Leeds United’s leading scorer, Frank Dudley, was traveling on the Leeds-to-London train, when he put pen to paper to become a Southampton player, in an exchange-deal that took Ernie Stevenson to Elland Road. If his speed, powerful shooting, and eye for an opening were attributes guaranteed to make a forward popular with the fans, they were not sufficient to keep Frank long at The Dell.

With the pace of Eric Day and Eddy Brown already available upfront, it was questionable whether a balanced forward-line really required the third speedster. Dudley initially played second fiddle in the goal-stakes to Brown and then, as Eddy departed, to Wally Judd. Then, in the middle of the 1952-53 season, Frank came into his own with 12 goals in 14 games, including two hat-tricks. Yet it was in two games that brought him only one goal between them that he had a significant impact on the future of his opponents. First, his goal at Griffin Park on Christmas Day 1951 caused a rumpus in the home dressing room that has been revisited in the memoirs of two Brentford defenders, Ron Greenwood and Jimmy Hill, each of whom consequently demanded a transfer.

Both soon left. Next, Frank helped to make possible the legendary “Matthews Final” of 1953. It is amply documented that the Saints missed an abundance of chances in the first half of their Fifth Round replay v Blackpool at The Dell. Dudley was the major culprit, as Matthews reminded him when they met years later. That 1952-53 campaign was abruptly terminated for Frank by appendicitis. His next season hardly got off the ground before he was transferred to First Division Cardiff in a deal that brought Bobby McLaughlin to The Dell. His knees were so dodgy that he “begged” Cardiff not to sign him. By Christmas, they had conceded Frank’s point and sold him to Second Division Brentford, where one of the directors was an orthopedic surgeon. He removed Frank’s cartilages and thereby extended his League career *.

After this, he had a non-league spell with Folkestone. Back in his native Southend, he became a local government officer and coached the Shrimpers’ youth team for a while, having been inspired by George Curtis, while at Southampton, to attend courses at Lilleshall. Although he gave that up at 40, he continued, until he was 65, to play at the amateur level.

Frank’s first three goals of the 1953-54 season were scored for three different clubs in three different divisions. Goal nos. 1 was for Saints v Watford in Division Three (South) on 19 August, goal nos. 2 was for Cardiff City v Charlton Athletic in a First Division match on 31 October and goal nos. 3 was for Brentford v Oldham Athletic in Division Two on Christmas Day.