FRANK KELLY - 1910-1982
Others readers who have examined the photograph of the 1950 Yallourn Football Club on the Virtual Yallourn website would be excited to read the
name Frank Kelly (middle row-centre).
In 1950 Yallourn was affiliated in the Central Gippsland Football League. The history of the league is thin and not readily available, but is it has
been confirmed that Frank Kelly coached Yallourn for several years.
Frank Kelly was a high profile sporting identity and a dynamic footballer and inspirational coach. Former Yallourn captain/coach and Fitzroy player, John Hutchinson remembers being promoted from the Yallourn Under19's to play for the Seniors during the 1953 Final series. John recalls that Frank was an eloquent orator with the ability to motivate players and lift performance. No doubt his years as a top line AFL/VFL coach and player gave Frank the ammunition to encourage and fire his players.
Frank Kelly played his first game for Collingwood seniors in 1930 . He was only 19 but had gained a strong reputation in suburban junior football. His AFL career is intriguing, as he is only one of few players to play with four AFL cubs. He is said to have been a highly accurate kick, determined and talented midfielder.
His AFL/VFL and country football career includes:-
.. Collingwood 1930,31,33 34 games 8 goals
.. Melbourne 1934,35,36 31 games I goal
.. Essendon 1937,38,39 30 games 7 goals
.. St Kilda 1942, 43, 44 21 games 28 goals
In total..116 games and 44 goals. He also gathered a total of seven Brownlow Medal votes with his best season being 1933 with 4 votes.
Frank coached Port Melbourne to a Premiership in 1940 after taking over the mantle from Port legend Tom Lahiff. This would have been a demanding
coaching role for any person as Port Melbourne's followers were knowledgeable, critical and, some say, fanatical about their club and Australian rules.
Frank returned to St Kilda after his stint at Port Melbourne and was captain of St Kilda in 1944. After returning to Port Melbourne in 1945 and 1946 Frank was cleared to Yallourn North in 1947 and, according to one source, was playing coach for two years and in 1949 was non-playing coach.
The Kelly name became well known in sport and he became a popular and influential celebrity in our district. His experience, high energy and skill
stood out. With former Yallourn players Doug Williams (Carlton), Sid Tate (Geelong) and George Card (Geelong) starring in the AFL at that time , it is easy to imagine that the town and its workplaces would be awash with great stories of football during the winter months. 'Frank Kelly' would be a name spoken often in football circles.
It seems that Frank coached Yallourn for three seasons. He led the Yallourn team in the 1953 Final series of the CGFL. It is hard to ascertain how many games Frank was involved in as a player for Yallourn.
Frank was an accomplished cricketer and according to John Hutchinson was a brilliant wicket keeper. Former Yallourn Best and Fairest Winner (1963) and local sporting identity Grant Cowley played cricket with Frank at Yallourn North. Grant also remembers watching Frank's son, John, box in competition bouts at Warragul which were held in earlier times. Frank was John's trainer. (Boxing was a popular sport in those days and 'prize money' bouts were common and well attended by the male population.)
Frank's son, John, carved out his own reputation as a clever footballer and a handy cricketer. John also umpired junior matches.
Frank's sporting life in the city and Yallourn is probably worthy of greater consideration. What a pity there are no films of Frank playing football.
Even photographs of Frank in action are scarce but it cannot be denied that Frank was as 'large as life' and made a great contribution to sport in our
town.
Frank Kelly died on the 6th July 1982.
Written for Virtual Yallourn by Roger Spaull ~ September 2012.
YFC - 1950 Yallourn Football Club
Back Row: Bill White, Bill Jackson, George Bates, John Paice, Alan McIntyre, Lloyd Brewer, Bruce Knight, John Mann, Ken McColl, ?, ?
2nd Row: ?, Claude Whitbourne, Kevin Fanning, Frank Kelly, Jimmy Shaw, Stan Brown
Front Row: Rod Bennett, George Botton, ?, Colin Broberg, ?, Daryl Knight
From Roger Spaull -
“My love of AFL and country football has never diminished and my research and writings about football never fail to throw up surprises and interesting stories of the lives of men, country clubs and towns.
The Virtual Yallourn website carries several brilliant photographs of former Yallourn Football Club teams. The photos bring back strong memories of the great players who played for Yallourn and, of course, the personalities who made our club such an important part of our lives.
Some of the readers of Virtual Yallourn maybe interested to know that the photograph of the 1950 Yallourn Football team includes two players who
played AFL/VFL football.
.. John Paice. John was a brilliant back pocket for Yallourn. In 1955 he played four senior games with Carlton. At the age of 23, he played his first game against South Melbourne. He wore jumper number 33. In the same year, John won the best and fairest trophy for the Carlton Reserves.
.. Jimmy Shaw was a VCFL champion and won the 1953 Rodda Medal (league best and fairest) and also won the Club's Best and Fairest Award. Jimmy went to Melbourne in 1949 and played 3 games and kicked 3 goals. His AFL debut was against St Kilda. Jimmy wore number 34 guernsey for Melbourne.
Jimmy Shaw was a household name in those days and one of the greatest rovers to play in Gippsland football. PS..Although there is divided opinion, a young player named J Dorgan also played his first game for Melbourne on that day. Some historians think that J. Dorgan is the same Jim Dorgan who crossed to South Melbourne in 1951 and went onto come 3rd in the 1956 Brownlow Medal. Jim Dorgan later coached Yallourn, but that is another story. I must not stray eh!
Another player who went from Yallourn to AFL ranks at that time was Peter Cook. Peter was an outstanding centre half forward who left Yallourn in 1956 and played 14 senior games and kicked 6 goals with Melbourne. Peter was regarded highly but his opportunities and success at Melbourne were restricted by the powerful Melbourne list of that era.
One of my boyhood heroes (and cricket captains) John Hutchinson was recruited to Fitzroy in 1957 and played 3 games. John returned to coach
Yallourn in later years.
The 1950 photograph includes Bruce Knight, a dominant ruckman in LVFL at that time, Bill 'Ginger' Jackson a hard and highly skilled midfielder,
George Bates an elusive forward and other popular and talented stars like Stan Brown, George Botten and Kevin Fanning. (The mascot featured in the photo was Colin Broberg who was a very talented footballer in the Yallourn juniors in later years.)
Like all country clubs, Yallourn Football Club has so many stories about the times and its players. There are so many names and connections that emanate from those days. Here are a dozen or so names that might conjure great memories of our wonderful club and amazing sportsmen of those times. Vic Lawrence, Laurie Shipp, Gerald Marchesi, Ricky Belford, Alistair Thorpe, Tom Garland, Teddy Heesom, Garry Hurle, John Henderson, Ron Lee, Steve Szabo, Jack Vinall, Jim Brown, Jock Mc Gregor, Des Madden, Merv"Storky" Crane, 'Hoot' Gibson, Keith Angove, Neville Linney, Grant Cowley, Doug Williams (Carlton 1944-51), Vin Sabatucci, Ray Kitney, Kevin Gould ...and the list just goes on and on.
Note: Barry Spurrier, who played as a winger for Yallourn, has vivid memories of when the AFL/VFL scheduled matches in country regions in 1952. Yallourn sponsored the game between St Kilda and Footscray and more than 3500 spectators packed the boundary fence and watched St Kilda win by 15 points. Like the English cricket team's visit to Yallourn (in 1955) it must have been the pinnacle of the sporting calendar for the township that season.
I have never forgotten the 'local heroes' who wore the Blue and White and thrilled the Yallourn supporters every Saturday in winter. Those great country football players and their exploits were the stuff of childhood dreams.
I trust some of readers may find the above of interest.
Kind regards and best wishes to all…Roger Spaull”
The 4th person is John Paice,
The 4th person is John Paice, no.6 is Lloyd Brewer and the 9th is Ken McColl
This is later than 1950, I
This is later than 1950, I think 51 or 52
Les Jones was Coach in 1950 when Frank Kelly arrived . Frank coached the Reserves for the rest of that year until he was appointed senior coach later on.
He became Yallourn North coach in 1955 for one year only then became arguably the best Umpire in the Association