John Fitchett (c.1879 – 1942) was an English

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 le ...

who played at full-back or half-back for

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

and Exeter City.

Football career

Fitchett was born in Chorlton-cum-Hardy,

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

and represented Manchester Schoolboys while playing his youth football with Talbot FC. In May 1897, he joined

where he remained for five years, making 76 appearances in

The Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

. During his time with Bolton Wanderers he made three appearances for the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

in representative matches against the Irish League in November 1899, November 1900 and November 1901, and also played in an unofficial international against Germany in 1901. In the spring of 1902 he joined

for the first time but, before he could make a first-team appearance, he moved to the south coast to join

of the Southern League in May 1902. At Southampton, he was used as cover for

Samuel Meston Samuel Meston (16 January 1872 – 14 August 1948) was a Scottish professional footballer who played as a half-back for Stoke and Southampton. Whilst with Southampton, he appeared in two FA Cup Finals and won six Southern League championship ...

at left-half and, although he played in five of the first six matches, he lost his place to Meston at the start of November and only made four further appearances, including one in the FA Cup defeat to Notts County. In his time at The Dell, Fitchett was known for his "energetic tackling and neat passing" as well as for his "over-elaboration". Fitchett returned to Manchester United in March 1903 and made five appearances before the end of the 1902–03 season. His debut for United came on 21 March when he scored in a 5–1 defeat of Leicester City. Fitchett's stay at Bank Street was short-lived and in May 1903 he returned to the Southern League to join

, who were making their debut in the league. Fitchett was known to Argyle's manager

Frank Brettell Frank E. Brettell (1862–1936) was an English football player, manager and administrator. He played as a full-back for Everton, a club that was originally called St. Domingo's. He combined his role as player-secretary-manager with his full ...

under whom he had played at Bolton Wanderers. At Bolton he had played alongside

Bob Jack Robert "Bob" Jack (4 April 1876 – 6 May 1943) was a Scottish football player and manager. Born in Alloa, Jack played in the Football League for Bolton Wanderers, Preston North End and Glossop, and the Southern League for Plymouth Argyle and ...

, who he persuaded to join Argyle for their debut league season. Jack was to go on to make over 100 appearances for Argyle as well as replacing Brettell as manager, a post he held until 1938. Primarily used as a left-back, Pritchett was a regular member of Argyle's first professional side, making 46 appearances in all competitions. In June 1904, he once again returned to Manchester United although his second "debut" was not until January 1905. By the end of the season, he was a regular at left-back, but in the summer of 1905 he moved across the city to join

. His stay was very brief and in June 1905, he again returned to the Southern League to join Fulham. At Fulham, he was little used, making only three appearances before bringing his professional career to a close at the end of the 1905–06 season.

Theatre management

During his youth, Fitchett was an actor and was a member of

Fred Karno Frederick John Westcott (26 March 1866 – 17 September 1941), best known by his stage name Fred Karno, was an English theatre impresario of the British music hall. As a comedian of slapstick he is credited with popularising the custard-p ...

's Theatrical Company. He had appeared with

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is consider ...

in ''The Mumming Birds''. Following his retirement from professional football, Fitchett settled in Devon, becoming manager of the Vaudeville Theatre in

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

. In February 1910, he briefly resumed his football career to assist Exeter City. After World War I, Fitchett became manager of the New Palace Theatre in

Union Street, Plymouth Union Street in Plymouth, Devon, is a long straight street connecting the city centre to Devonport, the site of Plymouth's naval base and docks. Originally the home of wealthy people, it later became an infamous red-light district and the loca ...

. After he retired as the theatre manager, he became the licensee of the Royal Sovereign public house in Union Street. Fitchett died at the Royal Sovereign on 1 November 1942, at the age of 62.

Notes

* In total, Fitchett made 40 league appearances for Plymouth Argyle, of which 27 were in the

Southern Football League The Southern League is a men's football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from the South and Midlands of England. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven and eight of the English fo ...

and 13 in the Western League. As the Southampton club historians only include the Southern League appearances in their statistics, the same is done here for consistency.

References

Bibliography

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External links

Career details
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitchett, John 1870s births 1942 deaths Men's association football defenders Bolton Wanderers F.C. players English men's footballers English male musical theatre actors English theatre managers and producers Exeter City F.C. players Fulham F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players Sportspeople from Chorlton-cum-Hardy Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Southern Football League players English Football League players Western Football League players Footballers from Manchester English Football League representative players