Frank Scully (footballer)
Australian rules footballer (1899–1980)
Francis Leo Scully (28 October 1899 – 5 May 1980) was an Australian rules footballer who played with St Kilda in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
World War I
Scully enlisted to serve in the Australian Army in May 1918, completing training at Broadmeadows and, having embarked from Sydney on 5 November 1918, was on his way to Europe when the Armistice with Germany was signed that brought an end to fighting in Europe.
Football
Scully, a recruit from Windsor, started his St Kilda career in the 1924 VFL season. Debuting in round five, Scully was a regular fixture in the team for the rest of the year and won St Kilda's "best first-year player" award for his performances in 12 games. In round 17 he was reported for striking Essendon player Charlie May, for which he was suspended for five games.
He did not return the following season until round six and kicked three goals in his first game back, against Essendon. He played every game except the final two rounds, due to a shoulder injury.
His 1926 season was interrupted by an eight-week suspension, incurred for an incident in St Kilda's round two loss to Geelong at Junction Oval. The incident happened after Scully received a free kick for having his arm pulled by Geelong's Ken Leahy. According to the field umpire's account, Scully punched the ball away following the free kick, which struck Leahy in the face.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Frank Scully (footballer)” is australian rules footballer (1899–1980). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Frank, Scully and footballer, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “australian rules footballer (1899–1980)” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Nov 11, 2022. The linked authority identifier is Q21069776. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1899, 1980, 1918 and 1924.
A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Frank Scully (footballer)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Frank Scully (footballer) primary sources, Frank Scully (footballer) archive and Frank research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Frank Scully (footballer)”?
- How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
- Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Frank Scully (footballer)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.