George Fleming (footballer, born 1859)
George Spink Fleming (4 November 1859 – 1 April 1912) was a Scottish footballer. He was the first player to score for Everton in the Football League, scoring twice in a 2–1 win against Accrington on the competition's opening day.[1][2]
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | George Spink Fleming | ||
| Date of birth | 4 November 1859 | ||
| Place of birth | Arbroath, Scotland | ||
| Date of death | 1 April 1912 (aged 52) | ||
| Place of death | Waterloo, Liverpool, England | ||
| Position(s) | Forward | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1887–1888 | Everton | 4 | (2) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Described as a hard-running forward, able to occupy all five front-line positions, he produced his best form on the wing. Signed in August 1885 he scored 45 goals in 82 games before the Football League era began in 1888.[3]
George Fleming made his League debut on 8 September 1888, playing as a winger, at Anfield, then the home of Everton. The home team defeated the visitors, Accrington 2–1 and George Fleming scored both goals scoring the first Everton League goal and the first Everton player to score two–in–a–League–match. When George Fleming played as a winger on 15 September 1888 against Notts County he was 28 years 316 days old; that made him, on that second weekend of League football, Everton's oldest player. George Fleming appeared in four of the 22 League matches played by Everton in season 1888–89 and scored two League goals. Both his League goals were scored in the same match.[4]
References
edit- ^ "George Fleming". Everton Former Players' Foundation. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
- ^ "George Fleming". www.evertonfc.com. Everton F.C. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
- ^ Matthews, Tony (2004). Who's Who of Everton. Mainstream Publishing. pp. 88–89. ISBN 1-84018-819-7.
- ^ "English National Football Archive". Retrieved 29 January 2018. (registration & fee required)
  | This biographical article related to association football in Scotland, about a forward born in the 1850s, is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |