John Fleck (footballer)

John Alexander Fleck (born 24 August 1991) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for English Premier League club Sheffield United.

John Fleck
Fleck lining up for Scotland in 2019
Personal information
Full name John Alexander Fleck[1]
Date of birth (1991-08-24) 24 August 1991[2]
Place of birth Glasgow, Scotland
Height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)[3]
Playing position(s) Midfielder[4]
Club information
Current team
 Sheffield United
Number 4
Youth career
2005–2007 Rangers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2012 Rangers 41 (2)
2012 → Blackpool (loan) 7 (0)
2012–2016 Coventry City 162 (8)
2016– Sheffield United 159 (13)
National team‡
2007–2008 Scotland U17 9 (3)
2008–2010 Scotland U19 4 (0)
2009–2012 Scotland U21 4 (0)
2019– Scotland 2 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21:01, 26 July 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 21:01, 22 February 2020 (UTC)

He began his career with Rangers, making his senior debut in 2008 aged 16, being hyped in the media as a future star,[5][6][7][8] and later spending a period on loan to Blackpool. In 2012 he transferred to Coventry City, remaining there until 2016 when he joined Sheffield United, helping the club achieve two promotions in three years, moving up from League One to the Premier League.

Early life

Fleck was born in Glasgow and was brought up in the city's Yoker district;[5] he was educated at Knightswood Secondary School.[9] His uncle, former Scotland international Robert Fleck, played for Rangers, Chelsea and Norwich in the 1980s and 1990s.[10]

Club career

Rangers
Fleck with Rangers in 2007

Fleck began his career in the Rangers youth teams;[5] he played in their 5–0 Scottish Youth Cup victory over Celtic on 26 April 2007.[11] On 12 July 2007, Fleck was called up to take part in the full squad pre-season tour of Germany,[12] and 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[13] 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[14] 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,[15] by appearing as a substitute in the 2008 Scottish Cup Final against Queen of the South.[16] He gained his first start for Rangers against Falkirk on 17 January 2009, earning the man of the match award for his performance.[17] Five days before this, The Times had placed Fleck seventh in their Top 50 Rising Stars of football list.[6]

Fleck scored his first competitive goal in a 2–0 league victory over Dundee United at Ibrox on 31 January 2009.[18] The goal was a 78th-minute penalty, awarded after Mihael Kovačević's challenge had brought Fleck to the ground. Fleck's talent, precocious performances, technique, vision and work-rate led him to be heralded as "Scotland's Wayne Rooney".[7][19]

It was reported in August 2009 that Fleck had been dropped from the Rangers first-team after a training ground "bust-up" with the assistant manager, Ally McCoist.[20] On 26 March 2010, Fleck signed a new three-year contract.[21] That summer, he had a strong pre-season but then suffered a hamstring injury early in the campaign which hampered his progress.[22]

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 2011 summer transfer window[23] but the deal subsequently fell through as the paperwork was not completed before the deadline.[24] In January 2012, having appeared to have seized a fresh chance in the team at Rangers a few weeks earlier,[8] Fleck signed for Championship club Blackpool on loan, despite renewed interest from Sheffield United.[25][26]

In June 2012, Fleck lodged an objection against his contract being transferred to the newco set up by Charles Green.[27][5] PFA Scotland had previously commented that players were entitled to become free agents if they objected to the transfer.[28]

Coventry City

On 4 July 2012, Fleck joined League One club Coventry City after he rejected his Rangers contract being transferred to the new company.[29] 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.[30] Fleck scored his first Coventry goal in a 4–1 loss away to Shrewsbury Town from the penalty spot on 18 September 2012.[31] He struggled to nail down a starting spot in the team during his first season at the club, particularly during the reign of Mark Robins, although he went on to make 35 appearances and scored three times.[32]

The arrival of Steven Pressley as Coventry City manager in March 2013 saw Fleck regain a starting spot in the Coventry City line-up, starting every game of the remaining 2012–13 season in a deep-lying central midfield role. Fleck remained first-choice for the following season which Coventry City played at Northampton Town's Sixfields Stadium[33] and played a key role in the team as they overcame a 10-point deduction to mount an unlikely play-off push for the first half of the season.[34]

Fleck struggled for form as the team's form collapsed in the remaining months of the 2013–14 season but started the following campaign well, putting in a strong performance as the team beat Gillingham 1–0 to mark the club's return to Coventry in September 2014.[35] Although his form was up-and-down throughout much of a campaign where the Sky Blues struggled for consistency, Fleck signed an 18-month contract extension in January 2015 to keep him at the club until the summer of 2016.[36] Between the start of the 2012–13 season and the end of the 2013–14 season, he scored just one goal for Coventry.

Fleck saw another upturn in form at Coventry City in the 2015–16 season where under the management of Tony Mowbray he was encouraged to play a more forward-thinking role in the team, aided by the defensive support of midfield partner Romain Vincelot. Fleck's importance to the team was described by Mowbray as being 'the oil in our machine' as the Sky Blues rose to the top of the League One table.[37] Fleck was rewarded for his improvement in 2015–16 by being awarded the club's player of the year award by both the fans and his teammates at the club's end of season awards.[38]

Sheffield United

Fleck signed a three-year contract with Sheffield United in July 2016.[39] He scored his first goal for the club in a 4–1 win over Chesterfield on 13 November 2016.[40] On 8 April 2017, Fleck scored a late winner against Northampton Town at Sixfields Stadium – the fans reacted by running onto the pitch to celebrate promotion. On 15 April 2017, United were crowned League One champions and promoted to the Championship. On 22 September 2017, Fleck signed a new four-year contract with the club to keep him at Bramall Lane until summer 2022.[41]

Fleck has won the Player of the Year award twice whilst at Sheffield United, once in the 2016–17 season (tied with teammate Billy Sharp) and again the next year.[42]

On 28 April 2019, Fleck saw his second promotion in three seasons with United, this time to the Premier League, the club returning after a 12-year absence.[43]

On 22 February 2020, Fleck signed a new three year deal [44]

International career

After playing for Scotland at under-21 level, Fleck was called up to the Scottish senior team for the first time in November 2018.[45] He did not play in that match, and had to decline an invitation to join the squad in May 2019 as it clashed with his wedding in Ayrshire, arranged two years earlier when he seemed far less likely to be involved with the national team.[46]

On 10 October 2019, Fleck gained his first senior Scotland cap in a 4–0 defeat to Russia in Moscow.[47]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 26 July 2020
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup[lower-alpha 1] League Cup[lower-alpha 2] Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Rangers 2007–08[48] Scottish Premier League1020000030
2008–09[49] Scottish Premier League81101000101
2009–10[50] Scottish Premier League15130213[lower-alpha 3]0232
2010–11[51] Scottish Premier League13010102[lower-alpha 4]0170
2011–12[52] Scottish Premier League4010000050
Total 412804150583
Blackpool (loan) 2011–12[52] Championship7010——80
Coventry City 2012–13[53] League One35320104[lower-alpha 5]0423
2013–14[54] League One43140101[lower-alpha 5]0491
2014–15[55] League One44000103[lower-alpha 5]0480
2015–16[56] League One40410101[lower-alpha 5]0434
Total 16287040901828
Sheffield United 2016–17[57] League One44420102[lower-alpha 6]0494
2017–18[58] Championship4122010—442
2018–19[59] Championship4520010—462
2019–20[60] Premier League2951010—315
2020–21[61] Premier League000000—00
Total 1591350402017013
Career total 3692321012116041824
  1. Includes Scottish Cup, FA Cup
  2. Includes Scottish League Cup, League/EFL Cup
  3. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  4. One appearance in UEFA Champions League, one in UEFA Europa League
  5. Appearance(s) in Football League Trophy
  6. Appearances in EFL Trophy

International
As of match played 19 November 2019[62]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Scotland 201920
Total20

Honours

Rangers

Sheffield United

Individual

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References
  1. "List of Players under Written Contract Registered Between 01/07/2016 and 31/07/2016". The Football Association. p. 11. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  2. "John Fleck". ESPN. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  3. "John Fleck: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  4. "John Fleck". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  5. Sheffield United: Why John Fleck is delving into his past to try and take care of the future, Sheffield Star, 24 January 2019
  6. Dart, Tom (12 January 2009). "Footballs Top 50 Rising Stars". The Times. London. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
  7. Roddy Forsyth (1 February 2009). "Rangers teenager John Fleck hailed as Scotland's Wayne Rooney". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  8. Interview: John Fleck, Rangers forward, The Scotsman, 8 January 2012
  9. "Victory Shield Squad for Wales". Scottish Football Association. 17 October 2005. Archived from the original on 31 October 2016. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
  10. "Smith relishes Rangers' 'biggest test'". FIFA. 13 February 2009. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
  11. "Rangers U19 5–0 Celtic U19". The Herald. Glasgow. 26 April 2007. Archived from the original on 1 May 2007.
  12. "Trio Miss Germany Trip". Rangers F.C. 12 July 2007.
  13. "Debut Double For McCulloch". Rangers F.C. 16 July 2007.
  14. "Rangers 6–0 East Stirlingshire". BBC Sport. 23 January 2008.
  15. Grahame, Ewing (15 January 2010). "Rangers blow as John Fleck and Danny Wilson seek way out". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
  16. Lindsay, Clive (24 May 2008). "Queen of the South 2–3 Rangers: Report". BBC Sport. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
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  19. Our Wayne Rooney? Just remember Ally Dick, The Herald, 6 February 2009
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  21. "Fleck signs new three-year deal". BBC Sport. 26 March 2010.
  22. Forgotten boy in blue John Fleck set to be man for all seasons, Evening Times, 7 July 2011
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