Michael James Brophy played for Maryborough Rangers but had followed his mother to Gladstone by the time he enlisted in August 1915.
He was assigned to the 42nd Battalion and spent much of the next year in Brisbane. Here he presumably played for his Battalion against the 26th in a selection trial for an AIF combined team to take on a Brisbane representative XI. Brophy subsequently appeared for the AIF side, alongside future Socceroo John Peebles, as they scored a 2-0 victory over Brisbane.
Brophy finally left Australia in June 1916. He returned six months later having made it as far as Egypt. On arriving in Suez in July, he was transferred to hospital with influenza. Two months later he was diagnosed with neuritis and sent to Cairo. He was further diagnosed with rheumatism in November, which prompted his return to Australia.
The Queenslander on 13 January 1917 reported on the welcome received by Brophy and exactly 100 other soldiers when they stepped off the train at Brisbane Central. The newspaper claimed it was “the biggest batch that has arrived at one time since the war began.” The soldiers were met with a band and were showered with flowers.
Brophy lived in Cairns for many years, where his brother also lived. It is unknown whether the Brophy Cup, a Cairns soccer trophy in the mid-to-late 1920s, is associated with the family. He married Ethyl O’Shea in 1934. Brophy died aged 54 in October 1943.