William Thomas Fleming (11 December 1871 – 17 September 1934) was a Scottish

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as an

inside forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than Midfielder, midfielders and Defender (association football), d ...

in the English

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

for Sheffield United and Bury and in the Scottish League for

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

and Abercorn. He also played for Scottish Alliance club Partick Thistle and in England for

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

of the Northern League and Tottenham Hotspur of the Southern League.

Life and career

William Thomas Fleming was born on 11 December 1871 in Renton, West Dunbartonshire. By January 1891, he was playing football for Partick Thistle, and in the 1891–92 season he scored twice from five appearances in Thistle's first season in the Scottish Alliance. Fleming and team-mate Watty Keay moved to English football when they signed for

of the Northern League in the 1892 close season. Both attracted interest from a higher level, and "a promising forward from Darlington named W. Fleming" became Sheffield United's first signing after their promotion to the

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

. He promised enough to go straight into the team for the club's first match of the season, and six matches into the campaign he had four goals and the team sat top of the league. He finished the season with seven goals from 21 league matchesonly Bob Hill, with eleven, scored moreand his team dropped into the bottom half of the table. He returned to Scotland and signed for Division One club

, for which he scored three goals from 14 appearances as his team finished eighth out of ten in the league. At the end of the season, he moved on to Division Two club Abercorn, for whom he played on the right wing. According to the ''

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'', he played well in a Qualifying Cup match in mid-November, "and it was generally remarked round the ropes that Dundee made a great mistake in dispensing with his services." In January 1896, well known football agents Messrs Lucas and McGregor expedited Fleming's return to England. Having reportedly rejected several prior offers, he signed for Bury; a fee of £30 went to Abercorn and a further fee to Sheffield United, who had retained his

registration. He played twice in the First Division for Bury, scoring once, on his debut away to

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

, and remained with them into the new season. In October 1896, Fleming was reported to be back in Scotland and seeking work, but he joined Tottenham Hotspur in November 1896. Ahead of his first appearance, the ''

Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was foun ...

'' highlighted the high level at which he had previously played. He scored twice against Gravesend United in the Wellingborough Charity Cup, scored again on his Southern League debut in a 3–1 defeat at home to Millwall Athletic, but was suspended by the club in December, reportedly for insubordination, and did not play again. Fleming's older brother James, known as Jock Fleming, played League football for Aston Villa and Lincoln City. Fleming died on 17 September 1934 in Glasgow at the age of 62.

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fleming, Billy 1871 births 1934 deaths Scottish men's footballers Men's association football forwards Partick Thistle F.C. players Darlington F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Dundee F.C. players Abercorn F.C. players Bury F.C. players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Northern Football League players English Football League players Scottish Football League players Southern Football League players Footballers from Renton, West Dunbartonshire