Frederick William Keays (12 July 1898 – 24 June 1983) was an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er who played with Fitzroy (1919–1921) and Collingwood (in the

1922 VFL season The 1922 VFL season was the 26th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest-level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured nine clubs and ran from 6 May to 14 October, comprising a 16-match h ...

) in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...

(VFL). After his playing career, Fred competed in the 1927

Stawell Gift The Stawell Gift is Australia's oldest and richest short-distance running race. It is the main event in an annual carnival held on Easter weekend by the Stawell Athletic Club, with the main race finals on the holiday Monday, at Central Park, S ...

won by his rival at that time, Tom Miles. He was
trainer and committee member
for Fitzroy spanning two decades until the Second World War. He served for a second time in WW2 having previously served and twice been wounded as a 16-year-old

ANZAC The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) was originally a First World War army corps of the British Empire under the command of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. It was formed in Egypt in December 1914, and operated during the ...

in WW1. Keays eldest son
Desmond Charles Keays
enlisted in 1941, was reported as missing in July 1942 and died in 1945 as a POW at Sandakan camp. Desmond is also remembered for paying the ultimate price for his country on the Fitzroy Football Club website �
Fitzroy Football Club Anzac Day Tribute
Fred Keays' grandson Terry Keays also played

with Collingwood. His great-grandson

Ben Keays Ben Keays (born 23 February 1997) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). His great-grandfather Fred Keays represented both and in the Victorian Football L ...

is a current Australian rules footballer with

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

ANZAC

Keays was only in his 17th year as he completed training in Egypt before being initially deployed with the

8th Battalion (Australia) The 8th Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army. Initially raised in 1914 for the First Australian Imperial Force during the First World War the battalion was completely recruited from Victoria, Australia, Victoria and formed ...

(November 1915) as reinforcements at Gallipoli before the retreat in December 1915. He was then wounded, most likely in France at the

Battle of Pozières The Battle of Pozières (23 July – 3 September 1916) took place in northern France around the village of Pozières, during the Battle of the Somme. The costly fighting ended with the British in possession of the plateau north and east of the ...

. After being wounded for a second time, most likely on the Western Front this time in his lower right leg, he was sent to England to recover before returning home to Fitzroy, Melbourne 1919. In WW2 his age was recorded as one year younger (1900 birth year recorded when it was 1899) thus reporting an age of 39 at enlistment.

References

External links

*
Fred Keays's profile
at Collingwood Forever {{DEFAULTSORT:Keays, Fred 1898 births 1983 deaths Australian Army soldiers Australian military personnel of World War I Australian Army personnel of World War II Australian rules footballers from Melbourne Fitzroy Football Club players Collingwood Football Club players Child soldiers in World War I People from Richmond, Victoria Military personnel from Melbourne Fitzroy Football Club administrators 20th-century Australian sportsmen