On this Day, July 7 1928, two brothers faced off on the football field, with each going on to have a tremendous impact on the Swans.

Brothers Vic (South Melbourne) and Alan Belcher (Essendon) created football history when they captained their respective sides in the 1912 Grand Final.

Both were mainly one-club players: Vic in 226 games with South from 1907-20 and Alan in 176 games with Essendon from 1906-19, after just four games with Collingwood in 1904.

However, another pair of brothers steeped in South history opposed each other as club captains in a Footscray-South match at the Western Oval in Round 12, on July 7, 1928.

Joe and Paddy Scanlan not only were South Melbourne born and bred, but were regarded club royalty.

Paddy, four years older than Joe, made his South debut in 1920, at 24 years of age, after being recruited from local club Leopold.

He had a late start to his football career as he had served in the army during World War I. But, before the war, he was regarded as an outstanding football prospect.

Regarded as one of the best centremen in the VFL, Paddy was a born leader and was appointed South Melbourne captain in 1923, a year before Joe (also recruited from Leopold) made his South debut.

Whereas Paddy was a classy mover with tremendous skills, Joe was a dogged defender noted for his courage and tenacity.

The Scanlans played together in the red and white until Footscray appointed Paddy captain-coach from the start of the 1927 season.

Paddy was South Melbourne captain until 1926, but stood down when Collingwood finally gave the all clear for coach Charlie Pannam to play for the Southerners.

Then, when Pannam retired as a player during the 1928, Joe Scanlan took over as club captain.

His captaincy lasted only until the end of the 1928 season when he was replaced by former Port Melbourne player Charlie Stanbridge, but had another term as South captain from 1930-31.

He played 148 games for South and represented Victoria six times, while brother Paddy played 100 games in the red and white and represented Victoria four times.

The 1928 Footscray-South clash created tremendous public interest, partly because Footscray was on the rise while South was languishing near the bottom, with Pannam now non-playing coach. 

Footscray won the clash of the siblings by just two points and The Argus newspaper suggested South’s tardy start, in scoring just 1.1 in the first quarter, cost it dearly.

South grabbed the lead with just a few minutes to go, but Footscray’s Edward Cahill kicked a late goal to give his side a narrow victory.

Peter Reville was named as South’s best player, while Joe Scanlan also was named among his side’s best players, with Paddy Scanlan having a rare quiet game.

Paddy spent just two years with Footscray before joining Richmond as an assistant coach in 1929 and then returning to the Lake Oval as senior coach for the 1930-31 seasons. He also coached North Melbourne halfway through 1935 to 1937.

Joe, on his playing retirement in 1931, joined the club committee and later became vice-president.

Apart from his enormous contribution as a player, he was instrumental in South signing the great Laurie Nash from Tasmanian club City South.

Joe Scanlan had a close personal relationship with City South president Hugh Cameron and this helped the Southerners beat every rival club to Nash’s signature.

The Scanlan brothers therefore made enormous contributions to the red and white, on and off the field.