THE Glencoe Football Club has announced the appointment of Millicent teacher Frazer Scanlon as its playing coach for the 2020 season.
The official announcement was made by the Murphies on Monday but the move had been an open secret in local football circles for several weeks.
Club president Ted Peacock said the club extended a warm welcome to Scanlon.
He said the delay in making the news public was at the request of Scanlon who has spent the past four seasons at his home club of East Gambier.
Peacock said Scanlon was a talented and experienced key position player with a proven coaching record.
“Frazer asked us not to make an announcement until after the East Gambier presentation night and this was on Saturday night,” Peacock said.
“At this stage, Frazer has a one-year term.
“We tried to get his brother Matt Scanlon to come here from East Gambier to play, but he is heading to Penola.
“Frazer was the playing coach of Mount Burr when they went top in 2015.”
“He was born-and-bred in the Glencoe district and his late father Phil Scanlon was a player and coach with the Murphies,” Peacock said.
Players and supporters can greet Scanlon at a meet-the-coach gathering at the Glencoe Oval on October 31.
Peacock paid tribute to retiring coach Zacc Cocks who led the Murphies for the past three seasons and into the 2019 grand final.
“Zacc was a fantastic coach and will continue as a player but now he has a young family,” he said.
“When he took on the job as coach, we thought it would be for three seasons.
“We are rapt with the job Zacc did and we could not have asked for more.”
Scanlon will have much the same playing list as this season with only Nick Martin yet to commit.
The Murphies have finalised their other coaching appointments for 2020 with a mixture of old and new faces.
Newly-minted MSEFL life member and A Grade player Trent Hawke will coach the B Grade in succession to Nathan McEachern who spent four seasons in the role.
Dylan Childs will coach the Senior Colts for the fifth consecutive season with the assistance of Marcus Mulraney.
Past players Adam Price and Luke Rothall will again share the coaching duties for the Junior Colts with ex-teammate Brad Gosden having oversight of the Under 11 team.
In other Glencoe news, Mulraney and past president Chris Jones were awarded life membership at the recent trophy night.
Childs was named as 2019 Glencoe club champion, while assistant coach Tom Edwards was the runner-up.
