The club's origins can be traced to an 1858 letter in which called for the formation of a "foot-ball club" with its own "code of laws".
An informal Melbourne team played that winter and was officially formed in May 1859 when Wills and three other members codified "The Rules of the Melbourne Football Club", the basis of Australian rules football.
The club was a dominant force in the earliest Australian rules football competition, the Challenge Cup, and was also a foundation member of the VFA in 1877 and the VFL in 1896.
In 1889, the club was reincorporated into the Melbourne Cricket Club, and for many years the two organisations remained unhappily linked.
The club's close association with the MCC allowed it to claim the MCG as its home ground and gave it access to a wealthy membership base, but Melbourne's reputation as an "establishment" club was not always an advantage.
The Cricket Club members have the automatic right to attend all events at the ground, including football games.
This meant many potential members had a reduced incentive to join the football club, and Melbourne's membership remained one of the lowest in the competition.
Frank 'Checker' Hughes became Melbourne's coach in 1933, and under his leadership, the club entered a golden age. He was the driving force behind changing the club's nickname from the Fuchsias to the Demons.
You are playing like a lot of flowers. Lift your heads and play like demons!
The club has won 13 premierships, the latest in 2021.
They collected wooden spoons in 1974 and 1978, and in 1979 they suffered the worst defeat in VFL/AFL history, losing to Fitzroy by 190 points.
The 1971 Grand Final was between the Hawks, coached by John Kennedy, and St Kilda, coached by Allan Jeans.
The match was played before 118,192 people at the MCG on a cool and wet Melbourne day. It was a hard and tough game, with the Saints leading the Hawks by 20 points going into the last quarter.
The Hawks slammed on seven goals in the final quarter to run out winners 12.10.82 to the Saints 11.9.75.
The final term saw ten goals being scored.