After a strong start to the season which had Carlton sitting as premiership favourites after six weeks, performances declined and the team finished tenth out of eighteen teams in the 2012 AFL season, missing the finals for the first time since 2008 and resulting in the dismissal of senior coach Brett Ratten.
The club's two joint major sponsors, car manufacturer Hyundai and confectionery company Mars, were unchanged from 2011.
General manager of football operations Steven Icke left the club at the end of the 2011, after serving in the role for five seasons.
[12] Chris Judd served as club captain for the fifth season, with Kade Simpson continuing as vice-captain.
[21] The club ran a two-week preseason training camp for much of its playing list in Doha, Qatar, and a further week in Abu Dhabi, UAE, during October and November 2011.
[35] Carlton finished in outright last place out of eighteen teams in the 2012 NAB Cup, as the only team to lose all four roster matches; the club also lost the consolation practice match on NAB Cup Grand Final weekend to go through the entire pre-season winless.
[37] Even after the winless preseason, Carlton entered the season as the fourth favourite for the premiership with punters, behind Collingwood, Hawthorn and Geelong.
[39] However, the club then lost six of its next seven games to fall to tenth on the ladder with a record of 6–7 after Round 14, which brought intense speculation in the media about the future of Ratten's tenure as coach.
[40] Carlton won five of its next seven games to stay in contention for eighth place, but was eliminated in Round 22 after losing and seeing other results fail to fall favourably.
The John Nicholls Medal, for the best and fairest player of the club, as well as several other awards, were presented on the night.
The following Carlton players won the Mark of the Week during the 2012 season: In 2012, Carlton had a full alignment with the Northern Blues in the Victorian Football League, allowing Carlton-listed players to play with the Northern Blues when not selected in AFL matches.
The Northern Blues played home matches at both Visy Park and Preston City Oval.
[10][70] After sitting on the bottom of the VFL ladder at the time of Hyde's departure,[10] the Northern Blues finished tenth out of thirteen with a record of 6–10, to miss the finals.