Robert Fleck

Last updated

Robert Fleck
Personal information
Full name Robert William Fleck [1]
Date of birth (1965-08-11) 11 August 1965 (age 59)
Place of birth Glasgow, Scotland
Position(s) Striker
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1983–1987 Rangers 85 (29)
1983–1984 → Partick Thistle (loan) 2 (1)
1987–1992 Norwich City 143 (39)
1992–1995 Chelsea 40 (3)
1993–1994 → Bolton Wanderers (loan) 7 (1)
1995 → Bristol City (loan) 10 (1)
1995–1998 Norwich City 104 (16)
1998–1999 Reading 9 (1)
2000–2001 Gorleston
Total400(91)
International career
1990–1992 Scotland 4 (0)
1990 SFA (SFL centenary) 1 (0)
Managerial career
2000–2001 Gorleston (Player-manager)
2002–2006 Diss Town
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Robert William Fleck (born 11 August 1965) is a Scottish former professional football player and manager. Fleck played as a striker from 1983 until 2001, notably in the Scottish Premier League for Rangers, in England for Chelsea in the FA Premier League, and for Norwich City in the Football League.

Contents

Fleck also played for Bolton Wanderers, Bristol City and Reading. Fleck gained four caps for Scotland and featured in the 1990 World Cup. Fleck went into management in 2000 with Dr. Kenny Muir with a spell as player-managers of non-League club Gorleston, and later having a four-year spell in charge of Diss Town. Fleck was made a member of Norwich City's Hall of Fame. Since retiring as a player, he has worked in football management, but is now a teaching assistant in Norwich.

Playing career

Born in Glasgow, Fleck started his senior career with Rangers under manager Jock Wallace, although it was only after the arrival of Graeme Souness as player-manager in 1986 that Fleck began to make a real impact, scoring 22 goals in 48 appearances in the 1986–87 season. [2] Fleck's goal tally that season included four hat-tricks; in league games against Clydebank (twice) and Falkirk, and in a UEFA Cup tie against Ilves Tampere.[ citation needed ]

In December 1987 Fleck was transferred for £580,000 to Norwich City in the English Football League First Division. [3] He scored 66 goals in 181 appearances in his first spell with the club, earning a call-up to the Scotland Squad, winning four caps, including two at the 1990 World Cup. 'Flecky' attained hero status among Norwich supporters and was voted Norwich City player of the year in 1992 which was the final season of his first spell at Carrow Road. He helped them finish fourth in the league in 1989, when they also reached the FA Cup semi-final, though Norwich were unable to compete in the following season's UEFA Cup due to the ongoing ban on English clubs in European competitions that followed the Heysel disaster of 1985.

Fleck helped the Canaries reach another FA Cup semi-final in 1992, where they lost to Second Division underdogs Sunderland, Fleck returned from injury to play in this game but he was clearly[ according to whom? ] unfit.

He controversially moved on to Chelsea for a (then) club record fee of £2.1million just before the first season of the new Premier League got underway, Norwich turned down the bid, but he forced it through by threatening to go on strike and refusing to play for the club again.[ citation needed ] At the time the deal was a record sale for Norwich. The move proved unsuccessful; Fleck scored just four goals in 48 appearances and was loaned out to Bolton Wanderers and Bristol City. He missed out on a place in Chelsea's squad for the 1994 FA Cup Final, which they lost 4–0 to Manchester United.

Despite his dismal goalscoring record at Chelsea, he is remembered fondly by the club's fans, who sang a song in his honour – We all live in a Robert Fleck world – based on the lyrics of Yellow Submarine by The Beatles. [4]

Fleck re-joined Norwich (who had just been relegated from the Premier League) for £650,000 in September 1995 after a loan spell. He initially made an impact and formed a solid strike partnership with Ashley Ward, but after Ward was sold due to Norwich's financial problems, Fleck's performances were inconsistent and the team were unable to gain promotion in any of his three seasons back at the club. He moved to Reading towards the end of the 1997–98 season, spending one season at the Berkshire club, and in nine league games he scored once against Luton Town (in the first game at the Madejski Stadium), [5] before injury ended his playing career.

Managerial career

After a spell as player-manager with Gorleston, [6] where he won the Norfolk Senior Cup in 2001, he joined Diss Town who play in the Ridgeons League, as manager in the summer of 2002. He won the Norfolk Senior Cup again in 2003 and 2005. A poor run of form during 2006 saw him sacked on 18 October 2006. Fleck returned to employment with Norwich City in May 2007, when he joined the club's scouting network.

Teaching career

Fleck is now a teaching assistant at the Parkside School, "a Norwich school for children with complex needs", [7] a career move that developed from running coaching sessions for children at the school. [7]

Legacy

Fleck is fourth in the list of Norwich City FC all-time goalscorers, [7] behind Johnny Gavin, Terry Allcock and Iwan Roberts. In 2002, Norwich fans voted him into the club's Hall of Fame.

Personal life

Fleck is married to a "Norfolk girl" and has an adult daughter who is a beautician. [7] While playing, Fleck funded trips for 18 months for a child with a terminal condition. [7]

Fleck's nephew, John plays for Blackburn Rovers.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norwich City F.C.</span> Association football club in Norwich, England

Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their home games at Carrow Road and have a long-standing rivalry with East Anglian rivals Ipswich Town, with whom they have contested the East Anglian derby since 1902.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Sutton</span> English football player and manager (born 1973)

Christopher Roy Sutton is an English former professional football player and manager. He later became a pundit, commentator and presenter of football coverage on television and radio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dion Dublin</span> English footballer (born 1969)

Dion Dublin is an English former professional footballer, television presenter and pundit. He is a club director of Cambridge United.

The 2003–04 season was the 124th season of association football in England. Arsenal completed the season without losing a league match, becoming Premier League champions in the process. Leeds United avoided going into administration, but were unable to avoid relegation and lost their place in the Premier League - along with Leicester City and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rob Newman (footballer)</span> English footballer & manager

Robert Nigel Newman is an English football manager and former professional footballer, who was most recently head of recruitment at Premier League side West Ham United.

Michael Stewart Gordon Walker is a Welsh former footballer and manager. After starting his career at Reading, Walker played as a goalkeeper in the Football League for five clubs, most notably Watford and Colchester United. He later managed Colchester, Norwich City, Everton and APOEL. In 2010, he was inducted into the Colchester United Football Club Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Woods</span> English football coach and former player

Christopher Charles Eric Woods is an English football coach and former professional footballer, who is goalkeeping coach for the Scotland national team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barry Bridges</span> English footballer (born 1941)

Barry John Bridges is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward in the Football League for Chelsea, Birmingham City, Queens Park Rangers, Millwall and Brighton & Hove Albion and was capped four times for England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bryan Gunn</span> Scottish association football player and manager

Bryan James Gunn is a Scottish former professional goalkeeper and football manager. After learning his trade with Aberdeen in the early 1980s, he spent most of his playing career at Norwich City, the club with which he came to be most closely associated. This was followed by a brief spell back in Scotland with Hibernian before his retirement as a player in 1998.

Dale Andrew Gordon is a former professional association footballer who played predominantly as a right-sided midfielder for Norwich City, Rangers, West Ham United, Peterborough United, Millwall and AFC Bournemouth.

Kevin Smith Drinkell is an English former professional football player and manager. Drinkell was a centre forward, noted for his aerial ability and the number of headed goals he scored as a result.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Fleck (footballer)</span> Scottish footballer (born 1991)

John Alexander Fleck is a Scottish professional footballer who played as a midfielder for English Championship side Blackburn Rovers.

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

Neil James Adams is an English former professional footballer and former manager who is the current technical director of EFL Championship club Norwich City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doug Livermore</span> English footballer (born 1947)

Douglas Ernest Livermore is a former professional football player and manager.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Graham Paddon</span> English footballer

Graham Charles Paddon was an English footballer who played as a midfielder for Coventry City, Millwall, Norwich City and West Ham United.

Robert Anthony Taylor is an English former professional footballer, licensed football agent and manager who is in charge of Watton United.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Todd Cantwell</span> English footballer (born 1998)

Todd Owen Cantwell is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Scottish Premiership club Rangers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adam Idah</span> Irish association football player

Adam Uche Idah is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Scottish Premiership club Celtic and the Republic of Ireland national team.

For the 1987–88 season, Norwich City F.C. competed in Football League Division One, as well as the FA Cup, Littlewoods Cup and Simod Cup.

References

  1. ↑ "Robert Fleck". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  2. ↑ "Rangers Player Graeme Grant Details". Fitbastats.com.
  3. ↑ "Flown From the Nest – Robert Fleck". Ex-canaries.co.uk.
  4. ↑ "Listen to Robert Fleck football song. Chelsea MP3 FIFA 13 CFC chant". Fanchants.com.
  5. ↑ "Was our win over Palace the best ever game at the Madejski?". ReadingFC.co.uk. 22 August 1998. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
  6. ↑ Past players Gorleston FC
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Mantell, Rowan (13 March 2016). "From Norwich City football hero to teaching assistant here's Robert Fleck's inspirational story". edp24.co.uk.
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.