John Fleck (footballer)

Early life

Fleck was born in Glasgow and was educated at Knightswood Secondary School.. He was brought up in the Yoker district of Glasgow.

Rangers

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

Fleck scored his first competitive goal in a 2–0 league victory over Dundee United at Ibrox on 31 January 2009. 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".

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.On 26 March 2010, Fleck signed a new three-year contract.

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 summer transfer window but the deal subsequently fell through as the paperwork was not completed before the deadline.

Fleck signed for Championship club Blackpool on loan in January 2012, despite renewed interest from Sheffield United.

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

Coventry City

On 4 July 2012, Fleck joined Football League One side Coventry City after he rejected his Rangers contract being transferred to the new company. 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. Fleck scored his first Coventry City goal in a 4–1 loss away to Shrewsbury Town from the penalty spot on 18 September 2012. He struggled to nail down a starting spot in the side 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.

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 and played a key role in the side as they overcame a 10-point deduction to mount an unlikely play-off push for the first half of the season.

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. 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. Between the start of the 2012–13 season and the end of the 2013–14 season, Fleck scored just one goal for Coventry City.

John 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 side, aided by the defensive support of midfield partner Romain Vincelot. Fleck's importance to the team was described by manager Tony Mowbray as being 'the oil in our machine' as the Sky Blues rose to the top of the League One table. 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 fellow team-mates at the club's end of season awards.

Sheffield United

Fleck signed a three-year contract with Sheffield United in July 2016. Fleck scored his first goal for the club in a 4-1 win over Chesterfield on 13 November 2016. On 8 April 2017, Fleck scored a late winner against Northampton Town at Sixfields Stadium. The fans reacted by running onto the pitch as United celebrated promotion. On 15 April 2017, United were crowned EFL League One champions and promoted to the EFL Championship.

On 22 September 2017, Fleck signed a new four-year contract with the Blades to keep him at Bramall Lane until summer 2022.

International career

On 12 September 2006, Fleck captained Scotland Under 16s to an 11–0 victory over Jersey Under 17s, scoring a hat trick in the process. He was the captain of the Scotland side at the 2006 Victory Shield competition. He also captained the Scotland Under 17 side throughout 2007 and 2008 and is a regular at Under 19 level. He made his debut for the Scotland U21 side on 29 March 2009.

Personal life

Fleck's uncle, former Scotland international Robert Fleck, played for Rangers and Norwich in the 1980s.

Career statistics

Club