Career
Scanlan made his league debut in 1920 for South Melbourne and went on to play exactly 100 games for the club, captaining them from 1923 to 1926. In 1927 he moved to Footscray and was appointed captain-coach. He retired as a player after the 1928 season but returned to the VFL in 1930 as coach of South Melbourne.
Later on in the decade he would also coach North Melbourne but couldn"t prevent them from finishing with two wooden spoons.