Syd, the youngest of three brothers who all represented Hawthorn, was born 20 February 1913 and played two games in 1932 including over 80 reserve games.He considered himself a spare parts player, playing where ever the coach asked.
Syd's oldest brother Jack played six games in 1926 and his other brother Jim played 61 games from 1929 to 1933. Unfortunately the Club cleared Jim to Carlton where he was to star, playing a further 162 games and kicking 52 goals. He was appointed captain in 1936, won a premiership in 1938 and later coaching the Blues from 1956 to 1958.
The Francis family had a very strong affiliation with Hawthorn through their father, who provided match day guernseys for a number of seasons and was a major financial donor in VFA years. Syd’s uncle, Jim Jackson was captain of Hawthorn’s first team in 1925 and later coached when Syd played in 1932. His cousin Allan Quarterman, who was a great mate of Syd’s, also played two games in 1932.
The three brothers considered Glenferrie Oval as their second home, playing cricket for Hawthorn East Melbourne and baseball and hockey for the local Hawthorn clubs. They lived in the family home on Scotchman’s Hill in Hawthorn. In his latter years, Syd moved to Lyndoch Retirement Home in Warrnambool to be closer to his daughter, Jill Morrison.
I visited Syd in May 2007 to interview him and present him with his Debut Tie #162. Although his memory was sketchy you could sense his love of Hawthorn. He spoke fondly of Beau Wallace and the lasting disappointment that Hawthorn cleared his brother Jim to Carlton. Before moving to Warrnambool, Syd would often visit the museum - then located in the Dr Ferguson Stand - when he went on his weekly walk around Glenferrie Oval with some of his old mates including John Skerritt (a founding member of Hawks Forever).
Earlier this year Hawthorn Football Club lost its second oldest player Reg Bell. Even though Reg was only seven months younger than Syd Francis, he played nine years later, notching up 28 games during seasons 1940-1941. Bell was recruited from VFA club Oakleigh to Hawthorn at the late age of 28. As a fullback he played many fine games and was reported to have had the better of leading full forwards Norm Smith (Melbourne) and Ron Clegg (South Melbourne).
Syd Francis (centre) with Susan (granddaughter), Jill Morrison (daughter), Peter Haby (Hawks Museum) and Andrew (grandson)
