There were seven senior metropolitan clubs in the Association in 1878: Albert-park,,, Hotham,, and West Melbourne. Essendon and West Melbourne had been leading junior teams in 1877 and competed as seniors in 1878. Additionally, several provincial teams – including premiers – competed as senior clubs affiliated with the Association.
1878 VFA premiership
Among the metropolitan clubs, had the best record, finishing with eleven wins and five draws from its twenty-three matches, ahead of, whose record was seventeen wins and one draw from twenty-four matches. Despite Carlton having a numerically superior record, at the time, Melbourne and Carlton were considered to be by far the strongest of the metropolitan clubs, with Melbourne's position as the top club based almost entirely on head-to-head matches between the two clubs, of which Melbourne won all four. Among the provincial clubs, was by far the strongest, having gone through the season undefeated with fifteen wins and one draw from sixteen matches. However, it played only three games against metropolitan clubs and its provincial opponents were not considered as strong as the metropolitan competition, causing a dispute as to whether or not Geelong's record was strong enough to claim the premiership. To settle the matter of the premiership, the clubs scheduled a playoff match - the first in Association history - on 5 October, the week after the season was to have finished. Geelong won the game by four goals to win the premiership.
Club senior records
The below table details the playing records of the seven senior metropolitan clubs, and, in all matches during the 1878 season. Two sets of results are given:
Senior results: based only upon games played against VFA senior metropolitan clubs
Total results: including senior games, and games against intercolonial, up-country and junior clubs.
The clubs are listed in the order in which they were ranked in the Australasian newspaper. The VFA had no formal process by which the clubs were ranked, so the below order should be considered indicative only, particularly since the fixturing of matches was not standardised; however, the top three placings were later acknowledged in publications including the Football Record and are considered official. The senior records include the premiership playoff match.
Notable events
and each hosted intercolonial clubs during the season – in both cases, the same clubs they had visited in 1877:
*Carlton hosted the Waratah club from New South Wales, playing one match under the rugby rules prevalent in New South Wales and one match under the Victorian rules, as they had done the previous year during Carlton's visit to Sydney. The result of the rugby game on 29 June was disputed between the two clubs: both clubs claimed one goal and one touch-down, but the Carlton and Waratah umpires disagreed about whether or not Carlton's shot for goal had hit the post; consequently, Carlton claimed a 1–1 draw and Waratah claimed a 1–0 victory. In the Victorian rules game on 1 June, Carlton 2.13 defeated Waratah 1.2. Both clubs were lauded for their proficiency in their non-preferred code.
*Melbourne hosted the Victorians club from South Australia. Both matches were played under Victorian rules, which were in use in both Victoria and South Australia at the time. Melbourne won both games: on 17 August, Melbourne 1.23 d. Victorians 0.1; and, on 19 August, Melbourne 2.13 d. Victorians 0.4.
The leading goalkickers for the season were Christie and Coulthard, who both kicked 15 goals.
