He was the younger brother of fellow Melbourne and Footscray VFL player Bill Scanlan.

He served in the Royal Australian Navy in World War II, missing the 1945 and 1946 seasons as a result.

In 1952 Scanlan commenced pre-season training with Footscray[6] but after failing to make the senior list he moved to Sandringham where he played for the 1952 VFA season.

In 1953, Scanlan was appointed playing coach of Tocumwal in the Riverina district of New South Wales.

[7] He won the Murray Football League best and fairest award that year[8] but Tocumwal narrowly lost the Grand Final to Numurkah.