Francis Andrew Lyon was born in Strathoven in Scotland on 13 January 1893.
He was trained as an engineer but according to his descendants his one ambition was to be a professional soccer player, against the wishes of his family. This may have been the reason he migrated to Australia where he became employed as a produce salesman. Frank became a member of Caledonians’ inaugural team in 1913 and apart from being tall and fast he proved his skill by being selected to play centre-forward for the Scottish-born in the representative games of that era. Enlisting in the 11th Battalion Frank Lyon saw action in France where he experienced the freezing conditions of trench warfare. In June 1918 these conditions took their toll and Frank Lyon died of pneumonia five months before the War ended and was buried in Longuenesse, Pas-de-Calais, France. Sadly his son was to die in the Second World War after his Halifax bomber was shot down over the Balkans. His grandson Robin served in Vietnam.
Excerpted from John Williamson’s Soccer Anzacs: The Story of the Caledonian Soccer Club.