John Fraser (born 12 July 1953) is an English former football full back who played in the Football League for Brentford and Fulham.

Career

Fulham

After being spotted playing for his school team, Fraser entered the

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team in the future if t ...

at First Division club Fulham at the age of 14 in 1967. He began his career as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, but switched to full back under

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

manager

George Cohen George Reginald Cohen (22 October 1939 – 23 December 2022) was an English professional footballer who played as a right-back. He spent his entire professional career with Fulham, and won the 1966 World Cup with England. He was inducted int ...

and signed his first professional contract in 1971. He made his senior debut during the 1971–72

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

season and gradually built on his appearance record year-by-year to play 25 games during the 1974–75 season. An injury to

Les Strong Leslie Strong (born 3 July 1953) is a former England, English association football player. He spent the majority of his career playing at left back for Fulham F.C., where he began as a youth player in 1969 under the guidance of World Cup winner ...

allowed him a place in the starting lineup for the

1975 FA Cup Final The 1975 FA Cup Final was the 94th final of the FA Cup. It took place on 3 May 1975 at Wembley Stadium and was contested by London clubs West Ham United and Fulham. The Fulham team contained two former England captains in former West Ham cap ...

, which was lost 2–0 to

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

. Fraser fell out of favour with manager

Alec Stock Alec William Alfred Stock (30 March 1917 – 16 April 2001) was an English footballer and manager. He briefly managed AS Roma, between long spells at Leyton Orient and Queens Park Rangers. At QPR, he won successive promotions, leading the club t ...

during the 1975–76

pre-season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...

and departed the club at the end of the season. He made 65 appearances and scored one goal as a first team player at

Craven Cottage Craven Cottage is a football ground in Fulham, West London, England, which has been the home of Fulham F.C. since 1896.According to the club'official website The ground's capacity is 22,384; the record attendance is 49,335, for a game against ...

Brentford

Fraser dropped to Fourth Division to sign for Fulham's neighbours Brentford in July 1976 on a free transfer. He was a near ever-present during the 1976–77 season and was used in a utility role by manager

Bill Dodgin Jr Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

, playing both full back positions and on the

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is e ...

. He was a regular until a groin injury ruined a successful 1977–78 season, in which he helped the Bees to automatic promotion to the Third Division by filling in at the midfield and at

inside forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

. He rejected a new contract and departed Griffin Park early in the 1980–81 season, despite having missed just four matches of the previous season. Fraser made 131 appearances and scored seven goals during three seasons with Brentford.

Oxford City

Fraser closed out his career in non-league football with Isthmian League First Division club

Oxford City Oxford City Football Club is a semi-professional English association football club based in Marston, Oxford. They currently compete in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football, and play their home matches at Marsh Lane. ...

and made 42 appearances and scoring one goal during the 1980–81 season before retiring from football.

Personal life

Fraser completed

The Knowledge Taxicabs are regulated throughout the United Kingdom, but the regulation of taxicabs in London is especially rigorous with regard to mechanical integrity and driver knowledge. An official report observed that: "Little however is known about ...

while a Brentford player and became a

black cab A hackney or hackney carriage (also called a cab, black cab, hack or London taxi) is a carriage or car for hire. A hackney of a more expensive or high class was called a remise. A symbol of London and Britain, the black taxi is a common s ...

driver after retiring from football.

Honours

Brentford * Football League Fourth Division fourth-place promotion: 1977–78

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser, John 1953 births Living people Association football fullbacks English footballers Fulham F.C. players Brentford F.C. players English Football League players Oxford City F.C. players Isthmian League players Association football utility players British taxi drivers FA Cup Final players