Career : 1934
Debut : Round 7, 1934 vs St Kilda, aged 22 years, 217 days
Carlton Player No. 510
Games : 4
Goals : 0
Last Game : Round 18, 1934 vs St Kilda, aged 22 years, 306 days
Guernsey No. 18
Height : 175 cms (5 ft. 9 in.)
Weight : 72 kg (11 stone, 5 lbs.)
DOB : November 18, 1911
An accomplished bush league centreman from Ballarat Imperials, Francis Albert Austin Finn was recruited by the Blues in 1934, but couldn’t claim a regular place in the senior team during his one season at Princes Park.
Wearing guernsey number 18, Frank played four intermittent matches over the year, and although all of those games resulted in convincing wins by the Blues, it was obvious that he was going to find it tough from then on. He stayed on at Carlton with the seconds during 1935, and had a consistent year at the lower level in guernsey number 45. After Carlton reached the finals, Finn was approached by Footscray, and in 1936 he made the move to the Western Oval.
In two years with the Bulldogs, Finn played three senior matches and kicked two goals. But the highlight of his time at the Western Oval came in the 1936 Reserves Grand Final, when Frank played on a wing and the Bulldogs beat the heavily-favoured Melbourne. In 1938 he was on the move again, and crossed to Camberwell in the VFA. He became a stalwart in the centre for the Tricolours, and went on to play more than 100 games – although his football career was interrupted in 1942 when he enlisted for active service with the Australian Army in World War II.
By then he was a qualified tradesman, so Frank served his country in various army workshops during the deadly campaigns against the Japanese in the south-west Pacific, right through until the end of the war in August, 1945. He was discharged in February, 1946, and made it back home in time to play one last season with Camberwell.
When he retired from the field, Frank's love of the game drew him to umpiring, He swapped his football boots for sandshoes, and carried a whistle out onto the field until he was well into his fifties. His younger brother Joe (born 1917) also played VFL football for one season, appearing in 8 matches for Geelong in 1945.
In November 2009, Frank Finn became Carlton’s oldest living player when Clen Denning passed away at the age of 98. At the time, Frank was also the Western Bulldogs' oldest surviving player, and the third-oldest among all clubs. Born in Warracknabeal, he lived for the last 30 years of his life in Coolangatta, Queensland, and died on May 9, 2010, aged 98.
Frank played on the wing in a Carlton team that played a match against Wimmera at Stawell on Saturday August 11 1934.
He was named among the best Carlton players in the 23 point victory.
Picture: Frank Finn August 2009.
Links
Articles: Every Picture tells a story - Signatures from 1935Blueseum: Summary of playing statistics for Frank Finn | Finn's Blueseum Image Gallery