John Fleming (footballer, born 1953)

Last updated

John Fleming
Personal information
Full name John Joseph Fleming [1]
Date of birth (1953-07-01) 1 July 1953 (age 70) [1]
Place of birth Nottingham, England [1]
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) [2]
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
Oxford United
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1971–1975 Oxford United 75 (2)
1975–1980 Lincoln City 121 (17)
1980 → Port Vale (loan) 3 (0)
1981–1986 Wollongong City 103 (7)
Total302(26)
Managerial career
Fairy Meadow
Wollongong Olympic
1998–2003 Kemblawarra
2005 Kemblawarra
2006–2009 Port Kembla
2009–2012 Wollongong United
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

John Joseph Fleming (born 1 July 1953) is an English former footballer who played 199 league games in the Football League in a ten-year professional career throughout the 1970s. He later became a player and coach in Australia.

Contents

He began his playing career at Oxford United in 1971, making 75 league appearances in four years at the club. He spent 1975 to 1980 at Lincoln City, making over 100 appearances for the club. He won the Fourth Division title with the "Imps" in 1975–76. Loaned out to Port Vale in 1980, he emigrated to Australia and signed with Wollongong City. He retired as a player in 1986 and later coached Wollongong Olympic, Kemblawarra (in two spells), Port Kembla, and Wollongong United.

Playing career

Fleming began his career at Oxford United, who finished 15th in the Second Division in 1971–72 under the stewardship of Gerry Summers. They rose to eighth in 1972–73 before finishing just two points and two places above the relegation zone in 1973–74. The "U's" finished 11th in 1974–75. Fleming scored two goals in 75 league games during his spell at the Manor Ground. He then transferred to Graham Taylor's Lincoln City, who won the Fourth Division title in 1975–76. The "Imps" then consolidated their Third Division status with a ninth-place finish in 1976–77. They then dropped down to 16th place in 1977–78 under George Kerr and Willie Bell's stewardship. However, they struggled under new boss Colin Murphy. Fleming scored six goals in the 1978–79 relegation season, enough to make him the club's joint top-scorer (along with Glenn Cockerill, Mick Harford, and Gordon Hobson). He was sent on loan to John McGrath's Port Vale in March 1980. [1] His debut game for the "Valiants" came against parent club Lincoln on 15 March; the Vale lost 3–0. [1] He played just a further two games, having failed to impress at Vale Park. [1] He left Sincil Bank at the end of 1979–80 season, having scored 18 goals in 141 league and cup games at the club. [3] Fleming joined Wollongong City in the Australian National Soccer League where he spent the next six years, amassing over a hundred appearances. City finished 11th in 1981, third in 1982, 15th in 1983, 12th (of 12) in the Northern Conference in 1984, tenth in 1985, and eighth in 1986.

Coaching career

In July 1998, he was sacked as coach of Wollongong Olympic despite the club standing in equal fifth place of the league and also being a semi-finalist in the Bampton Cup. [4]

A week after departing Olympic, Fleming was appointed coach of Kemblawarra, taking over from Joe Coelho, who had been acting as player-coach since the sacking of Jim Dafkovski. [5] He departed the club at the end of the 2003 season. [6]

After a year away, Fleming returned to Kemblawarra as coach for the 2005 season, replacing player-coach Richard Lloyd, who missed the season due to work commitments in Canada. [7] However, his second spell at the helm would be short-lived as, at the end of August 2005, he resigned from the club after a dispute over the club's handling of a training ground disciplinary incident involving a youth grade player. [8]

In April 2006, he succeeded the sacked Harry Sattin as coach of Port Kembla. [9] He was sacked in May 2009. [10]

In November 2009, he became coach of Wollongong United. [11] He "walked out on the club" in May 2012 after falling out with president Peter Vrtkovski. [12]

Career statistics

Source: [13]

ClubSeasonDivisionLeagueFA CupOtherTotal
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Oxford United 1971–72 Second Division 1201000131
1972–73 Second Division2722040332
1973–74 Second Division2200010230
1974–75 Second Division1400010150
Total7523060842
Lincoln City 1975–76 Fourth Division4084140481
1976–77 Third Division 2402020280
1977–78 Third Division2630030293
1978–79 Third Division3161020346
1979–80 Fourth Division00002020
Total121177113014118
Port Vale (loan) 1979–80 Fourth Division 30000030
Career total1991910119022820

Honours

Lincoln City

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wollongong</span> City in New South Wales, Australia

Wollongong, colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near water' or 'sound of the sea'. Wollongong lies on the narrow coastal strip between the Illawarra Escarpment and the Pacific Ocean, 85 kilometres south of central Sydney. Wollongong had an estimated urban population of 302,739 at June 2018, making it the third-largest city in New South Wales after Sydney and Newcastle and the tenth-largest city in Australia by population. The city's current Lord Mayor is Gordon Bradbery AM who was elected in 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Illawarra</span> Region in New South Wales, Australia

The Illawarra is a coastal region in the southeast of the Australian state of New South Wales. It is situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the South Coast region. It encompasses the two cities of Wollongong, Shellharbour and the coastal town of Kiama. Wollongong is the largest city of the Illawarra with a population of 240,000, then Shellharbour with a population of 70,000 and Kiama with a population of 10,000. These three cities have their own suburbs. Wollongong stretches from Otford in the north to Windang in the south, with Maddens Plains and Cordeaux in the west.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port Kembla, New South Wales</span> Suburb of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia

Port Kembla is a suburb of Wollongong 10 km south of the CBD and part of the Illawarra region of New South Wales. The suburb comprises a seaport, industrial complex, a small harbour foreshore nature reserve, and a small commercial sector. It is situated on the tip of Red Point: its first European sighting was by Captain James Cook in 1770. The name "Kembla" is an Aboriginal word meaning "plenty [of] wild fowl".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Noel Spencer</span> Australian soccer player

Noel Spencer is a former Australian football (soccer) player who coaches Dapto Dandaloo Fury in the Illawarra Premier League.

Reece Simmonds is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. He was born in Sydney, and played in the National Rugby League (NRL) for the St George Illawarra Dragons and the South Sydney Rabbitohs (2007).

Wollongong is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. It is represented by Paul Scully of the Labor Party. Since a redistribution in 2013, it has covered an area of 79.25 square kilometres and includes the localities of Berkeley, Coachwood Park, Coniston, Cordeaux Heights, Corrimal, Cringila, Fairy Meadow, Farmborough Chase, Farmborough Heights, Figtree, Gwynneville, Kembla Grange, Kembla Heights, Kemblawarra, Lake Heights, Lindsay Heights, Mangerton, Mount Kembla, Mount Saint Thomas, North Wollongong, Port Kembla, Primbee, Spring Hill, Towradgi, Unanderra, Warrawong, West Wollongong, Windang, Wollongong.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Schofield (footballer)</span> English professional football coach and former player

John David Schofield is an English football coach and former professional footballer.

Adrian Alston is a former professional soccer player. Born in England, he began his career as a youth player with Preston North End and briefly at non-league Fleetwood before moving to Australia. In Australia, he played for South Coast United, then St George before returning to South Coast United and was called up to the Australia national soccer team after two years in the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Illawarra Rugby League</span> Rugby league competition in Australia

The Illawarra Rugby League is a rugby league competition in Wollongong, NSW. It is one of the oldest rugby league competitions in Australia, founded in 1911 with five clubs. The area provides a nursery of juniors for the Illawarra Steelers and St George Illawarra Dragons. The season is contested by seven teams and concludes with a finals series involving the top four teams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Stowell</span> English footballer

Michael Stowell is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, and is currently the goalkeeping coach at Israeli Premier League club Maccabi Tel Aviv. As a player, he spent twenty years as a professional, eleven of which were with Wolverhampton Wanderers. He is married to former England women's international footballer Rachel Stowell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AFL South Coast</span>

The AFL South Coast is an Australian rules football competition in the Shoalhaven and Illawarra regions of New South Wales. The AFLSC has two divisions of senior men's football and one division of senior women's football. In 2012 The South Coast AFL became "AFL South Coast" incorporating the three leagues of South Coast AFL Seniors, Shoalhaven Juniors and Illawarra Juniors.

Roy Clifford Chapman was an English professional football player and manager. He was the father of former Arsenal and Leeds United striker Lee Chapman.

Stephen Richard Cammack is an English former footballer. A forward, he scored 158 goals in 482 league and cup appearances in a 15-year career in the Football League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corrimal Cougars</span> Australian rugby league club, based in Corrimal, NSW

The Corrimal Cougars are an Australian rugby league football team based in Corrimal, a northern suburb of the city of Wollongong. The club are a part of Country Rugby League and has competed in the Illawarra Rugby League premiership since 1912.

Noel Mulligan, also known by the nickname of "The Count", was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s and 1950s. An Australian international and New South Wales interstate representative forward, he played club football in Sydney's NSWRFL premiership for Newtown and St. George, as well as elsewhere in New South Wales.

Thomas Robert Ezart (1914-1977) was an Australian rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s. He played his football in Country New South Wales as well as in Sydney at the Canterbury-Bankstown club with whom he won the 1942 NSWRFL Premiership.

The Illawarra Premier League is a regional Australian semi-professional association football league, comprising teams from the Illawarra, and South Coast regions of New South Wales. The competition is run under the Football South Coast body, an associate of Football NSW – a member federation of Football Federation Australia. It therefore fits below the national A-League and NSW wide divisions including National Premier Leagues NSW, The league sits at level 4 on the New South Wales league system, making it a level league 5 in the Australian League System. The major sponsor for the Illawarra Premier League is the Illawarra Mercury and as such the competition is often referred to as the Illawarra Mercury Premier League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bulli FC</span> Football club

Bulli FC, commonly known as Bulli Football Club are a semi-professional association football team based in Bulli, New South Wales. They compete in the Illawarra Premier League, and are considered one of the most successful teams in the competition having finished Premiers 4 times, the most recently in 2014. The team plays out of Balls Paddock, a small ground located at Woonona, just south of Bulli which was opened in 1988. Bulli FC has had several well known, high-profile players both play, and coach at the club including Socceroos players Adrian Alston, and Dean Heffernan. In addition to their Illawarra Premier League team, Bulli FC also fields junior teams and women's teams in local club competitions in Wollongong.

Port Kembla Football Club are an Australian semi-professional association football club based in Port Kembla, New South Wales. It participates in the regions semi-professional competition, the Illawarra Premier League.

Leo Hurley (1930-1995) was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. p. 103. ISBN   0-9529152-0-0.
  2. ↑ Rollin, Jack; Dunk, Peter (1976). Rothmans football yearbook. 1976-77. London : Queen Anne Press. ISBN   978-0-362-00259-1 . Retrieved 30 November 2022.
  3. ↑ "John Fleming". redimps.com. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  4. ↑ "Fleming dumped". Illawarra Mercury. 7 July 1998. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  5. ↑ "Fleming to take over". Illawarra Mercury. 13 July 1998. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  6. ↑ "Kemblawarra exodus leaves club with huge problem". Illawarra Mercury. 2 October 2003. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  7. ↑ "All change as coaches do soccer shuffle". Illawarra Mercury. 28 October 2004. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  8. ↑ "Fed-up Fleming quits club". Illawarra Mercury. 1 September 2005. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  9. ↑ "Sattin pays the penalty for Port's poor getaway". Illawarra Mercury. 22 April 2006. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  10. ↑ "John Fleming pays price for Port Kembla's dismal start". Illawarra Mercury. 26 May 2009. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  11. ↑ "Dandy secure Beggs' return". Illawarra Mercury. 20 November 2009. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  12. ↑ Pengilly, Adam (13 May 2012). "Wollongong United Coach Walks Out". illawarramercury.com. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  13. ↑ John Fleming at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.