Born: 1895
Died: October 14, 1952
President: 1931–1952
North Melbourne Hall of Fame inductee: 2011
Frank Trainor had just relinquished his role as president of the Northcote Football Club and had no intention of serving in office anywhere else when North Melbourne came calling late in 1937. The club’s incumbent president, Dr David Berman, had been forced to give up the role due to the increasing demands of his professional practice and an upcoming extended trip to the England, and the Northerners needed a competent, respected person to fill his shoes.
They were sure that Frank Trainor would be the man for the job but Trainor was not easily swayed. Eventually, though, the persuasive powers of the North hierarchy convinced Trainor to come on board and the man who was to become the club’s longest-serving president assumed office.
North, by this stage, had been a member of the VFL for 13 seasons and their performance, particularly on the field, had been underwhelming to say the least. The club in that period had never finished higher than eighth on the ladder in what was then a 12-team competition. Frank Trainor was a man of influence and to North’s eternal gratitude, he used that influence during the next 15 years to assist in bringing to the club a much-needed injection of finances, goodwill and players.
Slowly but surely under Trainor’s leadership, North Melbourne began to turn things around, with a breakthrough finals appearance in 1945. Although they were defeated by Carlton in that season’s first semi-final, they had become a team opposition sides feared, rather than looked forward to taking on.
The club missed out on finals action in the next three seasons, but 1949 saw the Northerners carry all before them in the home-and-away season to win 14 of 19 matches to finish a game clear of perennial powerhouses Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon. Sadly, North went down narrowly in both finals in that season but the club was now undoubtedly a force to be reckoned with. The Kangaroos (as they were now known) reinforced that fact in 1950 by finishing second after the home and away season, winning the preliminary final to make their first VFL Grand Final appearance, eventually succumbing to Essendon in the premiership decider.
The team missed the finals in both 1951 and 1952, but the club was in the strongest position it had been since joining the League and a period of sustained success was in the offing. However, the club was rocked by the death of Trainor in October of 1952. In the Annual Report the club noted the death of “our dearly beloved president”:
“Frank came to North in the darkest days of its history, but he brought with him a stability and strength that gave a new hope and a new outlook."
