Frank Stanley Draper was born in Nottingham in 1896 and grew up in Birmingham. He came to Adelaide with his family in 1913 and played for South Adelaide in 1914, switching to North Adelaide in 1915.
When he joined the AIF in May 1916 his occupation was listed as “clerk”. He arrived in England as a private with the 5th Div Signal Company in late 1916. During his service he spent some time in hospital with hernia trouble.
When he returned to Adelaide in 1919 he was discharged as medically unfit. He returned to the North Adelaide club in 1920, where he was admired as a creative midfielder. He won two league titles with North Adelaide and played four times for the state team, captaining them against Chinese Universities.
He finished his playing career with West Adelaide and then West Torrens, turning to coaching in the 1930s. He was a member of the SASFA Board of Control in 1940 and worked tirelessly with Ted Rowley for the development of Rowley Park, the Association’s venture into owning their own ground. He was Chairman of the SASFA from 1947 to 1950, and was a delegate to the Australian Soccer Football Association and served on the junior and schools council. He served on SASFA and SASF committees involved with the Rowley Park and Hindmarsh grounds until 1966, the year he died.
The Frank Draper Memorial Gates on the west side of Hindmarsh Stadium were officially opened by the Mayor of Hindmarsh on March 15th 1968. Unfortunately these ornamental gates went missing during the renovations of the stadium for the Olympic football tournament in 2000; they have not been found.