James John "Jock" Fleming (September 1864 – August 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 at

centre-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 ...

for Southampton St. Mary's,

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

and Lincoln City in the 1890s.

Football career

Fleming was born in

Leith Leith (; ) is a port area in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith and is home to the Port of Leith. The earliest surviving historical references are in the royal charter authorising the construction of ...

, near

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

and played for

Vale of Leven The Vale of Leven () is an area of West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, in the valley of the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven. Historically, it was part of The Lennox, the name of which derives from the Gaelic term ''Leamhnach'', meaning ''fie ...

in the early years of the

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) is a defunct league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4&nbs ...

before joining the army with the 93rd Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. On 10 October 1891, Southampton St. Mary's played an exhibition match against the 93rd Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders at the

County Ground, Southampton The County Ground in Southampton, England, was a cricket and football ground. It was the home of Hampshire County Cricket Club from the 1885 English cricket season until the 2000 English cricket season. The ground also served as the home groun ...

which was lost 2–0. The St. Mary's management were so impressed by Fleming and his team-mate,

Sandy McMillan Sgt. John "Sandy" McMillan (1869–1892) was a Scottish soldier who made one appearance at centre-half in the FA Cup for Southampton St. Mary's Football Club in 1891. Football career McMillan was a member of the 93rd Argyll and Sutherland Hi ...

, that they immediately signed them both in order that they might play in the forthcoming

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

match with

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

. The FA Cup 2nd Qualifying match was played at the

Antelope Ground The Antelope Ground, Southampton was a sports ground that was the first home of both Hampshire County Cricket Club, who played there prior to 1884, and of Southampton Football Club, who played there from 1887 to 1896 as "Southampton St. Mary's ...

on 24 October, and ended in a 7–0 victory to the "Saints", in which Private Fleming featured strongly with his aggressive style of play earning him a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

. At the reception after the match, the Reading secretary asked for, and received, an advance of £3 on the share of the gate money. With this he immediately sent a telegram of protest accompanied by the necessary fee of 2

guineas The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from the Guinea region in West Africa, from where m ...

the Football Association The Football Association (the FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest footb ...

claiming that the Saints had fielded illegally registered players in Fleming and McMillan. The claim was upheld by the F.A., who found that the players had not been registered at least 28 days before the match, and as the Saints had not complied with the requirements of Rule 5 they were thus expelled from the competition. Fleming continued to play for Southampton until the end of December, when he was posted to India with his regiment. In May 1892, he left the army and returned to England, when he joined

of 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 scored twice on his debut in a 4–1 victory over Everton, but only made three further (goal-less) appearances for Villa, before moving to join Lincoln City in October 1892. He made 11 league appearances for Lincoln with five goals before dropping out of professional football and returning to his native Scotland in May 1893.

References

External links

Aston Villa career summary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fleming, Jock 1864 births Footballers from Leith 1934 deaths Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders soldiers Scottish men's footballers Vale of Leven F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Aston Villa F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Scottish Football League players English Football League players Men's association football forwards