Coach: Frank Hughes
Captain: Ivor Warne-Smith
Finishing Position: 5th
Best and Fairest: Norm Smith
Leading Goalkicker: Norm Smith (80)
Best First Year Player: Dick Hingston
| Matches | Ladder | Playing List | Seconds | ||
At the start of the season a clearance war broke out between the VFL and the VFA, with both leagues accepting players from the other without a clearance from their original club.
The Demons, who had finished second and been knocked out of the finals in two games in 1937, served notice that they were going to be contenders with an upset victory of Geelong on their own ground but inconsistency cost them dearly as the year wore on.
Melbourne's form collapsed when the rains came and league grounds turned into mud pits. A three game losing streak from Round 10 to 12 was cancelled out by three straight wins, but the side then fell apart again and lost two of their last three games.
Having given themselves an outside chance by defeating top of the ladder Carlton in Round 17, the Demons were then thrown into a virtual Elimination Final against Collingwood in the last round they lost and finished a game outside the four.
On Wednesday 13 July a combined team made up of Melbourne and St Kilda players lost 7.19 to 16.13 against a travelling East Fremantle team. The combined side was captained by Melbourne's Bill Adams.
During the year Melbourne lobbied the league for a change in the out of bounds rule that would mean only kicks out on the full led to free kicks, rather than any ball which crossed the line.
Receipts were 2994p and expenditure was 3892p.
Melbourne's delegates to the league were Joe Blair and Vernon Ransford.
Premiership Season
| Round | Opposition | Result | Score | ||
| 1 | Geelong | WIN | 132-115 | ||
| 2 | Hawthorn | LOSS | 92-111 | ||
| 3 | Fitzroy | WIN | 116-83 | ||
| 4 | South Melbourne | WIN | 153-101 | ||
| 5 | Footscray | LOSS | 72-76 | ||
| 6 | Carlton | WIN | 107-102 | ||
| 7 | Collingwood | WIN | 115-101 | ||
| 8 | North Melbourne | WIN | 122-92 | ||
| 9 | St. Kilda | WIN | 112-96 | ||
| 10 | Richmond | LOSS | 68-89 | ||
| 11 | Essendon | LOSS | 79-85 | ||
| 12 | Geelong | LOSS | 74-92 | ||
| 13 | Hawthorn | WIN | 70-69 | ||
| 14 | Fitzroy | WIN | 96-96 | ||
| 15 | South Melbourne | WIN | 99-70 | ||
| 16 | Footscray | LOSS | 91-131 | ||
| 17 | Carlton | LOSS | 96-79 | ||
| 18 | Collingwood | LOSS | 82-91 | ||
Exhibition Match
| Opposition | Result | ||||
| Bendigo League | WIN | 144-85 | |||
Ladder
| W | D | L | % | P | |
| Carlton | 14 | 0 | 4 | 116.1 | 56 |
| Geelong | 13 | 0 | 5 | 129.2 | 52 |
| Footscray | 13 | 0 | 5 | 124.3 | 52 |
| Collingwood | 12 | 0 | 6 | 117.6 | 48 |
| Melbourne | 11 | 0 | 7 | 106.0 | 44 |
| Richmond | 10 | 0 | 8 | 111.8 | 40 |
| Essendon | 9 | 0 | 9 | 102.3 | 36 |
| St. Kilda | 9 | 0 | 9 | 91.8 | 36 |
| North Melbourne | 6 | 0 | 12 | 74.7 | 24 |
| Fitzroy | 5 | 0 | 13 | 88.6 | 20 |
| Hawthorn | 4 | 0 | 14 | 82.4 | 16 |
| South Melbourne | 2 | 0 | 16 | 71.8 | 8 |
Playing List
| Number | Player | Games | Goals | ||
| 1 | Gordon Jones | 15 | 0 | ||
| 2 | Lou Reiffel | 10 | 18 | ||
| 3 | John Lewis | 12 | 3 | ||
| 4 | Norm Smith | 18 | 80 | ||
| 5 | Keith Truscott | 11 | 4 | ||
| 7 | Hugh Murnane | 17 | 11 | ||
| 8 | Rowley Fischer | 15 | 2 | ||
| 9 | Richie Emselle | 14 | 3 | ||
| 10 | Maurie Gibb | 5 | 2 | ||
| 10 | Len Catton | 2 | 0 | ||
| 11 | Sid Meehl | 1 | 0 | ||
| 12 | Jack Mueller | 13 | 7 | ||
| 13 | Les Jones | 14 | 9 | ||
| 14 | Jack Maher | 9 | 5 | ||
| 15 | Ron Baggott | 12 | 32 | ||
| 16 | Eric Glass | 8 | 13 | ||
| 17 | Allan La Fontaine | 16 | 4 | ||
| 18 | Wally Lock | 17 | 2 | ||
| 19 | Frank Roberts | 16 | 0 | ||
| 20 | Frank Williams | 22 | 1 | ||
| 21 | Geoff McNaughton | 2 | 1 | ||
| 22 | Harry Harley | 6 | 2 | ||
| 23 | Ray Wartman | 18 | 3 | ||
| 24 | Percy Beames | 16 | 37 | ||
| 25 | Ted Regan | 4 | 0 | ||
| 26 | Jack Furniss | 16 | 0 | ||
| 28 | Pat McNamara | 10 | 0 | ||
| 29 | Harden Dean | 2 | 0 | ||
| 30 | Jack Foster | 1 | 0 | ||
| 31 | Ron Barassi | 13 | 18 | ||
| 32 | Dick Hingston | 14 | 0 | ||
| 33 | Ted Buckley | 13 | 2 | ||
Best and Fairest
| Player | |||||
| 1st | Norm Smith | ||||
Other Awards
Most Consistent - Percy Beames
Most Improved - Gordon Jones
Most Accomplished - Wally Lock
Best Clubman - Ron Baggott
Most Brilliant - Jack Mueller
Most Unselfish - Ron Barassi
Most Determined - Frank Roberts
Special Efforts - Jack Furniss
Tribunal
| Round | Player | Charge | Sanction | ||
| Round 5 | Jack Mueller | Elbowing | 4 matches | ||
| Round 15 | Frank Roberts | Striking | Guilty | ||
| Round 15 | Ron Barassi | Attempted Striking | 2 matches | ||
Seconds
1938 Seconds season
Captain - Geoff McNaughton
Leading goalkicker - Fred Fanning - 106
| W | D | L | % | P | |
| Collingwood | 16 | 0 | 2 | 64 | |
| Geelong | 15 | 1 | 2 | 62 | |
| Carlton | 15 | 0 | 3 | 60 | |
| Footscray | 13 | 0 | 5 | 52 | |
| Richmond | 9 | 1 | 8 | 38 | |
| Melbourne | 8 | 1 | 9 | 36 | |
| Essendon | 8 | 0 | 10 | 32 | |
| Fitzroy | 7 | 0 | 11 | 28 | |
| South Melbourne | 5 | 0 | 13 | 20 | |
| Hawthorn | 4 | 0 | 14 | 16 | |
| North Melbourne | 4 | 0 | 14 | 16 | |
| St Kilda | 2 | 1 | 15 | 10 | |
Notes
There may have been pre-season games against Brighton, Brunswick and Prahran.
Media
Argus - 23/04/1938
Football Record R14 1938
Mercury - 22/07/1938
West Australian - 27/07/1938
Argus - 04/10/1938
Argus - 08/02/1939