Frank Hopkins | |||
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Personal information | |||
Full name | Francis Stanley Hopkins | ||
Date of birth | 8 February 1909 | ||
Place of birth | Beverley, Western Australia | ||
Date of death | 4 January 1960 | (aged 50)||
Place of death | Nedlands, Western Australia | ||
Original team(s) | Boulder City | ||
Position(s) | Forward | ||
Playing career | |||
Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
1926–1933 | West Perth | 128 (289) | |
1935–1941 | Claremont | 70 (268) | |
Total | 198 (557) | ||
Representative team honours | |||
Years | Team | Games (Goals) | |
1928–1930 | Western Australia | 11 (32) | |
Career highlights | |||
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Francis Staney "Frank" Hopkins (8 February 1909 – 4 January 1960) was an Australian rules footballer who played for West Perth and Claremont in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) between 1926 and 1941. He was the leading goalkicker in the league for the 1930 season, and won a premiership with each club he represented. Hopkins played eleven state games for Western Australia, and in 2013 was inducted in to the West Australian Football Hall of Fame.
Hopkins was born in Beverley, Western Australia, but was raised on the Eastern Goldfields. He first came to notice as a football player in 1925, when as a 16-year-old he played a full season for Boulder City in the Goldfields Football League (GFL).
Based on his reputation on the goldfields, Hopkins earned a transfer to West Perth for the metropolitan league's 1926 season. He played every game in his debut season and finished with 21 goals as a centre half-forward, with his athleticism and brilliant marking allowing him to compete with much older and bigger players. In Hopkins' second season, he won inclusion in the WA state team for a tour of the eastern states. He kicked three goals against Victoria on his state debut, in front of 31,000 people at the MCG, and then in the next match against a CANFL team kicked five goals from a half-forward flank. Finally, playing centre-half-forward against South Australia, he kicked three more goals in a narrow 11-point loss, finishing with 11 goals from his first three games as a state player.