 | Ken Emselle | 20 | 25 | ||
| 11 | Tony Anderson | 14 | 0 | ||
| 14 | Barry Bourke | 19 | 48 | ||
| 15 | Ray Groom | 19 | 17 | ||
| 16 | John Townsend | 19 | 22 | ||
| 17 | Ray Dawson | 6 | 0 | ||
| 18 | Brian Roet | 20 | 0 | ||
| 19 | Bob Carroll | 5 | 5 | ||
| 21 | Brian Leahy | 18 | 1 | ||
| 22 | Bryan Kenneally | 20 | 17 | ||
| 23 | Graham Wise | 3 | 0 | ||
| 24 | Jim Jenkinson | 1 | 1 | ||
| 25 | Kerry Rattray | 6 | 3 | ||
| 26 | Tony Thiessen | 7 | 2 | ||
| 28 | David Robbie | 6 | 0 | ||
| 29 | Hassa Mann | 20 | 6 | ||
| 31 | Ron Barassi | 17 | 32 | ||
| 32 | Barrie Vagg | 18 | 21 | ||
| 33 | Robert Miller | 17 | 3 | ||
| 34 | Len Mann | 8 | 0 | ||
| 37 | Bernie Massey | 20 | 0 | ||
| 38 | Ray Nilsson | 6 | 3 | ||
| 39 | Herbie Matthews | 7 | 4 | ||
Best and Fairest
| Player | |||||
| 1st | Hassa Mann | ||||
| 2nd | Ron Barassi | ||||
| 3rd | Brian Dixon | ||||
| 4th | Bryan Kenneally | ||||
| 5th | John Lord | ||||
Awards
Special Trophy - Bryan Kenneally, John Lord, Barry Bourke
Tribunal
| Round | Player | Charge | Sanction | ||
| Round 17 | Ron Barassi | Striking | 4 matches | ||
Reserves
Best and Fairest - Herbie Matthews
Second Best and Fairest - Ray Nilsson
Outstanding Service - George Hill, Len Mann, Terry Johnston
| W | D | L | % | P | |
| Geelong | 16 | 0 | 2 | 158.5 | 64 |
| St Kilda | 13 | 0 | 5 | 107.8 | 52 |
| North Melbourne | 12 | 0 | 6 | 134.5 | 48 |
| Collingwood | 10 | 0 | 8 | 108.7 | 40 |
| Hawthorn | 10 | 0 | 8 | 101.2 | 40 |
| Essendon | 10 | 0 | 8 | 93.1 | 40 |
| Fitzroy | 8 | 0 | 10 | 95.8 | 32 |
| Melbourne | 7 | 0 | 11 | 94.1 | 28 |
| Richmond | 7 | 0 | 11 | 88.8 | 28 |
| Carlton | 7 | 0 | 11 | 79.7 | 28 |
| Footscray | 6 | 0 | 12 | 90.8 | 24 |
| South Melbourne | 2 | 0 | 16 | 74.8 | 8 |
Under 19s
1963 Under 19s season
Captain - Jim Leitch
Best and Fairest - Frank Davis
Second Best and Fairest - C. Doyle
Leading Goalkicker - A. Schultz (33)
Best Clubman - F. Smith
Outstanding Service - M. Brodie
Best First Year Player - Robert Stewart
| W | D | L | % | P | |
| Carlton | 12 | 1 | 5 | 120.0 | 50 |
| Essendon | 12 | 0 | 6 | 118.9 | 48 |
| Geelong | 12 | 0 | 6 | 105.9 | 48 |
| Richmond | 11 | 1 | 6 | 113.2 | 46 |
| Melbourne | 11 | 0 | 7 | 159.4 | 44 |
| Footscray | 9 | 1 | 8 | 105.4 | 38 |
| Hawthorn | 9 | 0 | 9 | 111.8 | 36 |
| South Melbourne | 9 | 0 | 9 | 92.6 | 36 |
| Fitzroy | 6 | 0 | 12 | 69.9 | 24 |
| St Kilda | 5 | 1 | 12 | 71.2 | 22 |
| North Melbourne | 5 | 0 | 13 | 89.7 | 20 |
| Collingwood | 5 | 0 | 13 | 79.9 | 20 |
Fourths
1963 Fourths season
Best and Fairest - R. Sheers and W. Adams
Second Best and Fairest - Terry Leahy
Outstanding Service - G. Griffiths, I. Milne
Played a semi final against Hawthorn at Punt Road on Saturday 24 August.
Notes
A practice match may also have been played against the Western District League.
Media
Football Record R11 1963
Age - 21/08/1963