John Fleck (footballer)
 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | John Alexander Fleck[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 24 August 1991 | ||
| Place of birth | Glasgow, Scotland | ||
| Height | 1.69 m (5 ft 6 1⁄2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Coventry City | ||
| Number | 7 | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2007–2012 | Rangers | 41 | (2) |
| 2012 | → Blackpool (loan) | 7 | (0) |
| 2012– | Coventry City | 117 | (4) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2007–2008 | Scotland U17 | 9 | (3) |
| 2008–2010 | Scotland U19 | 4 | (0) |
| 2009–2012 | Scotland U21 | 4 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 02:09, 1 November 2014 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). | |||
John Alexander Fleck (born 24 August 1991) is a Scottish association footballer who plays as a midfielder for Coventry City. As of November 2014 he is the current squad's longest serving player.
Club career
Rangers
Fleck began his career in the Rangers youth teams. He played in Rangers 5–0 Scottish Youth Cup victory over Celtic on 26 April 2007.[2]
On 12 July 2007, Fleck was called up to take part in the full squad pre-season tour of Germany.[3] Fleck was handed his debut for the first team against SV Lippstadt 08 on 15 July 2007, becoming the first 15-year-old to play for the first team since Derek Ferguson[4] in 1982. Fleck impressed and scored in a 3–1 friendly victory over Sportfreunde Lotte in the next friendly game.
On 25 August 2007, just a day after his 16th birthday, Fleck was included for the first time in the Rangers first team squad for a competitive match against Kilmarnock. He made his competitive debut on 23 January 2008 in the Scottish Cup game against East Stirlingshire[5] and made his league debut on 22 May in the final league game of the season against Aberdeen. Two days later, Fleck became the youngest ever player to play in a senior British Cup final,[6] by appearing as a substitute in the 2008 Scottish Cup Final against Queen of the South.[7] Fleck gained his first start for Rangers against Falkirk on 17 January 2009 earning the a man of the match award for his performance.[8] Five days before this, The Times had placed Fleck seventh in their Top 50 Rising Stars of football list.[9]
Fleck scored his first competitive goal in a 2–0 league victory over Dundee United at Ibrox on 31 January 2009.[10] The goal was a 78th minute penalty, awarded after Mihael Kovačević's challenge had brought Fleck to the ground. On 26 March 2010, Fleck signed a new three-year contract.[11]
With first team chances in short supply at Rangers, Fleck agreed to move to Sheffield United on a season long loan at the end of the summer transfer window[12] but the deal subsequently fell through as the paperwork was not completed before the deadline.[13]
Fleck signed for Championship club Blackpool on loan in January 2012, despite renewed interest from Sheffield United.[14][15]
In June 2012, Fleck lodged an objection against his contract being transferred to the newco set up by Charles Green.[16] PFA Scotland had previously commented that players were entitled to become free agents if they objected to the transfer.[17]
Coventry City
On 4 July 2012, Fleck joined Football League One side Coventry City after he rejected his Rangers contract being transferred to the new company. [18] Rangers were reported to have a sell-on agreement, meaning they would be entitled to a percentage of any transfer fee Coventry subsequently received for the player.[19] Fleck scored his first Coventry City goal in a 4-1 loss away to Shrewsbury Town from the penalty spot on 18 September 2012.[20] John got his second goal in a Coventry shirt on 6 November 2012 in a 3-1 home win against Crawley Town.[21]
Career statistics
Stats according to [22]
- As of 1 November 2014
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other[A] | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Rangers | 2007–08 | Scottish Premier League | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 2008–09 | Scottish Premier League | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 | |
| 2009–10 | Scottish Premier League | 15 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 23 | 2 | |
| 2010–11 | Scottish Premier League | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 17 | 0 | |
| 2011–12 | Scottish Premier League | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | |
| Blackpool (loan) | 2011–12 | Championship | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| Rangers Total | 41 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 58 | 3 | ||
| Coventry City | 2012–13 | League One | 35 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 42 | 3 |
| 2013–14 | League One | 43 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 49 | 1 | |
| 2014–15 | League One | 39 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 43 | 0 | |
| Total | 117 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 134 | 4 | ||
| Career Total | 165 | 6 | 15 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 173 | 7 | ||
- A. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals (including substitutes) in the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup and Football League Trophy.
International career
On 12 September 2006, Fleck captained Scotland Under 16s to an 11–0 victory over Jersey Under 17s, scoring a hat trick in the process. He was the captain of the Scotland side at the 2006 Victory Shield competition. He also captained the Scotland Under 17 side throughout 2007 and 2008 and is a regular at Under 19 level. He made his debut for the Scotland U21 side on 29 March 2009.
Honours
- Scottish Premier League (2): 2010, 2011
- Scottish Cup (1): 2008
Personal life
His uncle former Scotland international Robert Fleck played for Rangers and Norwich in the 1980s.[23]
On 31 January 2009, Fleck was involved in a late-night brawl in a nightclub in Glasgow's City centre even though Fleck was just 17 years old at the time.[24] On 2 August 2009 it was revealed that Fleck had been dropped from the Rangers first-team after a training ground bust-up involving a bucket of chicken, with the then assistant manager Ally McCoist.[25][26]
References
- ↑ "List of Players under Written Contract Registered Between 01/01/2012 and 31/01/2012" (PDF). The Football Association. Retrieved 2012-03-05.
- ↑ "Rangers U19 5–0 Celtic U19". The Herald. 26 April 2007.
- ↑ "Trio Miss Germany Trip". Rangers F.C. 12 July 2007.
- ↑ "Debut Double For McCulloch". Rangers F.C. 16 July 2007.
- ↑ "Rangers 6–0 East Stirlingshire". BBC Sport. 23 January 2008.
- ↑ Grahame, Ewing (January 15, 2010). "Rangers blow as John Fleck and Danny Wilson seek way out". The Telegraph. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
- ↑ "Queen of the South 2-3 Rangers". BBC Sport. 24 May 2008.
- ↑ "John Fleck has the talent to be a Rangers great, says Steven Davis". The Telegraph (Telegraph Media Group). 18 January 2009. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
- ↑ Dart, Tom (12 January 2009). "Footballs Top 50 Rising Stars". London: Times Online. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
- ↑ "Rangers 2–0 Dundee United". BBC Sport. 31 January 2009.
- ↑ "Fleck signs new three-year deal". BBC Sport. 26 March 2010.
- ↑ "Blades capture Rangers duo". skysports.com. 1 September 2011.
- ↑ "Sheffield Utd drop bid for Kyle Hutton and John Fleck". BBC Sport. 7 September 2011. Retrieved 7 September 2011.
- ↑ "Rangers midfielder John Fleck completes Blackpool loan switch". sport.scotsman.com (Johnston Press). 19 January 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2012.
- ↑ "Sheffield United back in for Rangers midfielder John Fleck". BBC Sport. 31 December 2011. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
- ↑ "Rangers: John Fleck eyes exit as Kyle Hutton stays with newco". BBC Sport (BBC). 28 June 2012. Retrieved 28 June 2012.
- ↑ "Rangers: Players free not to join 'newco' says law expert". BBC Sport (BBC). 14 June 2012. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
- ↑ "City complete Fleck capture". CCFC. 4 July 2012.
- ↑ "John Fleck joins Coventry after leaving Rangers". BBC. 4 July 2012.
- ↑ "Shrewsbury 4-1 Coventry". CCFC. 18 September 2012.
- ↑ "Coventry 3-1 Crawley". CCFC. 6 November 2012.
- ↑ John Fleck career statistics at Soccerbase
- ↑ "Smith relishes Rangers' 'biggest test'". FIFA.com. 13 February 2009. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
- ↑ "John Fleck in Nightclub brawl". Daily Record. 2 February 2009.
- ↑ "Rangers drop Fleck after bust-up". BBC Sport. 2 August 2009.
- ↑ "Rangers fury as starlet John Fleck has bust up with Ibrox No.2 Ally McCoist" Sunday Mail. 2 August 2009.
External links
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