Junior Flemmings (born 16 January 1996) is a Jamaican professional

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 ...

who plays as a winger and

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for club

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and the Jamaica national team.

Club career

Early career

Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Flemmings began his career in the youth ranks of

Tivoli Gardens Tivoli Gardens, also known simply as Tivoli, is an amusement park and pleasure garden in Copenhagen, Denmark. The park opened on 15 August 1843 and is the third-oldest operating amusement park in the world, after Dyrehavsbakken in nearby Kla ...

Tivoli Gardens

In 2013, he made his debut for the first team in the

National Premier League The National Premier League, also known for sponsorship purposes as the Red Stripe Premier League, is sanctioned by the Jamaican Football Federation as the top division for men's association football in Jamaica. Contested between 12 clubs, it ...

. He was unpaid during the 2013 season with Tivoli Gardens to ensure that he wouldn't ruin his chances of playing collegiate soccer in the United States. During the 2015–2016 season Flemmings led Tivoli Gardens in scoring with eight goals, including a late game winner on 23 November 2015 which helped his club to a 2–1 victory over Boys' Town FC.

New York Red Bulls II

After months of speculation, Flemmings signed with

New York Red Bulls II New York Red Bulls II is an American professional soccer team based in Montclair, New Jersey. They are the reserve team of the New York Red Bulls and play in MLS Next Pro, the third tier in the American soccer pyramid. History Red Bull New Y ...

of the

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on 25 March 2016. On 2 April 2016, during his first appearance, Flemmings recorded his first goal and assist with the club in a 2–0 victory against Louisville City. On 22 May 2016, Flemmings scored a late match winner helping New York to a 1–0 victory against

FC Montreal FC Montreal was a Canadian professional soccer team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada that played in the USL Championship, the third tier of the United States soccer league system. The team served as a reserve team of Major League Soccer (MLS) c ...

. On 12 August 2016, Flemmings helped New York to a 5–1 victory over

Orlando City B Orlando City B (or OCB for short) is an American soccer club that began play in 2016 and currently plays in MLS Next Pro. Owned by Orlando City SC and based at the Orlando City training facility in Kissimmee, the club plays its home games at Os ...

, scoring one goal and being a constant threat throughout the match. On 14 April 2017, Flemmings scored his first goal of the season for New York, helping the club to a 3–1 victory over

. On 19 August 2017, Flemming scored two goals to help New York to a 4–0 victory over

FC Cincinnati Football Club Cincinnati, commonly known as FC Cincinnati, is an American professional soccer club based in Cincinnati. The club plays in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The team succeeded the lower-division team of the ...

. On 2 September 2017, Flemmings scored one goal and assisted on another in New York's 4–2 victory over

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Championship in the second tier ...

Tampa Bay Rowdies

In January 2018, Flemmings signed with

in the USL.

Phoenix Rising

Flemmings signed with

Phoenix Rising Phoenix rising originally describes the heraldic position of the image of a phoenix: its head upturned (to its right) with wings raised for flight. The term can also refer to: Film and television * ''Phoenix Rising'' (Hong Kong TV series), a 2 ...

in 2019. He netted sixteen goals and seven assists in his first season with the team, and finished eighth in the league for the Golden Boot, finishing behind teammate and Golden Boot winner

Solomon Asante Solomon Asante (born 6 March 1990) is a Ghanaian professional footballer as a winger for USL Championship club Indy Eleven. With Phoenix Rising FC, he was named the 2019 and 2020 USL Championship Most Valuable Player (MVP). Early life Bo ...

(22 goals). Flemmings' second season with Phoenix resulted in a Golden Boot Award, scoring 14 goals in a COVID-shortened season. Phoenix was propelled to a first place finish in Group B.

Homophobia controversy

On 30 September 2020, while playing for the

, Flemmings was accused of using a Jamaican homophobic slur, "

batty boy In Jamaican Patois, ''batty boy'' (also ''JSAP'', ''batty man'', and ''chi chi bwoy/man'') is a slang expression often used to refer to a gay or effeminate man. The term batiman (or battyman) is also used in Belize owing to the popularity of Jamai ...

", against the openly gay

San Diego Loyal San Diego Loyal Soccer Club is an American professional soccer team based in San Diego, California. The team was founded by Warren Smith and Landon Donovan. San Diego Loyal made its debut in 2020 as an expansion team in the USL Championship. ...

midfielder Collin Martin. The Loyal, who had been leading 3–1 up to that point, walked off the field in protest and forfeited the match. Flemmings denied using the slur and said, in a

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statement following the match, that he stands "in solidarity with the

LGBTQ+ ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is ...

movement". It was the last time that Flemmings took the pitch for Phoenix Rising. The USL Championship suspended him six games for using "foul and abusive language" and fined him an undisclosed amount. In addition, Phoenix Rising team officials placed Flemmings on administrative leave for the remainder of his contract with the team, which concluded on 30 November 2020. Flemmings' contract with the team was not renewed. The incident ultimately cost Rising a chance to host the USL Championship Final. Rising and

Louisville City FC Louisville City Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Louisville, Kentucky. The team plays in the USL Championship, known through the 2018 season as the United Soccer League (USL), which is currently the second tier of th ...

both finished with 35 points and 11 wins, but Rising had a higher goal differential and would have thus had home-field advantage had it reached the final. However, Rising was only in contention to host the final as a result of the three points it earned by forfeit. Due to the ensuing outcry, Rising announced that if it reached the final, whoever won the Eastern Conference final would have home-field advantage in the Championship Final. They were set to play the

in Tampa Bay in that game, but it was canceled due to a COVID outbreak in the Rowdies organization.

Birmingham Legion

On 13 January 2021, Flemmings joined USL Championship side

Birmingham Legion Birmingham Legion FC is an American professional soccer club based in Birmingham, Alabama, that competes in the USL Championship, the second division of American soccer. The team was established in August 2013 and played under the name Birming ...

. In the announcement of Flemmings joining Legion, team officials noted his history with homophobia at Phoenix Rising, but said they believe that "second chances provide opportunities for growth." Team officials also said they had "extensive conversations" with Flemmings' former coaches and teammates, in addition to Martin and Donovan for their perspective on the team signing Flemmings. Flemmings also apologized for the incident in the statement.

Toulouse

On 5 January 2022, Flemmings was transferred to

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side

International career

Flemmings has represented

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispan ...

at the U-20 and U-17 national team level, serving as captain of the U-17's. He received his first full national team call up in November 2015, and was named to the 18-player match roster for Jamaica's

2018 World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

qualifier against Panama, but was an unused substitute. Flemmings made his senior international debut versus

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in the

2017 Caribbean Cup The 2017 Caribbean Cup was the 19th and final edition of the Caribbean Cup, the biennial international men's football championship of the Caribbean region organized by the Caribbean Football Union (CFU). The top four teams qualified for the 2017 ...

. Flemmings' scored the match-winning goal against Guadalupe in Jamaica's second group stage match of the

2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 16th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men's soccer championship of the North, Central American, and Caribbean region organized by CONCACAF. The tournament was originally scheduled ...

thus qualifying them for the quarterfinals.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Jamaica's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Flemmings goal.''

Honors

New York Red Bulls II *

USL Cup The USL Championship Final is the post-season championship match of the USL Championship, the second tier of professional men's soccer in the United States. The winner is crowned champion in the same manner as in other North American sports lea ...

: 2016 * USL Regular Season: 2016 Phoenix Rising * USL Championship Regular Season:

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

* Western Conference **Winners (Regular Season):

**Winners (Playoffs):

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in ...

Jamaica *

Caribbean Cup The Caribbean Cup was the championship tournament for national association football teams that are members of the Caribbean Football Union. The first competition, established by Shell and run by former England Cricket fast bowler Fred Rumsey, wa ...

runner-up:

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

Toulouse *

: 2021–22 Individual * RSPL Young Player of the Season: 2015–16 *

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, p ...

Golden Boot Winner: 2020

References

External links

*
jamaicafootballfederation.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Flemmings, Junior Living people 1996 births Jamaican footballers Jamaica youth international footballers Association football forwards Valencia CF players Tivoli Gardens F.C. players New York Red Bulls II players Tampa Bay Rowdies players Phoenix Rising FC players Birmingham Legion FC players Toulouse FC players USL Championship players Sportspeople from Kingston, Jamaica National Premier League players Jamaica international footballers Jamaica under-20 international footballers 2015 CONCACAF U-20 Championship players 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Jamaican expatriate footballers Jamaican expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer players in the United States Jamaican expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate footballers in Spain Jamaican expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate footballers in France